Why did I get microblading? The long and short of it is that I don’t have as high of an arch in my eyebrows as I would like. My brows are very thick and are definitely the defining feature on my face. Whenever I would get them threaded, however, I would always wish my arches would be higher. I realized that it wasn’t my eyebrow technician’s fault that I wasn’t getting the shape I wanted. I just didn’t grow eyebrow hairs high enough. My brows were naturally a little flat. I eventually began filling my brows in and sometimes I’d do a great job and I’d love the look. but I couldn’t always replicate the shape I wanted when filling my brows in. So I decided to see Shayla, since she’s an expert.
If you don’t make it to the end of this post, just know that I love how my brows turned out and highly recommend microblading to anyone considering it. I also recommend Shayla, as she did a great job making sure my brows came out perfect. I have such dark brows that it easily could have either made no difference or looked too dark and clownish.
Microblading Process
Prior to the first appointment, I did a bit of research online which informed me to stop using a retinol for a few weeks before my appointment. I had a couple photos saved of my ideal brows, which I showed Shayla prior to getting started. After that Shayla mapped my brows out, meaning she drew out what / where she was planning to microblade. She showed me this before starting and I signed off on it.
The process of microblading itself is slightly painful- maybe a 4 out of 10. However, the numbing cream helps and you could always ask for more if you’re uncomfortable. The entire process of doing the microblading took about 30 minutes. Shayla did a combination of hair like strokes and some shading for my brows.
Healing Process
Note that there are some healing / maintainence instructions that Shayla gave me. The challenging part was that you can’t get your brows wet for the first 10 days. Besides that, it was pretty simple.
Day 1: When I first saw them, I felt that the color and prominence was a bit much for me. I wasn’t used to my brows being quite so dark and bold. Shayla informed me that the final color would be 30-40% lighter than what it was at the moment, which re-assured me. The shape was great, though. I’d never had arches this high before, and I was excited to see the final result.
Day 2: If it was possible, the color looked even darker on day 2. Let’s just say my brows were very dark and bold. I felt like I looked like Oscar the Grouch – Shayla had prepped me, though, so I was fully expecting this. My husband said he didn’t like whatever I did to my eyebrows (HAHA) but I reassured him it would fade (and I prayed this was actually true).
Day 3: Brows were still very dark. Looked like they had been tattooed on.
Day 4: My brows were still very dark and bold, but I noticed that they were starting to get slightly lighter, more ‘feather’ looking, and less block-like. I think I was also getting accustomed to the dark brows on my face, so it wasn’t as jarring to look in the mirror.
Day 5: Brows were starting to flake a little bit. I could tell that if I were to scratch my brows, a lot of skin would flake off. I’m a picker, so it’s kind of hard not to pick at them, and they were starting to get itchy! But overall, I was starting to get a feel for what they’d look like at the end.
Day 6: More itchy and scab-y. I noticed pieces of scab falling off and I was trying very hard not to pick. At this point I see parts of the brow fading and I was getting nervous that I hadn’t done a good enough job keeping my brows dry and that the pigment was coming off with the scabs.
Days 7 – 14: My brows basically got more and more normal looking by the day. It was nice to be able to shower without worrying about getting them wet by day 10.
Touch Up Appointment
I like that a touch up appointment is included, even though I didn’t really need one. If there are any changes such as making the color darker or making the arches higher or whatever else, you can request that. I loved my brows as is and my touch up was very minimal.
Final Before & After
Overall, I’m so happy with how everything turned out. I’m publishing this post over 6 months after the final touch up, and I still love how my brows look. I definitely plan to get them touched up and maintain the microblading. One of my favorite things is that there is basically no chance that my eyebrow shape get messed up when I get them threaded. I used to have this issue where sometimes the technician would thread them too thin and I’d end up frustrated. Now, the technician pretty much just has to follow the outline that’s already there and it’s pretty hard to mess up. I ask them to just clean up and the shape comes out perfect every time.
