Microblading Round 1

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing something really exciting with you!

If you follow me on instagram (@thefashionablylateblonde) then you know about a month ago I got my eyebrows microbladed. What is microblading you ask? Well, I am here to tell you all about it and hopefully answer any questions you may have. (If I don’t answer your question feel free to email me, leave it in the comments, DM me on instagram or comment on one of my posts.)

 Before

 Before

Mapping with both brows 

 Mapping with one brow

 Second round of numbing. Almost done

 After!!!

AFTER!!

Let’s start with what exactly microblading is.  It’s basically a semi permanent tattoo on your eyebrows that imitate hair strokes. Unlike real tattoos that penetrate 7 layers of skin microblading only penetrates 2. (Hence the semi-permanent part.)

Your microblading artist will make tiny hair strokes to imitate the natural hair strokes of your brows.

I feel like the next most frequently asked question is does it hurt? I’m not going to lie, I have a pretty high pain tolerance.  (I also have a real tattoo on my ribs.) However, they do numb you twice throughout the process. My brow artist numbed me when I first got there for about 15-20 minutes before we started and then again about halfway through. I will say my left brow got completely numb both times. My right eyebrow… not so much.  While the numbing gel was setting in the first time we talked about shape, color and results. Lucky for me, I have a lot of eyebrows they are just really light. I told her to keep the natural shape for the most part with just a slight arch. (I have RBF and my mom says when I arch my brows too much it intensifies my RBF.) I told her I do like my brows dark and we decided on dark blonde. As with anything like this you can always go darker, but you can’t go lighter. Once everything was decided and I was nice and numb it was time to start the process. I can’t tell you exactly what went down, but I can tell you about what I experienced. Like I said before I have a pretty high pain tolerance so the pain didn’t bother me, but the sound did. Microblading is different from a tattoo in that they do not use an electric tool but rather just a handheld blade with tiny needles at the end. And it sounded exactly like that. (If you are like me and can’t do sounds I would suggest brining headphones. I will probably wear some for my touchup.)

The entire process wasn’t long at all. I think my appointment was at 9am and with numbing, the procedure, a second numbing and the rest of the procedure I think I was out by 10:30. That is very quick in my book.

Now let’s talk about aftercare and what you can expect.

First of all you can’t get your brows wet for 10 days. This also means no excessive sweating so cancel all your gym classes. (I had to take 2 weeks off from Orange Theory.) I had J help me wash my hair so I didn’t have to worry about that. (Such a good fiancé.) If you don’t have someone that can help you wash your hair a girl I work with saw another blogger use goggles to keep her brows nice a dry.  That is definitely a great option to keep in mind.  I’m sure you’re wondering how I washed my face during this week and a half period. Honestly, I only put product on the lower half of my face. I’m also very lucky in that my forehead doesn’t really break out. Not in a really noticeable way anyway. I also didn’t wear face makeup except one night when we went out to dinner. When I did wear makeup I only put it on the lower half of my face. (So weird, I know. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.)

You also have to put ointment on them for the first 24 hours and then aquaphor on them twice a day for the next 8 days. After the first 10 days you are pretty much out of the woods. You still want to be really careful because they are still healing. I think they pretty much require around 30 days to heal. (I’ll post a meme below so you know what I mean.)

 The first few days they are also the darkest. I loved mine the first few days. I still do, but they have definitely gotten way lighter. I plan on going the next shade darker at my touchup on Friday. That brings me to the next phase in microblading. After 4-6 weeks you need to go for your touchup. (This should be included in your initial cost.) This is basically a perfecting appointment. You can go darker, fill in any patches, and go bigger/fluffier or anything you want. After this touchup you should be good for about a year or so.

I have my touchup on Friday and will write a final post on microblading in another month. This will cover my touchup appointment and anything after that.

Have you been thinking about microblading? What’s stopping you? I’d love to answer any questions you have. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments, email me @ fashionablylateblonde@gmail.com or send me a DM on instagram.

And if you are a local Jacksonville girl I will leave my brow gals instagram handle here @cristalwalkerbeauty. Cristal did such an amazing job. I cannot recommend her enough.