Workington · Cumbria
Hair transplant donor scars, surgical lines and old injuries broken up with carefully matched pigment, so the scar stops catching the eye when your hair is cut short.
Free assessment of the scar tissue first. If it will not take pigment well, you will be told before you book.
2+ years' hands-on experience
Every session carried out personally by Brett McMullen, the clinic's sole practitioner.
Trained at North West Scalp Clinic
Certified scalp micropigmentation training in Bolton, with the certificate on display in the clinic.
Licensed and fully insured
Local authority licensed, with public liability and professional indemnity cover in place.
Free consultation, no obligation
An honest assessment before any money changes hands, including being told when a treatment is not right for you.
The treatment
Scars on the scalp are visible for two reasons: they are a different colour to the surrounding skin, and no hair grows through them. Scar camouflage addresses both by depositing pigment into and around the scar to match the surrounding density, breaking up the smooth line the eye follows. It does not remove the scar, nothing does, but done well it stops being the first thing anyone sees.
Strip-harvest (FUT) lines across the back of the head are the most common request, particularly from clients who want to wear their hair short again.
The scattered pale dots left by follicular unit extraction are broken up by matching pigment placed between and over them.
Old injuries, operation lines and burn scarring can be softened where the tissue is mature and stable.
Scar tissue holds pigment unpredictably. The work is done in more, lighter passes than standard SMP, which is what protects the result.
What waiting costs you
Scar tissue is not normal skin. It is denser in places, thinner in others, and it absorbs and rejects pigment inconsistently. Treating it like an ordinary scalp is how clients end up with a scar that is now both visible and the wrong colour.
Pushing pigment hard into scar tissue in one session can leave a dark band that draws more attention than the original scar did.
Fresh scarring is still changing. Working on it too early means the result changes with it, usually for the worse.
A perfectly filled scar surrounded by thinning hair still stands out. The blend into the surrounding area matters as much as the scar itself.
The process
Slower and lighter than standard SMP, with an honest assessment before anything is booked.
Start with the free consultationThe scar's age, texture, colour and how the tissue behaves are all assessed. If it is not suitable, you are told at this stage.
A small area is treated first and left to heal, so how the tissue actually holds pigment is known before the full session.
Light pigment placed within and immediately around the scar, matched to surrounding density rather than to the scar itself.
Further passes increase coverage where the tissue accepted pigment and feather the edges into unaffected scalp.
A final look in daylight at typical hair length, with any remaining contrast adjusted.
The benefits
Freedom
Most clients come because they have been growing their hair to hide something for years.
Realism
Breaking up the smooth, uniform surface of a scar is what removes its visual pull.
Honesty
Some scars respond superbly, some only partially. You are given a realistic expectation before booking.
Care
A test patch means the full session is planned around how your tissue actually behaves.
Blend
The scar is treated as part of the whole scalp, not as an isolated patch to fill in.
Discretion
One client at a time in a dedicated room in Workington, not a shared salon floor.
In detail
A strip-harvest scar is a long horizontal line across the occipital area, often pale and sometimes stretched. It becomes visible the moment hair is clipped shorter than the scar is wide.
Pigment is placed within the scar and feathered either side, matched to the density of the surrounding donor area, so hair length choices open up again.
Extraction leaves hundreds of small round scars that read as pale speckling across the back and sides under short hair.
Treatment darkens the speckling to sit within the surrounding density, which is usually a faster job than a strip scar and responds predictably.
Scars from operations, head injuries and burns vary enormously in texture. Smooth, mature, flat scars respond best; raised, keloid or very shiny tissue responds least predictably.
Where the tissue is not suitable, Brett says so at assessment rather than taking the booking and hoping.
Scars continue changing for many months after they form. Working too early risks a result that shifts as the tissue matures.
As a general rule the scar should be fully healed, stable in colour and no longer changing before pigment goes anywhere near it.
Scar work typically needs more sessions than the same area of healthy scalp, spread further apart, precisely because the response has to be judged after each one.
The honest aim is that the scar no longer draws the eye at conversational distance, not that it disappears under close inspection.
Keep the area dry and untouched in the first days, avoid sweating and direct sun, and follow the written aftercare given at the end of the session.
Sun protection matters long-term on scar tissue, which pigments and fades differently to surrounding skin.
Free
Assessment & suitability check
Including honest advice if it will not work.
On enquiry
Scar camouflage session
Priced by scar size, type and number of sessions expected.
£1,200
Full SMP treatment plan
Where scar work is combined with full scalp coverage.
Scar work is quoted individually because no two scars behave the same way. Ring 07426 938460 and Brett will assess it before quoting.
Questions
Anything not covered here, ask Brett directly on 07426 938460.
No, and anyone promising that is overselling. The realistic aim is that the scar stops drawing the eye at normal conversational distance and short hair becomes wearable again.
Yes: FUT strip scars and FUE dot scarring are the most common requests at the clinic.
Until the scar is fully healed, stable in colour and no longer changing. Treating immature tissue risks a result that shifts as the scar matures.
Because scar tissue holds pigment unpredictably. A small test tells us how your tissue behaves before committing to a full session.
Usually more than the same area of healthy scalp, spread further apart so the response can be judged after each one.
Sensation varies. Some scars are less sensitive than surrounding skin, others more. Breaks are taken whenever you need them.
It is quoted individually after assessment, because size, type and expected sessions all vary. Assessment is free.
Yes. Many clients have scar work carried out as part of a full scalp micropigmentation treatment so everything blends together.
SMP is carried out on all skin tones. Pigment dilution and contrast are matched to your skin and surrounding hair at assessment.
In the private treatment room at Unit 6, Kerry Park Industrial Estate, Workington CA14 3TT, with parking on site.
Keep reading
Lightening and redesigning previous SMP work that has gone wrong.
Read moreThe full treatment: hairline, density and crown, £1,200 across the session plan.
Read moreEverything offered at the Workington clinic in one place.
Read moreTravelling in for treatment? The clinic is at Unit 6, Kerry Park Industrial Estate, Workington, CA14 3TT, with clients coming from SMP Scar Camouflage in Workington, SMP Scar Camouflage in Carlisle, SMP Scar Camouflage in Whitehaven, SMP Scar Camouflage in Maryport, SMP Scar Camouflage in Cockermouth, SMP Scar Camouflage in Penrith, SMP Scar Camouflage in Keswick, SMP Scar Camouflage in Wigton and the wider county. See every area we cover across Cumbria or go straight to booking your free consultation.
Book your free consultation
Bring the scar in and Brett will tell you plainly how it is likely to respond, whether a test patch is the right first step, and what it would cost: all before you book.
Consultations are free and with no obligation. Prefer to talk it through? Call 07426 938460.
