This year, I had the pleasure of visiting Amber at the GORGEOUS Glendale Ohio salon – Brow Envy! Amber is easily the most sought after brow specialist in Cincinnati so when I decided to check out microblading, I just knew I had to see her!
According to Amber’s Brow Envy site, “Microblading is a type of permanent make-up, where through the manual process of inserting pigment into the upper layers of skin I create the desired fullness and design of the eyebrows.”
A tool and small needles are used to create small, hair-like strokes that look WAY better and more natural than the traditional permanent makeup techniques – and the scary, dark tattooed eyebrows you’re probably envisioning! The end result is smudge-proof, realistic, natural brows that you never have to worry about again! I am IN LOVE with my new brows.
First things first – if you are looking to get into Amber, prepare to wait! She is booked right now through the end of the year. I went to see her in April 2017, but I made my appointment in December 2016! This was not a problem for me as it allowed me time to save up some money and, believe me, it was worth the wait. I highly recommend you do your research and make sure you are going to the right artist, not the most available artist. This is not where you want to skimp on time and money, it IS a tattoo on your face after all!
INITIAL APPOINTMENT
You’ll have at least 2 appointments to complete the process. At the first appointment, the majority of time was a consultation in which Amber walked me through the process and we talked through what I like and don’t like regarding shape, fullness, and pigment.
I came with my eyebrows filled in with makeup so she could see the shape that I usually go for. From there, she mapped out the shape she recommended based on what we talked about and the shape and measurements on my face. Once she outlined where the new, filled in brows would be I got to take a look and make any suggested adjustments. From there, she mixed a color based on my natural hair color and the thickness I like in my brows. She let me see a couple of options by placing a small portion on my face so I can see how the color looks against my skin and hair tones.
Once settling on a custom-mixed color, she began the numbing process. She made a few tiny incisions and place the numbing cream across my brows, allowing it to set in for a few minutes.
The first pass through making cuts hurts just a little – it more makes your eyes water and makes you want to sneeze. If you’ve ever sneezed due to tweezing you know the sensation I’m referring to. By the time she did the second pass, I couldn’t feel anything at all. I didn’t even realize she was doing it at one point!
At this point, despite a little bit of redness and swelling, I already saw a huge difference in my brows! Just a note – the color at this point can appear a little more red or warm due to the swelling and redness of the skin.
Before leaving for the appointment, I set up a touch-up appointment. This is the second step to perfect brows. Your touch up has to be at least 4 weeks after the initial round to allow plenty of time to heal. For the 4 weeks, your brows go through some interesting stages. First they get really dark and intense, then they calm down a bit and start to scab (this is barely noticeable since the cuts are so small). As the scabs heal and fall off, the brows do become very itchy. Much like any other tattoo it is important to keep it dry but moisturized with aquaphor, and do not scratch! If you scratch the scabs, you can create scarring or the strokes will heal to look blurry instead of defined strokes.
TOUCH UP APPOINTMENT
By the time I went in for my touch up appointment, my brows had fully healed from the first round and you could see much more easily where touch ups and/or additional strokes were needed to fill in gaps. Now I understand why you need two appointments!
The second round went much like the first. Amber took a minute to talk over what I liked and anything I might want added in term of shape and fullness. Then she did two more passes filling in and perfecting. I really appreciated that she took the time here to perfect the brows!
A few more weeks of healing and my beautiful, new, and most importantly effortless, brows appeared!
I cannot stress how nice it is not to worry about my eyebrows during my morning routine now. And I get complimented constantly in public about how “nice and natural my eyebrows grow in!” 😉 I wish I could say that was true, but microblading is a close second to having genetically gorgeous brows!
Brow Envy now offers several other services including last lift ( I HAVE to try this next!), ombre brow powder, waxing & shaping, and eyelash extensions. Make your appointment today; you won’t regret it!
xoxo
Ashley
