I started life like most people with perfectly acceptable eyebrows. But somewhere during my teen years I decided to butcher them with a pair of tweezers. I plucked them to within an inch of their life and that’s being generous, I had the thinnest line of hairs at one point and I used to tweeze every single stray hair that grew every single morning. I can remember really hating those little strays, I believed they made my face look really messy. At some point all that plucking, threading, waxing and pulling must have killed my poor hair follicles because they just stopped growing back. I mean I am being quite hard on myself here, I don’t believe for one second I was the only person in the 90’s destroying their eyebrows, it was the ‘fashion darling’. During my modelling years the fashion must have been gradually changing as I can remember make up artists filling in my brows and me furiously wiping them off in the bathroom because I thought they made me look like a drag artist. I probably looked great but I was so used to my thin eyebrows they were a shock to me.
I have been thinking a lot over the years about permanently changing my eyebrows but I never wanted them tattooed on, just incase I had that make up artist moment and then I would be really stuck with them, no wiping them off in the loo! As time has gone on I started hearing good things about Microblading. It is kind of like a tattoo but semi permanent. They generally last no more than 2 years depending on your individual skin type. Instead of a solid block of ink the practitioner would draw on thin hair like strokes making it look more natural. Microblading appealed to me but I have seen it done badly and when the art was first invented the pigment they used had a tendency to turn slightly red which put me off as then the new hair strokes would not match my hairs that remained and would look extremely odd.
But then I saw my friend post on Instagram about someone she had visited to do her brows. I checked out her business Insta page and her microblading technique looked exactly like what I had been waiting for. She uses a Fluffy Brow technique which look really natural and move like real eyebrows. I messaged her and we set up an appointment.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from my first microblading experience but I guessed that I would need my skin to be as least irritable as it could be so I stopped using retinol for the three nights leading up to my appointment and I also stopped using Paulas Choice BHA Liquid exfoliant in the mornings which I had been using since my facialist recommended it to me to help clear up my blackheads. On the morning of the treatment I didn’t wear any make up at all, just a light moisturiser and SPF but I did assume she would clean the area anyway before starting so I guess you could wear make up if you wanted.
My appointment was at half 10, when I arrived she sat me down and stared at me quite a lot. We discussed colours and what I wanted from my brows, she told me to trust her which I completely did. I had been so nervous leading up to this but she put me at ease immediately. She then used some string to map out the shape and size of my new brows. When she showed me this in the mirror I was a little panicked as they looked bigger than I imagined they would be but she assured me that was the outline so they wouldn’t be quite this size. Then I laid back so she could begin.
my before photo
Now she did warn me that the first part was uncomfortable. She began by microblading the outlines of my new brows and let me tell you she was quite right. This was uncomfortable. It felt like lots of tiny tweezers pulling out hairs really fast while scratching your face. Pleasant. It made my eyes absolutely stream, I had to keep dabbing them at the corners but weirdly it also tickled the inside of my nose and made me feel like I wanted to sneeze. Once she had done this on both sides she applied numbing cream. Apparently the first part opens the skin so the numbing cream can be absorbed to work quicker and better. Thank goodness for this cream because after it is applied and been left a few minutes to kick in it feels nothing like before, the sound of the scratching is worse than the feel of it. I guess she then took about 15 minutes on each eyebrow and then she sat me up so she could check them. She was happy with the result, I still hadn’t seen a thing but she cleaned them up and put some cooling gel on to take any redness down. I go red easily so I hate to think how angry my face might have looked.
By this point I have some nerves again because when you are having work done on your face it does feel amplified, each stroke felt an inch long and you almost feel like she is working halfway up your forehead which she of course is not. When it was time for the grand unveiling she handed me a small hand held mirror and lowered it slowly into my line of vision, I was still lying down at this point. I had a lot of scenarios running through my head, like how fast can I run? What if I cry? BUT I was amazed. In a good way! They looked so natural, and just like the brows I had always dreamed of. I was immediately thrilled.
There is some aftercare to be done at home. I wipe them over in the mornings and evenings with cool boiled water and apply a Vitamin A and D ointment on them which she gave me. I also put vaseline on them in the shower to prevent them from getting too wet. I am on my third day now and I have had no problems at all, no scabbing or bleeding or peeling. They look pretty much perfect. I keep stopping and looking at myself as I pass the mirror I am so pleased with them. They should hopefully last at least one year, possibly up to two years and I do have to have a top appointment in 6 weeks to check them over and fill in anywhere that I feel needs extra hair strokes.
Microblading is not cheap. I paid £250 for the initial appointment and the top up will be £70. I am based in Essex and quite close to London, other places I had considered visiting in the city can charge anywhere up to £800 so I am satisfied that I received an excellent service for a reasonably good cost.
It is still early days as they don’t fully heal for four weeks but at the moment if you are in any doubt about whether microblading is for you I would say go for it! It has really changed my face for the better. I look neater, more polished and dare I say it slightly younger…. I am pleased with my Microblading journey so far and really glad I took the plunge finally at the age of 41 and just went for it.
NJ x
nicola jayne 