Whether you're a tattoo or permanent makeup (PMU) artist, it's important that you use the right tools for each specific job. This is especially true for needles, as using incorrect or unideal needle cartridge configurations can mess up your work or make the process more uncomfortable for your clients. As an artist, you should get to know the needles in your toolkit, what they can do, and how you can get the most out of them.
In this post, we'll examine 3RL flat needles and see what they're best used for.
What are 3RL flat needles?
Also known as TriFlat™, 3RL flat needles are a hybrid of round liner (RL) and flat needles. As its name suggests, a 3RL tattoo needle consists of three round liners, usually grouped in a triangle. It's often used for designs and PMU procedures requiring lining and shading, such as calligraphy tattoos and lip-lining.
On the other hand, flat needles consist of multiple needle points soldered in a straight line onto a single needle bar, almost like a comb. It can be great for shading, packing color and drawing very thin lines depending on its orientation during use.
TriFlat™ tattoo needles have the characteristics of both 3RL and flat needles. It consists of round liners grouped in a straight line instead of the traditional triangle, albeit spaced slightly wider apart than the points of a conventional flat. The unique shape and design of a TriFlat™ give it the coverage of a conventional flat and help control the amount of pigment released. These characteristics make 3RL flat needles ideal for techniques and applications that require laser precision.
What are the uses of a 3RL flat needle?
The unique shape and design of 3RL flat needles make them ideal for various uses, especially in PMU. Like a regular flat, a TriFlat™ is one of the best tattoo needles for lining, being able to make the fine lines needed for lining lips, lashes, and eyebrows, as well as drawing eyeliners. It can also create the soft shades used in many eyebrow and lip procedures.
But where 3RL flat needles genuinely excel is in multi textural work. It is ideal for stippling, a versatile technique for drawing a design by creating dots. Stippling allows you to blend pigments and gives you much control over the saturation and intensity of your shading and color. As a result, you can achieve a wide range of depths and contrasts, as well as create realistic and highly detailed textures, such as wood and stone surfaces.
Furthermore, the shape of TriFlat™ tattoo needles makes it easy to create realistic hair strokes for natural-looking eyebrow tattoos. If you're drawing designs with fur and hair details, these needles will prove very helpful as well.
However, 3RL flat needles are not ideal for certain applications. In particular, these needles are not recommended for techniques and designs that require color packing, such as tribal and solid blackwork.
What are the advantages of using 3RL flat needles?
A TriFlat™ needle is a useful tool for both tattoo and PMU artists. Used in the right technique and procedure, this needle provides the following benefits:
Precise control when drawing details
One problem many tattoo and PMU artists need to be wary of is sudden oversaturation. Whether it's because they stayed in one spot for too long or pressed too hard, such accidents can be frustrating to fix and may lead to unsatisfactory results. This can be especially problematic when drawing intricate textures, as one mistake can ruin the entire design.
The space between the round liners that make up the TriFlat™ spreads the ink over the surface in a more open pattern, reducing the risk of sudden over saturation while you stipple and blend. You can also orient the needle in several ways and achieve lines with varying intensities and thickness. These factors help you create details with unmatched precision using a TriFlat™.
Increased efficiency when completing projects
Whether it's tattooing or PMU, artists need to finish their work quickly without compromising quality. The longer you spend on any particular project, the more exhausted you become and the more prone you are to finger fatigue. You also don't get to work on as many projects within your day, and your client may not appreciate having to sit through a session that lasts longer than necessary.
Thanks to their shape, TriFlat™ can cover large areas when stippling, lining, or shading using fewer strokes and passes. This means you can finish your work faster while achieving excellent results.
Reduced Client Discomfort
Using unideal needles can significantly affect your client's comfort levels during a procedure. For example, the close spacing of a conventional flat needle's points can cause more trauma to the client's skin if the artist is not careful while lining. Using 1RL needles for stippling and detail work may also extend a project's completion time and make the project unnecessarily uncomfortable for your client.
