That Time I Tried Microblading

Before

Immediately After

5 days & 1 brow wash later

What makes you feel confident? I’m sure many things just rushed to your mind. Is it that great outfit? When your skin is clear? Those naturally good hair days? Finding heels that are also comfortable? I could go on and on. For me, I feel like I can take on the world when my eyebrows look good. 

I am not naturally knowledgeable with make-up. When watching youtube makeup tutorials, I sit in awe thinking how impossible it all seems to do myself. So it was only a few years ago that I learned about eyebrow make-up. I have thick dark brown hair on my head but everywhere else my hair is thin and on the blonde side (which I will never complain about when it comes to my legs). So after that first time I filled in and coloured my eyebrows I’ve never looked back.

One fateful evening looking for random deals on Groupon I found myself finding quite a few different places offering Microblading. I had no idea what that was so off to google I went.

What is Microblading?

It is a semi-permanent way to add colour to your eyebrows making them look fuller and adding shape. It does not deposit pigment very deeply into your skin which is why it will fade. How quickly it fades depends on a number of different things including: sun exposure, skin type (how you heal), ink used, and ongoing skin care routine. It can last anywhere from 8 months to 2 years. A touch-up is usually recommended between 6 and 8 weeks, as healing/scabbing can cause the pigment to be uneven. I did not add the touch up to my groupon option so I will unlikely get it.

Why did I do it?

I’m lazy…  I loved the idea of waking up and my eyebrows already having colour and shape. Saving time in my makeup routine was very appealing. So after doing some research on what microblading was, I figured why not give it a try, especially when I could save 50% with groupon! ​

What does it feel like?

It feels like what I imagine a tiny cheese grater would feel like...  I had it in my head that it would be like getting a tattoo. I know it is only ‘semi-permanent’ but I imagined the process being similar. I was prepared for a machine jabbing my head, so I was surprised when she pulled out a blade. It was the same size as a scalpel except you could change and replace the blades. She’d be cutting my head skin manually. I hadn't taken any pain meds before hand because it can cause you to bleed more so I was nervous. She used two different sized blades on me. The best I could describe the look is like a serrated knife or a lot of needles lined up in a row. I laid down, hoping the numbing cream she had applied 5 minutes earlier would hinder the pain I was about to feel. What I felt and heard was scraping across my skin. It didn’t hurt too much, until later when she went over areas that were already cut open.

How long did it take?

Give yourself some breathing room after the appointment...  With the separate 1 hr consultation appointment a week before, I’d say in total the whole thing took just over 4 hours. 85% of the time was spent making sure the shape was perfect. The first hour and a half was just drawing with a black pencil the shape I wanted. It was all about We wanted to enhance the shape I already had and making sure that, while not exactly the same, the dimensions were similar and complemented each other and my face. 

Once we got started, I would lay down while she scraped away but would jump up to look in the mirror more times then I could count. We added a sharper arch and then just focused on defining and filling in the rest. She wanted to make sure that once gravity was pulling in the right direction things still looked right. At least 3 times she scraped as I was sitting up. She would start from the inside of the brow and work outwards. “You can add a hair line but you can’t take it away.” I didn’t mind all the time it took, I wanted to make sure it was right and that I would love it.

Do I love it?

Not at first... It felt like I was walking around with permanent marker eyebrows the first few days. It was so dark and so prominent looking. She was trying to match with my hair colour so she had mixed 4 different browns; espresso, taupe, dark brown and brown. I knew it would start off dark and that it would fade but it was sooooo very dark, and looked almost black. Plus the shape was so dramatic, compared to what I was used to. I wanted to hide at home for the week after but I had things going on, including a massage appointment the next day. It was pretty funny when I lifted my head from the hole and there was a perfect eyebrow imprint on the towel.

Pretty much every woman I talked to the days following complimented the shape and talked about either wanting to try microblading or their experience having already tried microblading. Seems it's really catching on. By day 5, I couldn't take it anymore and washed my face (they recommend to wait as long as possible to clean your eyebrows). All the clumps and scabs came off easily. I felt so much more secure! It looked more natural while still being able to see more of the individual lines. After more days passed, the final scabs came off and my skin was no longer inflamed, I loved them!