MY NEW EYEBROWS
Microblading is one of the most impactful changes I made to my face. Back in college I plucked my brows super thin, and over the years, they have grown back and I’ve gone for regular eye brow waxing for upkeep. Sometimes I would add in some pencil but I’d often forget. Then about a year ago, at Sephora, I discovered Anastasia brow pomade. I filled them in, defined them and voila I had fuller brows. I did this everyday, without fail. Have to put on my brows and some lip colour if not anything else at all.
The drawback to using the brow pomade is that it’s makeup and it all comes off when you wash your face or swim. I came across an article that detailed microblading. The procedure involved a super thin blade that the aesthetician draws in hair strokes. The ink doesn’t go as deep as a normal tattoo, it’s only the upper layers of the skin, so that’s how the hair strokes work rather than the previous versions which end up looking painted on. It’s also semi-permanent, so you don’t have to worry about your face changing too much that your eyebrow shape looks wrong. It fades over three years.
I did a lot of research and the results were amazing. Some women went from non-existent brows to envy worthy brows. I looked on Pinterest, read countless articles, blogs, and visited websites. There was really only one drawback, the price. In New York, it costs up to $900 for the procedure, but on average it was about $500. I couldn’t really justify that price. Serendipity then came my way when a friend Jennifer mentioned she had just done the procedure with Waxy Boutique in Chinook Centre and they were running a special promotion to do the procedure at around $160. Her brows looked amazing, thick and naturally coloured. With that price, my friend’s rave review, and her great result, I was making my appointment the next day.
The consultation
The first appointment was to test that I wasn’t allergic to the pigments. They made two little scratches behind my ear, and told me to look out for any adverse reactions. No big deal and nothing happened.
I think it's important to disclose that I've never had any kind of beauty injection or plastic surgery. I'm not morally against it, I just don't personally find it natural looking and also worry about the side effects. Microblading is a semi-permanent makeup, nothing intrusive. The beautification procedures I've tried are superficial and topical: hair colouring (I'd be grey otherwise); hair extensions (only for a summer, a pain in the butt); eyelash extensions (not worth the cost in my opinion); waxing; and regular shellac manicures (completely necessary). I also like a massage and facial once in a while too.
The appointment
I laid down and Kenia the aesthetician started her measuring and pencilling in the shape before she did the actual microblading. Then she held up a mirror and I checked it. It looked super dark because she used black pencil, but it gave me the shape I was after, thicker and then a tail at the end. The numbing creams went on, and she said I would feel a scratch then in a few minutes I would start to feel absolutely nothing. It was exactly as she said. I could only hear the scratch. Looking in the mirror after Kenia had finished, it appeared very dark but I liked the shape. I walked around Chinook Mall for a while and wondered if my vampire eyebrows looked weird. For the next couple hours, my eyebrows burned. I put on Polysporin and it relieved the burning immediately.
There are a lot of after care rules, but pretty easy to follow. For the first 48 hours, don’t get them wet. Don’t go swimming or expose them to sun. For any vacations or holiday plans, I recommend to get this procedure a month before, that allows time to heal and also get the touch up too. Over the week my eyebrows scabbed, don’t pick at them. Just let it fall off naturally. It’s not an ugly scab, more like skin flaking after sunburn. Also, don’t put any makeup on them. I put vaseline on them at night for the first week.
Once the scabs fall off, they will lighten considerably. Just as you get used to them being so dark, they lighten. But this second stage is much more natural looking. Once all the scabs are off, it’s okay to use makeup, like any brow filler. I found I needed to because sometimes the microblading didn’t end up taking in some spots. About three weeks later I went back for my touch-up.
The touch-up
This visit, Kenia micro-bladed any areas that didn’t take. It cost $50. I went through the burning and scabbing again, but way less because wasn’t as much microblading as before. She also added a darker colour too to add dimension.
The result
I would do this again and will definitely go for a touchup when I need. There are cautionary tales, a client to my hair stylist used another local Calgary service but ended up with crooked eyebrows. It’s not as permanent as a regular tattoo, but it won’t wear off for a few years. Waxy Boutique is completely trustworthy and has a portfolio of examples and references. I wasn’t paid to have the procedure or write about it, this is just my honest experience.
Please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions or concerns.
ENDS
