Thursday, April 18, 2019

Blog Science: I Got My Brows Microbladed.

I got my brows microbladed...for science! Okay, not really. I got them microbladed because my brows had gotten thin and patchy and I was tired of filling them in every day. Could I just not? Sure, but without brows I look older and a bit washed out. Plus, it was a birthday gift to myself and I was dying to try the local artist who my (awesome) hairstylist recommended. Her brows looked amazing and I wanted in, man. 

If you aren't familiar with microblading, it's a semi-permanent tattooing procedure using a hand-held tool and pigment to lightly scratch hair strokes into your face. It sounds great, right? No? Ha. Screw it, let's do this. Here's where I started:


When I was young I had really nice, thick brows. Then the 90s happened and we all waxed our brows into oblivion. I blame Drew Barrymore. I grew them back in but in the last few years they've gotten patchy and thin. Just vanishing off my face. I was REAL TIRED of filling them in so I made an microblading appointment in January. 

Microblading is a two appointment process. During the first appointment she measured my face and spends quite a lot of time drawing in my new brows with a grease pencil.  Once I approved, the numbing cream went on: 


Then the microblading started. The tool makes a scratching noise which is weird as hell. The first pass didn't hurt. I could sort of feel it, but it didn't hurt. The next pass? It definitely hurt. Even with more numbing cream, I could feel it. It wasn't excruciating, but I was glad when it stopped. After she was finished she put a bunch more pigment on top and I sat around and let that do it's thing:


I texted this pic to Marianne with the caption, "So natural! I love them!" Finally, I was cleaned up and sent on my way with a strict list of care instructions - Do not get them wet for two weeks. Do not sweat for two weeks. Do not touch. Do not pick. Be good. Here's what I looked like right after my first appointment:


Pretty nice. They got darker and less crisp as they healed. Here's how they looked a few days later:


Over the next two weeks they flaked and scabbed and I will spare you those photos. It was a process. It's also an enormous pain in the ass to keep your eyebrows dry for two weeks but I did it. My next appointment was seven weeks later. By then, my brows looked like this:


They were okay but I was antsy to get this whole thing finished. The second appointment is a touch-up because the pigment doesn't always completely take or it fades or spots get missed. All of this is corrected in the second appointment. I was so ready for it because, while I was enjoying my new brows, I wanted MORE. I walked in all, "Remember how I said I didn't want them too bold? Ignore that. I want more." She laughed and said everyone says that. 

The second appointment was much shorter. She listened to my requests that my left brow be brought in a bit to match my right (which is my "good" brow) and she bumped it all up a little bit. This is how they looked a few days after the second appointment: 


I am super happy with them! They look really natural, which is exactly what I wanted. I am not really into super groomed, sharp brows. Here's a before and after for comparison: 


Quite a difference, right?  It was a process but now I get 12-18 months of just having nice brows. Sometimes I use some tinted brow gel but mostly they're good on their own. I am still digging my right brow (on the left in the pic) more but there's a small scar through my left brown that makes it a bit wonky. I swear I have never looked at my eyebrows this much in my entire life. 

Questions? Concerns? 


20 comments:

  1. They look fantastic. I'm seriously considering having them done. How in the heck did you keep them dry?

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  2. They do look so natural (the first Groucho pic is hilarious)! And wow, your hair looks so good close up. I didn't realize it had so much interesting color in it.

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    1. It doesn't always! I let my stylist get creative with the color so it's different every time.

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  3. Funny to read this today, because yesterday I had my first session getting my eyeliner tattooed on. Same hand tap method. It felt.... unpleasant.

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    1. It's a very odd feeling. I'll bet it looks amazing, though.

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  4. They look amazing and so natural! I laughed out loud where I read that you blame Drew Barrymore for the thin, 90's brows. Her eyebrows were SO thin! I had eyebrows like that...I definitely tweezed them in to oblivion. Luckily, they (mostly) grew back, although they are definitely thinner/more patchy near the at the start of each eyebrow where they weren't symmetrical so I tweezed them until they matched. :/ They were so far apart that it made my nose look wider!

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  5. Your brows look AMAZING. I like how natural, yet pulled together, they look. I'm a redhead and this is the first time that I've ever thought, "whoa, I need to get my brows microbladed."

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    1. Thanks! I definitely recommend if you can find someone good.

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  6. They look so good!!!

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  7. They really do look amazing. I'm really blonde and have sparse eyebrows so I'm just worried that no one could get the color right. I feel like it would be a game-changer though - I've had to draw them in since I was a teenager.

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    1. It's really a game-changer. I can't tell you how nice it is to have "done" brows all the time.

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  8. Thank you for doing this for science! I want this so badly also. I also fell vistim to too skinny brows. I didnt know that they scabbed to heal. That is interesting to know. Does it feel like a cat scratch say?

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    1. Yep, there are different healing methods but the artist who did mine recommends the dry method - so nothing on them at all. The pain during is definitely more of a needle scratch (since that's what it is.) They were slightly tender the first day after but after that just a little itchy. And definitely scabby!

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  9. I'm wondering about the cost? Care to share?

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    1. It was $500, broken up between the two appointments. I think that's pretty average?

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  10. I should add, they look amazing. Like make me wonder if this is something I should look into. I would hate to have a bad experience though! Maybe I would need to take a road trip, lol!

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