OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma is one of two states in the United States that bans traditional tattooing but allows micropigmentation, otherwise known as permanent makeup, Eyewitness News 5 reported Tuesday.

"It's basically the same procedure, but tattooing is illegal in Oklahoma at this time," cosmetic surgeon Dr. Sheila Simpson said.

Although both procedures use the same machine, tattooing is punishable by a $500 fine.

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Tattooing Illegal In Oklahoma ... Except

"It's not fair because it's basically the same thing," tattoo artist Leroy Ezell said. "They think we're damaging skin and polluting the body, and we're not."

"I personally think it's silly that you can come into our shop here and have a 3-inch piercing needle rammed through your body, but you can't bust the first layer of skin and have pigment left in there," said Phillip Calfy of Skin Ritual.

Even though it is against the law, finding a tattoo artist in Oklahoma is easy, Calfy said.

"I personally tattoo a lot of attorneys and law enforcement officers," he said.

Calfy, who took Eyewitness News 5 to the secret place where he does his work, said he wishes he could advertise his services in the same way Simpson does.

In her practice, Simpson employs a state certified medical micropigmentologist. Christine Beller, Simpson's daughter-in-law, got permanent lipstick and eyeliner during one visit.

"I'm getting medicine. I'm getting numbed, and people who get tattoos don't get that pleasure. I'm under a doctor so I feel safer," she said.

Simpson said the procedure is tightly regulated and that tattooing could be also.

"I wouldn't mind if tattooing were legal as long as patients are protected and the equipment is sterilized," she said.

But the stumbling block is the Oklahoma Legislature, which has blocked past attempts to legalize tattooing in Oklahoma.

"You shouldn't mark up your body that way," said state Rep. Bill Graves, R-OKC.

Graves said children need to be protected from making irreversible mistakes, and he argues that just because tattooing is something done in the underground, doesn't mean it should it should be legalized.

"We could say the same thing about prostitution, which still goes on, but does that mean we ought to regulate it?" he asked.

But Rep. Al Lindley believes the state should allow tattooing and regulate it.

"Unregulated tattoo artists can spread HIV, AIDS, and hepatitis," he said. "I'm not big fan of tattoos but they need to be clean, they need to be safe."