Microblading: Getting a semipermanent eyebrow tattoo

Nervous excitement. That’s the only way I can describe how I felt the day of my microblading appointment.

Walking in, my nerves didn’t fade away… and they never did. Until I sat up and saw the finished brows in the mirror.

Let’s Rewind:

As a kid, I was always that blond girl with the big, bold brows. Fast forward to high school… I became a big believer in over plucked brows.

Now, as bold brows are in, I’d give anything to go back to my childhood look… but sadly, I’ve damaged my hair follicles and there’s no rewinding.

If you scroll through my old blogs, you’ll see I’ve been on the hunt for a good brow product. While I’ve found some gems, I wanted a more permanent, care-free option.

Enter Brittany Lerbakken, certified permanent makeup artist and owner of Symmetry Permanent Cosmetics in Kearney, Nebraska..

Getting Started:

First comes the numbing cream….but let’s be honest. It might as well be called “take the edge off” cream, because your brows are not “numb.”

This sits for about 15 minutes while I fill out paperwork, discuss medical history and personal skin care routine.

Mapping My Face:

The next step is neat to watch. Brittany uses a special ruler to determine the center of my face, measure my brow bones and my natural brow placement. This step is the most time-consuming but it ensures symmetrical, proper and natural-looking tattoo placement.

Now these are just guidelines. During this time, Brittany was very open to my input, and we ended up adjusting the map ever-so-slightly to make the microblading even more subtle.

Now it gets real:

Once we both loved the map, Brittany used a teeny tiny collection of in-line needles (or micro blade) to cut hair-like lines into the surface of my brow skin. It sounds much more morbid than it felt. While the process wasn’t completely pain-free, it didn’t exactly hurt either. I’d say, if you’re a champ at handling eyebrow waxing, plucking or threading, you can definitely handle this. With each stroke, she dipped her blade into pigment she custom blend to match my natural brow hair. She followed this with a pigment mask. There is a little alcohol in the pigment, so this did sting, but it only lasted maybe 15 to 20 seconds, and we all know beauty is pain.

The big reveal:

Once the pigment mask was wiped off… I sat up, looked in the mirror and I was shocked. It was an amazing transformation to me, and a nearly unnoticeable change to everyone else… exactly how I wanted it. I couldn’t stop smiling and I finally stopped nervous shivering.

Healing:

So far so good. For the next couple hours I used a clean tissue to dab the brows to absorb any fluid, but honestly I really didn’t have any to absorb. The rest of the day my brows felt as if they were slightly sun burnt and I found myself avoiding any major eyebrow movements, LOL.

Moving forward, I gently wash my brows twice a day with a mild soap and apply a teeny amount of healing balm to them in the morning and evening. I’ll continue doing this for about a week.

About 24 hours out I didn’t have any scabs, the sun burn feeling was gone. The brows still looked great and they were only ever-so-slightly tender if I touched them or furrowed my brow.

Now, about four days out, all discomfort is gone and they are scabbing ever-so-slightly but it’s not too noticeable.

*This photo was taken as I anchored NTV News, just four days after my appointment. I have no brow makeup on, just a little of Brittany’s healing balm.*

Next Step:

In about two months I’ll see Brittany for my follow up appointment. This will allow her to correct any “hairs” that didn’t take or make any adjustments I may want. Honestly, after telling her time-and-time-again that I wanted my brows very, very subtle, I can see myself asking for a bit bolder shape. (Haha, sorry Brittany!)

She said I can expect my microblade brows to last about a couple years, maybe less or more depending on how well I care for them. Like a tattoo, I’ll want to protect them with SPF and avoid exfoliating them with extreme chemical procedures.

Final Thoughts:

Still confused? Still not sure what microblading is? Microblading is the term used to describe the art of using a tiny blade/in-line needles to draw, or tattoo individual hairs.

Looking for something more bold? There’s always the option to add more “hairs.” Also, there’s a Powder Brow option. This creates more of a filled-in, solid brow shape. Or you could get a combo of the two.

Questions?

Anything I didn’t cover? Anything you want to know more about my experience? Feel free to ask below in the comments and I’ll answer.

Chat soon!

xx