December 02, 2015

I got my brows tattooed!

You might remember from an earlier post that I was thinking of getting my brows featherstroke tattooed. My own natural brows are very patchy from years of overplucking, and I was getting sick of filling them in each morning. When you see the state of my natural brows you'll know exactly why I HAVE to fill them in. The solution? Feather stroke tattoo, which I got done recently.

Here's a before/after photo for your viewing pleasure before I get started on the post. Please note this is picture heavy.
Picture source (@la_belle_parra)

This type of tattoo is designed to mimic real hair and look really natural, so you don't get the solid coloured brows that can make you look like Morticia Addams. It's semi-permanent, meaning that it's not going to last forever so there's no risk that I'll be 80 yrs old with grey hair and super dark arched brows. This type of tattoo lasts anywhere up to 5 years, depending on your hair and skin type.

I've had a lot of questions from people about the process, so I thought I'd do a blog post about my experience. Just remember these are my opinions based on my experience, if you are considering getting feather stroke brow tattoos I suggest you find a reputable salon that does it and ask for a consultation so they can give you more in-depth answers.



The tattoo process
This type of tattooing is done over 2 separate appointments, 6 weeks apart. During the first appointment you agree on the shape and get the initial tattoo done. Then after 6 weeks you go back to perfect the shape and touch up any bits that haven't taken the pigment well.

My first appointment took 2 hours. We spent the first hour perfecting the shape to suit my face. My left brow is naturally droopy, which brings down my left eye. Katie, the brow specialist, corrected this by drawing on the brow where it should be, rather than where it naturally hung so low. She managed to make my brows symmetrical, something I hadn't managed to do in my years of doing makeup and brows.

After I was completely happy with the shape and colour, Katie applied numbing cream then got to work applying the pigment using a single-use microblade.

You might be wondering if it hurts. I won't lie, it does, but it's a completely bearable pain. For me it felt like someone was quickly plucking the hairs off my brows. It's way less painful than waxing, just feels scratchy.
During the tattoo process. On the left is the final shape and colour we agreed on, on the right is Katie hard at work. 


Healing & After care
I experienced no downtime after the tattoo, straight after getting them done I just went about my business as per normal. There was a tiny bit of redness around my brows (see pic below) but no one noticed. I had a bit of a headache most of the first day which Katie said is completely normal. It's from all the pressure of stroking the pigment on to my brows. The headache wasn't bad enough to warrant painkillers, it was just a dull ache. For about 2 weeks after I had to apply antiseptic cream on my brows to make sure there were no infections, and also need to be careful not to apply any product to the brow area for those first 2 weeks as well until they heal.
Notice the slight redness in the After picture. This was as bad as it got, i.e. it was not very noticeable.  

When first done, the colour is about 30% darker than what you will actually end up with. It takes about 2 weeks for the final colour to come through. During those first 2 weeks the skin on my brows started getting dry and scabby, and dry bits started falling off. At first this freaked me out as I thought that meant the whole colour would be falling off together with the dry skin. Not the case. It was just the darker top layer, what I was left with was the actual colour my brows would take.

Excuse the poor quality of this photo. This was about 5 days after the initial tattoo when the skin started scabbing off.


Six week touch up
After about 6 weeks my brows got a bit patchy in parts where the pigment hadn't taken well, but it was still 100% better than my natural brows. For my 6 week touch up Katie went over the bits that didn't take the colour as well. The whole thing took about an hour. Healing & after care was exactly the same as after the first time.
After 6 weeks. Some of the pigment has not taken to my brows well, but that's what the touch-up appointment is for.

Final result
This is what my brows look like now 3 weeks after getting the touch up done. If all goes well, this should last me anywhere from 2-5yrs. I have absolutely no regrets getting them done, I wish I'd done them sooner. It makes getting ready in the mornings that little bit quicker, and for a busy mamma of 2 kids, any time saved is a bonus.

Final result - WITHOUT any product.
Final result WITH CLEAR BROW GEL

Image source (@la_belle_parra)


I got mine done at La Belle Parramatta. I am not affiliated with the place, I found them by googling, then stalked their FB and Instagram pages for a few weeks until I was confident that they were the place for me. Their work looked consistently great and Katie, the tattoo artist, was very friendly and knowledgeable. I paid $580 for the two sessions, most places charge roughly the same amount. If you're thinking of getting your brows tattooed in this manner, I suggest you research the place thoroughly to make sure they're reputable, hygenic, and of course their work must also be of a standard you're happy with.

Let me know what you think of my brow transformation. Would you do it?




8 comments :

  1. i totally against eyebrow tatoo, because, everytime it looks so fake.. but this looks totally natural ♥

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks amazing! So natural! You picked a great place!

    Danielle's Beauty Blog

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  3. They look so natural, wow!! I love them Lilit :) x

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  4. They look amazing and very natural! Just the push I need to go out and get my own done! Xx

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  5. Wow, your eyebrows look awesome!!!

    pinkdaisyloves.blogspot.com.cy

    ReplyDelete
  6. They look so good! When I saw the title of this post I was actually kinda nervous, until I saw the photo - I see so many bad examples of brow tattooing (especially feather touch; that is all over facebook at the moment) so I'm relieved for you that it turned out so well! :) would be interesting to see how long it lasts before you need a touch up

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  7. Your brows look so good and natural! xx

    www.adaliascloset.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete

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