You will of seen from the title that yes, I have tattooed my face! Nothing sinister but I have taken the leap and gone and finally after 2 years of research and going to and from of ‘is it worth it’ I took the leap and decided to go for Microblading. If you are reading this post, expect a few close up angles that well don’t do much for me but I really wanted to get a few snaps of the process and the lovely lady Chelsey who did my brows is a brow queen so I had to get her working her magic on my brows documented because seeing really is believing!
On Sunday I took the short drive to Watford to go to the get my brows done with Chelsey from Beauty by Chelsey I had been recommended her by a friend who trained with her to master HD Brows so I was sure I was in safe hands. It was something I had researched for a long time and while I knew it was something I desperately wanted, I didn’t realise how much I actually needed it done too.
Chelsey is on Facebook so I contacted her through there and eagerly paid my £50 deposit and booked in, once my appointment was secured it was all I could think about I was so excited to give some real shape back to my brows I mean they can change the whole look of your face. I used to be a real over plucker and when I was 18-19 I knew they were at their worst and I needed to try and grow them back. I did this but still I had sparse and coarse brows and they would grow back odd, stick out and just look to small for my face. Then came the trend of drawing them in, while I never too to a scouse brow I did like a bigger brow as I think it suits the structure of my face I grew up with full brows and why I ever had them small I will never know but trends change when growing up and of course having nothing basically was once cool. I swear by ABH dipbrow and it’s a staple of My Brow Routine and for the last 4 years it has helped me leave the house with the one thing I always have to have on my face – brows!
My appointment started with a patch test I did this then me and my friend Megan popped into Watford for a couple of hours before heading back to get them done. I filled in my form, this is standard, someone like Chelsey who is a trained professional will always make you do a patch test, and a form to make sure you’re ok to have the procedure. Her room is registered with the council just as any licence body art tattooist would, and this is really important when going to someone.
If you saw my Twitter you may know that the woman I had originally booked to do my brows refused to let me take pictures for my blog, got very very angry and refused to do my brows at all refunding me my deposit. A lucky escape I reckon! I came to Chelsey with my brows drawn in as I normally would and Chelsey talked me through what type of brow I was after, I knew I kind of liked the shape of my left but the right was in a whole different place and we both agreed that they were flat and needed some depth to them. After looking at them it was apparent how high my brows sat, I guess years of over plucking had left them uneven and just a tad all over the place but now the fun begins.
Chelsey began the drawing on stage she measured out where my brow should start, arch should be and tail should finish. She plotted out the perfect shape that would frame my face and suit me, this takes a while as she is a brow perfectionist which is what you want when you’re getting them tattooed so she takes great care, time and makes sure before even thinking about getting to the tattooing stage that you are 100% happy with the shape etc.
Of course I was, I was happy for her to start as I gave her a rough idea of what I was after but she knew exactly what was right for me. Once drawn on it was time to get colour matched two shades could of suited me but one that was a slightly cooler brown is the one we went for, the other was too warm for my skin and hair but the colour is dependant on you and your brows. It is always better to go slightly lighter if you are unsure on your first appointment as you can always get it darker when you back back for your top up after 4/6 weeks.
The tool used looks like a pen it has interchangeable heads, the one used on me had 14 very small needle type tips laid in at an angle. They are then used to scrape/scratch the skin in hair like motions as the name suggest ‘blading’ think of blades of grass, they are angled to match your hair growth to make them look natural. Originating from Asia it used to be done with sharpened bamboo so this is a lot easier to handle! I did bleed a little but it can be worse if you have drank so keep that in mind when going and avoid drinking the night before at all. The pain really is very very bearable it has the feeling of threading and at most its just uncomfortable and at times a little eye watering. Once the lines are made the pigment is placed over the brow to sink into the open skin. Chelsey will keep checking to make sure they are even and add more strokes where needed to make sure they are perfect. Not that she needs it but if a hair is done wrong there is something she can put in that removes that pigment so if for some reason you saw a hair stroke that was too much it actually at that point can be undone as I said not that you would need it!
As you can see from the top picture my brows looks a little lacklustre to start but the short procedure takes between 1 hour and a half – 2 hours all in all and in that time my face was totally transformed. The cost to have it done was £250 and this includes a top up after 4 weeks to fill in any faded areas once healed. It last for approx. a year to 18 months before needing a full top up but if you go back within this time frame the prices are reduced.
You can see how natural they look once done, they are of course red and a little sore but I had done some research and grabbed myself some numbing cream before hand from Boots called Emla Cream which I lathered on my brows before hand which meant the process was a lot easier for me and keeps any real pain at bay though I have had a tattoo before and had that done with no cream so I am sure some people would be fine but if it is easier why not do it eh. They take around 10 days to heal and in this time the colour will get darker before it gets lighter, they will soften and blend totally with my brows though I was over the moon already and if they looked like this forever I would be happy with that too.
They do scab and get a bit sore in the day days after so keeping them dry is essential, that means no make on them, no washing the brows and keeping them moisturised with something that is designed to heal. Chelsey gave me a few sachets of Euricin Aquaphor soothing skin balm this just eases the healing process and just relieves any unneeded pain while the skin is healing.
I am now on day 4/5 and gross but the scabs are starting to come off a bit, it is also good to be aware that when they do come off the strokes will be around 50% lighter that when you first had them done on the day. This is why it is essential you go for your touch up to make sure they look their best.
I can not recommend this enough, it has changed my life and I know it is a big statement but it really has I feel confident already as Megan who came with me has already booked on. I now know numerous people who will be heading to Chelsey to get their brows done in the new year too and I would say if you are looking to get them done and can get to Watford relatively easily go here, you won’t be disappointed at all, I am trying to convince my mum next and i think I am beginning to win her over.
I go back on the last weekend of November for my top up and this is when Megan is getting hers done too, I will be sure to update this post so you can see the final, final results from my whole Microblading experience, this procedure is semi permanent but it isn’t just for people with little brows it can be used for full brows that need a little more definition or even for someone with no brows. Chelsey herself has done brows for people who have had cancer and people who suffer from problems such as alopecia so she can work with anything no matter if you have brows or not.
In the meantime if you have any questions, tweet me here @LemonaidLies or drop a comment below and make sure you check out Chelsey on Facebook all he links are below so you can find her and get fabulous brows too! If you head over to my Instagram @lemoanidlies you can keep up with them as they are healing too as I am sure a few selfies will be floating around my feed.
Facebook – Beauty by Chelsey
Website – www.chelseybriggs.co.uk
Have any questions, want Microblading or had it done? let me know!
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