Worthing-based nipple tattooist wins top national award

Kelly Forshaw Smith was crowned the country’s best medical technician for the second year in a row at the national Micropigmentation UK Awards.

Kelly, who also came in third place in the eyebrows category, offers her clients a range of cosmetic and medical procedures from areola and nipple tattooing for breast cancer survivors, to scar treatments for burns patients and torture victims, skin camouflage for vitiligo sufferers and creating the illusion of hair follicles for clients affected by hair loss.

As Director of Worthing based company Medicos, Kelly works closely with some of the top surgeons in the UK, running a weekly clinic at the Portland Hospital in London.

Kelly said: “I am ecstatically happy and excited to be voted the best medical tattooist in the country for the second year running.

“This award means everything to me in an industry I simply love.

“I am so proud to be able to help my patients, many of whom have faced extensive surgery and treatment or have suffered serious facial or body disfigurements.

“It’s an honour to work with some of the best surgical experts in the country, finishing off their amazing surgery by adding the cherry on the top of the cake for my patients.

“To see the patients’ reactions once the treatment is complete is just so rewarding.”

Kelly is also the head medical urainer for Finishing Touches, which she said was Britain’s largest medical and cosmetic micropigmentation training school, set up in 1996 by Kelly’s mother Dawn Forshaw.

Through the training school at Finishing Touches, Kelly offers free of charge medical procedures to any medical patient who cannot afford treatment or cannot wait on a long waiting list.

The awards ceremony, which took place on Saturday, May 18 in Birmingham, is part of the two-day annual Micropigmentation UK Conference which brings together the leaders of the micropigmentation industry to share knowledge and showcase the latest techniques.

Kelly also judged two of the awards categories. Medicos was set up in London by Kelly in 2006.

Her work has been featured in numerous publications and on television shows including Embarrassing Bodies, Botched Up Bodies, 10 Years Younger and Bodyshockers with Katie Piper.

The nipple treatment is carried out using a technique called nipple areola complex tattooing, where over several sessions layers of colour are added to the skin, and the illusion of a 3D nipple is created.

Scar tissue is treated by using a needle to prick the surface layers of the skin to stimulate collagen production, improving the appearance of scars.

Kelly said it had given some of her patients the confidence to go swimming again, and helps young children who may be struggling with the change in their mother’s appearance.

For more information, contact Kelly on 07879 413889 or email [email protected].