Tired of penciling in your eyebrows every morning? Microblading is a beauty trend that has been sweeping the nation. View the VIBE’s Aly Zorn gives us her first-hand experience of getting eyebrows tattooed on.
No one can deny that for the past couple years, eyebrows have really been having a moment. Gone are the days of finely tweezed brows, as full and filled arches take center stage. Call me vain, but I had totally bought into the whole “eyebrows on fleek” thing and I took pride in my defined brows. What I didn’t necessarily enjoy was the time it took me to pencil them in EVERY morning.
But as fate would have it, I would soon discover a procedure called microblading. If you haven’t heard of microblading before, the concept is actually quite simple: semi-permanent tattooing is applied to the brows to fill them in and improve the shape – hair like lines are literally drawn on.
If you’re freaked out by the words “tattoo,” don’t worry, I was too. Although microblading is only semi-permanent, the results will last a year, and it costs around $500 so choosing where you get your brows done is imperative. For these reasons, I chose The Good Geisha, Toronto’s first premium cosmetic tattoo shop.
As I walked into The Good Geisha on 576 Dundas St. West and met shop owners Amber Gotzmieter and Anna Chow, I knew I was in good hands. Combined, they have over ten years of experience in cosmetic tattooing and unlike most beauty bars, they specifically specialize in cosmetic/medical tattooing (think receding hairlines, scar cover-up, eyeliner, beauty marks & more) so you can be guaranteed all health and safety regulations are up to industry standards.
The Procedure
Gotzmieter began the procedure by leveling out my brows. She immediately noticed one brow was lopsided! Not uncommon (to my relief), Gotzmieter explained she would fix this by threading a portion of one brow away and use microblading to fill it in and lift it to the proper position.
When the threading was done and freezing was applied to both brows, I held my breath as Gotzmieter began, frightened for a second over what I got myself into… Using a hand held needle, she began to insert the ink with small brush-like strokes. I won’t lie, it isn’t a walk in the park, but I would describe it as more a feeling of discomfort – the threading was actually more painful.
The whole procedure took about 90 minutes, including the prep work. Despite wanting the end to come just a little bit faster, I was glad that Gotzmieter took her time. I could tell she was a perfectionist, which gave me comfort that I wouldn’t end up looking like a drag queen.
The Results
As I held a mirror up and examined my freshly drawn on brows, I was blown away by the results. While my brows are naturally pretty thick, I didn’t realize just how unruly and unshaped they were. I also noticed how much more defined and darker they looked, yet still entirely natural – I couldn’t even tell which eyebrow had been lifted!
In terms of aftercare, it is relatively easy. I was given an after ink cream to apply a minimum of three times a day (or more) over the course of the next two weeks. I found throughout the healing process there was no pain, except for a slight tenderness the first couple days. I’ll be honest though, you’re brows will scab and when this happens they get itchy as hell.
In my eyes, some itching is a small sacrifice for what you get. Even without makeup, I find I feel more confident and I literally still get a wave of happiness every morning when I realize I won’t have to fill my brows in – not this morning, not the next morning, not for the next year!
Would I do it again? Probably. Some might see it as an unnecessary luxury, but I have to admit chucking my eyebrow pencil in the garbage felt pretty d*mn good.
RELATED LINK: Life Before and After Lip Injections (With Photos)
Have you tried microblading before? What do you think about the process and end result? Connect with usFacebook or Instagram (@ViewtheVIBE) or tweet us @ViewTheVIBE.
