The earliest evidence of tattooing dates back to the ice age. While some cosmetic tattooing was done thousands of years ago, it really came into its own as an industry in the late 1970's. At that time, various tattoo artists around the country began offering permanent makeup also known as cosmetic tattooing and reconstructive pigmentation. In the l980’s aestheticians, electrologists, nurses, and cosmetologists became interested in performing these procedures. Training programs were established throughout the country and the industry has grown rapidly since then.
The formal definition of a tattoo is a marking of the skin with punctures, which pigment is applied to. The word originates