I have a very complicated relationship with my eyebrows.
It has been this way since time immemorial. I started over plucking and drawing them in very early. I think I probably blame my mother for this, but that's whole other blog post.
There have been many dark moments since that first time I picked up the tweezers, both emotionally and literally. Often my eyebrows were just too damn dark.
As an adult I've tried almost everything. The pencil, the dip brow (thanks RuPaul), even an unidentifiable henna like substance.
Then, microblading became popular, and I was very intrigued. By this point in my life I was spending about 10 minutes on my brows a day. And the stress! If they didn't look good, I didn't feel good. And when I didn't draw them in at all, I didn't feel confident.
And I want to feel confident, not confined by my beauty routine!
So I started doing research.
Essentially, microblading is semi-permanent makeup. It's almost like a tattoo, but not quite. The eyebrow technician cuts tiny hair like strokes into your brows and then sets ink into them.
When I first started looking at it I was pretty nervous about the process because it was so new. And of course, when you research something there are always the horror stories of microblading gone wrong! Plus, the price. Were semi-permanent eyebrows really worth 400-600 dollars? I wasn't so sure.
I waffled back and forth for many years. Finally, a microblading lady opened up right near my house for a price that I could afford. I know, I know many of you may be thinking that your face is not something you want to "cheap out" on.
But, a friend of a friend used her and loved the results. So she came recommended, and I finally decided to take the plunge.
This is the before and after of my brows. Follow danielle.beautycall on instagram to see her other work!
Now, onto the actual process.
When you head to the salon, you have to go makeup free. I booked my appointment on a Friday of a long weekend in case things went horribly wrong, and I had a few days to get used to my new brow reality before standing up in front of my high school students and having them very critically but also very lovingly pick apart my new eyebrows.
I was pretty nervous, so I brought some friends. If you are thinking about getting something like this done, I would highly suggest bringing people who will tell you truthfully if something looks good or not.
The eyebrow guru measures your face and then draws and outline. This was actually the longest part of the process, which is a good thing. Make sure you look in the mirror from close and far away in order to best decide if they are the shape and size that you want.
The outline!
Then comes the numbing cream, which is essential. You have to wait 20 minutes in order for it to do its magic. Then, she starts the process. At first I felt nothing, but near the end the numbing cream started to wear off. At this point you can decide whether or not to put more on. I opted for no, but only because she was so near to being done, but I wouldn't have been able to handle it for long, because it definitely does hurt. And when it started to hurt, the sound started to bother me.
When she is finished she gets you to look at them and decide if you want any more strokes. I did. I felt a bit rude asking, but my technician was really great and reminded me that really, it's my face.
This was a "good" eyebrow day but those suckers took me like 10-15 minutes.
This was the next day, they were pretty dark but I was super happy!
Next, the healing.
You can't really get your eyebrows super wet for about 10 days, so I've been bathing and straightening my hair in order to avoid the shower. My eyebrows felt tender and itchy, but the redness and swelling directly after was not so bad. I even went out in public the next day!
I'm loving my expedited morning routine, and I'm finding that I am wearing a fraction of the makeup I used to, even without considering the brow makeup. I also feel super confident waking up in the morning.
I will say that I am a bit obsessive. The technician said that I would like get a bit patchy, so I may have to use a little bit of makeup before the 6 week touch up appointment. I was hoping this wouldn't happen, but yesterday I lost a little patch.
I freaked out and texted her and she reminded me that this was perfectly normal and that it would all be fixed in the follow up.
Nobody saw my little bald spot so I had to draw an arrow to show them.
So, that's where I'm at! It's a week after the microblading appointment and things are a little sporadic and scabby but I am so glad that I decided to take the plunge and got them done. I think that if doing something like this helps you feel confident and happy, and you have the means to do it--then it's something to consider. I know it's not for everyone, and
I wish I could feel confident without beauty enhancements, but you know what? I'm over it. Life is too short to worry, and I've been worrying about my eyebrows for TOO LONG.