Microblading: All You Need to Know
Hello and happy Monday! Today is the LONG overdue part two of my microblading experience. Over the summer I shared my first experience with microblading. If you missed that post, give it a read here. It's been a few months now since my second treatment and I am loving having fab brows every day. As a quick recap for those in need of a bit of a refresher, microblading is a semi permanent treatment where a blade is dipped in ink then used to draw hair like strokes to fill in your brows. 6-8 weeks after your first treatment and your brows have healed, you go in for your second visit to touch up any sparse areas and from there- your brows are ready to take on the world! ;)
Once I made the decision to have my eyebrows microbladed, the most important decision was choosing where to go. Considering you're basically tattooing your face, it's important to choose someone you can trust. Jen at Bella Casa Day Spa was the obvious choice for me, not only because I already know and love her and have used her services before, but because I was able to browse her portfolio of work and know that I could trust her to get the look I wanted. It's important to choose someone who has had the education and training necessary as well as experience microblading. To top it all off, Jen's spa is certified and her high standards made her my obvious choice. Plus - how adorable is she?!
Now, let's talk about my second visit. (And as an FYI, the second visit would be exactly how your third visit would be if required. Most people are perfect after two visits but if a third touchup is necessary, Jen will make sure you're always 100% satisfied). Much like before the visit started with numbing my brows so the treatment is more comfortable (bottom left). After the numbing cream sets for about 20 minutes it gets wiped off and Jen outlines your brows after carefully measuring and mapping out the best placement for your face (bottom middle). Then the fun part - the actual microblading begins.
If I'm being totally honest, I will admit that I found the second treatment to be more painful than the first. The first treatment I actually found to be very comfortable - not nearly as painful as I had anticipated but the second visit was a bit more painful. It still isn't as bad as I had first anticipated, but after speaking to Jen and a few others who've had the treatment, they all admit the second time is a little more painful than the first. The good news - because it's your touch up visit, it's a bit faster and you already know what to expect and the minor discomfort is totally worth the results - I promise!
Once your brows are all done, ink is applied to soak into the incisions (bottom right) and it gets wiped away after sitting for about 10 minutes. As you can see, it's a very stylish process haha ;) You can read in full detail about the process here in my first post.
Just like after your first treatment, Jen sends you away with at home care instructions and cream to help your brows heal quickly and comfortably. I apologize that all of the photos I have are snapchat pics (hence the dog filter haha) but these give you a good idea of how the brows look with no product or pencils or gels. You can read here about my at home care instructions and how the brows heal but below I'll answer a few questions I've been getting on the regular since having my brows done.
Q. As my brows are healing, is it normal to see scabbing? What if the scabs fall off?
A. Yes, you want your brows to scab over as they heal - this is a good sign! This part of the healing process can be a bit tough because your brows get a bit itchy but you want to avoid touching them - follow your at home care instructions and try not to scratch - it's only for a few days! If a section of scab falls off too soon and takes some of the color or ink with it, that's what touch ups are for. This happened to me in a few spots after my first treatment so when I went in for my touch up, Jen made sure to fill in those sections so now my brows are full!
Q. Now that your brows are fully healed, do you fill them in?
A. No! It's amazing haha. I've ditched my powders and pencils and no longer spend a single second filling in my brows. My makeup looks are never too dramatic however if you were going full on Kardashian glam, you might end up filling them in a bit depending on your skin tone, how fair your skin and hair is, etc. The only product I do use is a clear brow gel to tame the hairs - it's made getting ready in the mornings much faster.
Q. Do they look weird if you don't wear makeup?
A. No! Being very fair skinned this was something I was a bit worried about. I'll go au naturel and venture out without makeup fairly often and I didn't want to look like I had full on "glam" brows with a no makeup face and thankfully, because Jen draws such natural hair like srokes, your brows look totally natural. They look very different from tattooed or overly "done" or filled in brows so you can absolutely go out sans makeup and your brows will look natural and full. The only exception to this is in the first week after having them done as they get darker as they scab (like I talked about here).
Q. So what kind of brow maintenance do you need to do now that they're done?
A. You still need to tweeze your brows but thanks to the blading strokes, it's easier to see where to pluck hairs from and follow the shape created. If you prefer to wax, you'll still need to do that too. However tinting or filling in will be a thing of the past. Then like I said all I do is swipe with clear gel and I'm set!
If you have any other questions or there's anything I've missed, feel free to ask away in the comments below or DM, email me or reach out via social media! Microblading has been a total game changer for me so I highly recommend you give it a go and if you're in Edmonton or the surrounding area - I can't say enough good things about Jen at Bella Casa Day Spa!
