Yes, You Should 100% Get Your Eyebrows Microbladed. But There's A Catch. (Before And After Photos)
by Audie Metcalf
Ok, a “catch” might be a hair clickbaity, but there are absolute pros and cons to this wildly popular, new-ish beauty trend.
Cons: endless sleuthing to find a trustworthy practitioner, mild anxiety attacks post-treatment during the “healing” process, intense cost, considerable discomfort, and the fact that the treatment is only “semi” permanent.
Pros: wake up flawless.
So first, let’s look at some deeply satisfying before and after photos to see exactly what microbladed brows look like immediately post-treatment, and what they soften into as they become “healed.”
First, a photo of my virgin brows, before I paid a woman a lot of money to scrape tiny slices into my skin, along with images of them immediately after getting my first round of microblading:
As you can see, the immediate “after” photo are what brow-dreams are made of, the brows that, for most of us, often only come after committing to using a brow serum everyday for…awhile. The brows for which we all might offer the tips of our pinkies to have permanently.
And here’s some mid-point “healing” photos of my brows. I DMd my brow artist roughly 13-47 times daily to be sure this was normal and I wasn’t going to permanently look like I had taped black felt to my face. She was very obliging and said it was quite normal. But, really. Look at this and prepare your emotional arc if you decide to take the plunge:
The look of truly “healed” brows is very very different than immediately after getting them done. Here’s an image of my brows roughly 6 weeks after I had them done, and after my “touch up" which is often recommended after your first visit:
In my case, because I’m an oil slick even though I’m forty fucking two years old, my brows healed down to a much less “crisp” end result. Which, to be fair, my (brilliant) brow artist told me was a definite possibility.
Once my brows were healed, and as I progressed through my life, I slowly realized that I made the classic and cardinal mistake of not fully understanding that although we think of microblading as tattoos and therefore permanent, they are really more of a semi-permanent solution, not unlike coloring our hair. And, because of how they healed, I also began to understand that while having a defined brow shape when I woke up first thing in the morning was glorious, I still typically had to fill in my brows and style them using this “spiking glue.”
During my next session, which came roughly a year after getting my brows done the first time, and which would henceforth have to happen pretty much every year moving forward, I spoke at length about this and other burning questions with my brow artist, Audrey Glass, owner of Audrey Glass Cosmetic Tattoo in Los Angeles. Audrey was nice enough to indulge me by answering roughly 547 of my questions, in order to make this article your one-stop shop for any and all of your microblading needs.
Q: What exactly IS microblading?
Audrey Glass: Microblading is a semi-permanent tattoo technique to fill in and create more of a shape to their brows.
Q: What’s the most common misconception about microblading?
AG: Just because an artist is the most expensive doesn’t mean they are the best. Same goes for social media fame. Because someone has a lot of followers does not make them the most knowledgeable and experienced. Do your research and make sure to see tons of photos of their work as well as healed photos. It is also not true that microblading doesn’t work on oily skin and dark skin. It’s all about aftercare, maintenance and lifestyle.
Q: What are the KEY things to look for in finding a good artist?
AG: You must love ALL of their brow transformations. They must have photos of healed brows on their Instagram or site. Make sure they aren’t using other people’s brow images, and search waaay back to the beginning of their page. You really want to be 100% sure their images are their own (yes, people will use others’ photos all the time, sad but true) and to be really confident, try to find an artist that has been recommended by someone who got their brows microbladed by them.
Q: There’s a HOT debate about powder vs not powder. Do you ever recommend powder?
AG: I do! Powder brows (or combination) is great for people with VERY oily skin, people who sweat a lot (example: fitness trainers) if they have oily skin, and people who wear a full face of makeup most days and absolutely don’t want to use makeup on their brows. Microblading is meant to look natural and does not replace makeup.
Q: Is it hideously painful?
AG: It varies from person to person but we use a thick layer of numbing cream and let the area numb for up to 15 minutes. Most clients find it to be tolerable.
Audie Metcalf: Hi, I’m writing this article and I’m just going to jump in here. I would say that I have a relatively high pain tolerance and have regularly gotten all the hair on my body ripped out since I was 22. But this….hurts. It clearly doesn’t hurt so much as to dissuade me from going back, but it definitely smarts. I noticed a very marked difference when I went during different times of my menstrual cycle and if you can, I would try to book right after your period ends.
Q: How is the ink different from “regular” tattoo ink?
AG: Permanent cosmetic is done using micro-pigments which are iron oxide based (non-organic) or water/vegetable based (organic).
Q: What’s a rough rule of thumb for how often you will have to get a touch up?
AG: Once you’ve done your initial session and 6-8 week follow up, most clients come back every 12 months for a yearly follow up to refresh their brows. Some clients need their yearly follow up at 9 months and some only come every 24 months. It depends on the skin type, skincare products, lifestyle, sun exposure, skin treatments, immune system, etc.
Q: Why is it aftercare so important and what can happen if you don’t follow it to the letter?
AG: Once the client walks out the door, the artist has no control over the client and how they protect their brows. A specific aftercare given by the artist ensure that precautions and cautious care is taken for the brows to ensure good retention and an easy healing process. Poorly followed aftercare can result in very disappointing results.
Q: You had me use something called “barrier cream” for the weeks following my appointment. What exactly is barrier cream and what does it do?
AG: A barrier cream is a medical grade product that seals the cuts made in the skin and protects the brows for elements in the air. Combined with gently cleaning the brows with warm water (keep in mind that you are walking around with small wounds on your forehead) a couple times a day, it facilitates the healing process and has been giving me and my team great results.
Q: Getting your brows microbladed can cost anywhere from $300-$1500 on average. How can people think about the expense differently?
AG: I think people should break up the cost over 12 months. Example, I charge $900 for the initial session and $200 for the follow up. Making it $1100 for the first year, it comes down to $91.66/month. Most of us spend more than that on a daily coffee from our local coffee shop.
Annnnnd here are a few photos of my brows a year or so after my first session, as I went for my yearly touch up, and what THOSE results looked like, immediately after:
And what they look like now, fully healed, with zero brow makeup on:
No, I don’t wear that jean jacket every day so STOP JUDGING. Fine, I do.
So, in conclusion, if your eyes are the windows to your soul, your brows are the sustainably-made but effortlessly chic gauzy curtains that really pull the room together. It’s sort of known that when you have gorgeous brows, you feel 87% more attractive and powerful. And the older I get, the less guilty I feel for spending money on things that help me feel that way. The only key element to be aware of is how semi-permanent this procedure really is. Similar to having to get your lash extensions filled, or your roots done, microblading your brows is roughly a yearly habit you’ll have to form. The cost goes considerably down from your initial appointment, but it’s certainly no small thing.
Keep in mind that you will likely still have to fill in your brows for max effect once they start to fade (which happens for me around the 3 month point, but I’m also oily AF as we’ve established), unless you opt for a mix of microblading with powder, which can look, well, powdery, and less crisp, but then, so does your brow pencil.
I will continue to get my brows microbladed because I have a pretty stark scar on my left eyebrow that I like to cover, and getting this service means that when I get a blow out the night before, and am back in the habit of getting lash extensions, I can wake up impossibly put together, bright eyed, and bushy browed, so I can spend less time “putting on my face” and more time writing articles for you.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
