'6 THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN BEFORE I HAD MICROBLADING' - A CLIENTS HONEST REVIEW

1. It doesn't hurt, but there's a catch
Any good technician will numb your skin before your procedure after they map out your brows so you're happy. For me, it felt like tiny paper cuts. You can feel the blade, but it's more annoying than painful. The sound was more off-putting than anything. After the numbing cream wears off, your brow area with ache and feel sore. I took an ibuprofen to help with the pain. 

2. You can't wash your face properly for a week
After you get your brows done, you can't wash them for a week straight. (Cue the screams.) I know, it's weird — and extremely difficult, especially if you wear makeup. I know what you're thinking. "Don't wear makeup!" That isn't an option, unfortunately, as I have to wear at least a little bit for my work on camera. 

I used a foaming face wipes to remove my makeup, and although I'm not the biggest fan of wipes in general, they got the job done. Q-tips were used to remove liner and mascara, and when showering, it's imperative you face away from the shower head — the right way, in my opinion — to wash your hair and body. (Duh.) The point is that your cuts will scab over and fall off, and if they're constantly saturated with water, that will affect the process.

3. It's itchy as hell.
The skin has small surface level incisions and is then filled with ink and wiped it away. Then the scab sheds, scabs over again, and sheds again. This makes your brows itchy, but you're not allowed to pick off dead skin or itch them, which, as you can guess, can drive a person insane. I spent many of my days patting my brows, similar to patting a weave, and getting concerned looks from my coworkers. 
You can get ointment if your brows get too itchy. I used it once. They don't suggest using it regularly because your brows need to be dry to scab. Also, expect your brows to be several shades darker than you expected for the first couple of weeks due to the scabs. After a month, your brows should have shed a few times and will look closer to your natural brow hair shade.

4. The second appointment is a must.
I absolutely needed the second appointment. Sinead will hit any areas she may have missed due to swelling. More importantly I asked to go very light in my first appointment with my pigments and after healing decided I needed some darker strokes.
If you avoid this appointment, you could have scarce areas, and you might not be happy with the final shape of your brows. I suggest booking your second appointment before you leave your first.

5. It improved my morning routine
I like that my bald spots are gone and I am so happy to have a perfect arches every day. I struggled with my brows prior to getting microbladed and now I spend two minutes or less on them in the morning since the shape is already there, and that's a huge win. It's been a year, and I was told they could last anywhere between a year to three years, depending on my skin type. I'm oily in my T-zone, which means two things: the pigment is there, but they don't look like hair strokes anymore. They've faded slightly, and the strokes have blended together. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look as natural. So I will be booking back in to make a touch up appointment soon.

6. How to find a reputable artist
When I did this, microblading was just becoming a trend. It was not difficult to find a technician because so few people were doing it. I went to Beauty Ink because I had seen Sinead's Facebook before and after photos, and I loved the results I had seen. Now there are so many people taking courses to become microblading technicians because it's a lucrative business. 

Ultimately, all of these things were manageable, and I am happy with my results. I would definitely do it again, having already been through it once. I'm looking into my next touch-up so I can maintain my filled-in brows.