Let's talk brows! I've been having a lot of good brow days lately thanks to my recent microblading + powder brow combo sessions with Gilded Beauty OKC! In short, I got my eyebrows tattoo'd on. If you haven't heard of microblading, let me fill you in. It's a semi-permanent tattoo that fills in and shapes your brows perfectly (just like you would do with a brow pencil) by mimicking hair-like strokes with a pigmented ink (similar to tattoo ink, but safe for your face). It's done with a hand tool, which is more like a tiny razor blade as opposed to a tattoo pen, and basically gives you extra brow hairs. I had wanted to get my brows microbladed for several years so I jumped at the chance to collaborate with Michele at Gilded Beauty when she reached out to me!
I'm going to share my experience with microblading below from start to finish and will follow it up with some common questions I received from my followers. If there is anything I didn't answer, feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram!
First things first.... I met with Michele and discussed what I had in mind for my brows. We looked at pictures of her work, we talked about what to expect / how to prepare for the first session, we discussed my brows....the shape, the color, what I liked and didn't like, etc., and we came up with a plan. I originally wanted just microblading, but we decided to do a microblading and powder brow combo. Microblading is individual strokes that mimic your brow hairs as I mentioned above while a powder brow gives more of an ombre look for a soft, shaded brow. I wanted my brows to look natural but my view of "natural" was the way I filled them in with makeup each day. Michele recommended the combo to give me some hair strokes around the edges and shading through the rest of the brow.
First Session
I'm not gonna lie, I was preeeeetty nervous going into my first session. I mean, my face was in someone else's hands and they were tattooing it!!! EEK! I have a small tattoo on my shoulder so I wasn't overly worried about the pain, but I was suuuper worried that the powder brow would make me look like I had dark caterpillars on my face haha. However, Michele made me feel so comfortable and at ease the whole time. Before starting, she gave me a pencil and let me show her how I fill in my brows on my own (since that was the shape and look we were going for) - it kind of created a template or stencil to work from. Then, she applied the numbing cream - I was shocked at how quickly it worked - and we got started!
It was a strange sensation.....I could kind of feel the pressure from the cuts being made (and I could hear them) but they didn't hurt at all thanks to the numbing cream. Michele constantly checked on the pain and added more numbing cream regularly to keep it from hurting. Honestly, I barely felt a thing! A few spots did make me sneeze, haha, I guess those nerve endings were tied to my sinuses somehow. Michele took it step by step and let me look in the mirror every few minutes and approve of her next moves. She started small and added size/width as we went to make sure I was OK with the size and placement of each hair stroke. Her theory was you can always add but you can't take away! A few hours later and wallah.....new brows!
At Home Care
The day of the session, Michele sent me home with some tea tree swabs that I dabbed on my brows every 30 minutes for several hours. They were so cooling and soothing on my fresh brows. After that, I had an ointment that I applied two or three times a day for several weeks. It was really moisturizing and kept them from itching as they healed. Some people experience scabbing or flaking afterwards but I never did.
The first week or so your brows appear much darker, harsher and larger than how they will look long term (it is kind of shocking at first) but they fade about 30% in the first few weeks to get to their final intended color. The darkness and size is due to the skin underneath being red and swollen. You are instructed to not pluck, wax, etc for several weeks and you aren't supposed to apply makeup to the brow area for a couple of days....but you won't really even need it!
Second Session
Six weeks or so after the first session, everyone gets a touchup! It is included in the overall price. It is pretty much the same as the first session and is intended to fix any spots that were missed or that didn't hold on to the pigment. Or to make the brows a little bigger, if desired! After a few weeks of getting used to the brows from the first session, you quickly learn what you like and what you wish was different, what still needs to be filled in, etc.....and all of that can be fixed or addressed during the touchup.
Overall
I'm so pleased with how my brows turned out! There are a lot of reasons people want to get microblading done but for me, I wanted to save time. Filling in my eyebrows with makeup every morning was so time consuming and thanks to Michele I can pretty much skip the entire brow process - and I can skip my eye makeup completely most days thanks to my lash extensions! I have noticed that depending on what powder or foundation I use, my brows can get get a little too covered up if I'm not careful so I have to be cognizant of that when applying makeup, but overall I'm loving my results. It's so nice that "I woke up like this" is a real thing! Now if only my skin would look as perfect and flawless as my brows, amirite?!!
About Gilded Beauty
One thing I loved about Michele is that she is a registered nurse! It made me feel extra comfortable knowing that I was in good hands. She is passionate about doing permanent makeup and helping women feel beautiful in their own skin - she started doing permanent makeup as a way to help those with cancer, which I think is so considerate. She made me feel so at ease, listened to my input, thoughts and concerns and was so fun and easy to talk to throughout the whole experience.
Q+A
Q: Since it is "semi-" permanent, how long does it last?
A: It depends on the person, their skin type, and factors like sun exposure, medications, topical products, etc. Typically microblading lasts 12-18 months before needing a touchup.
Q: How long does it take?
A: Each session took roughly three hours from start to finish.
Q: How often do you need touch-ups?
A: The first touch up takes place about six weeks after the initial session but after that, your brows won't need a touchup for 12-18 months or longer depending on the person.
Q: What does it look like when they start to fade?
A: I can't answer this from experience since my brows are freshly done, however, from what I understand they just slowly loose color and revert back to their natural state (i.e. what they looked like before microblading).
Q: What does it cost?
A: At Gilded Beauty, microblading costs $400 and includes both sessions. If you mention my name you can get $100 off making it $300!
Q: Did it hurt? What did it feel like?
A: I touched on this above but no, it didn't really hurt at all! I barely felt a thing thanks to the numbing cream. I could hear it cutting the skin which was weird and occasionally it would hit a nerve that made me sneeze or get teary eyed but it never felt like a cut. I could feel the pressure of the blade and occasionally felt it slicing (almost like a hard, sharp pencil pushing into the skin?) but I promise it didn't "hurt" at all. Michele checked on the pain constantly to ensure that I was never uncomfortable.
For two or three days afterward it did sting quite a bit, especially if I ever got hot. Even thinking about sweating made my brows burn like crazy but as soon as I stopped perspirating it went away. My forehead and brows always sweat SO BAD so I'm guessing that the sweat glands were cut open and the salt from my sweat is what made them burn? Needless to say, that was the most painful part of the whole process and it went away in a couple of days.
Q: Was it worth it?
A: YES! If you've ever considered getting your brows done I highly recommend it! It saves me so much time in the morning. I think it would also be great for older ladies who struggle to see their brows to apply makeup, people who don't want to take the time to do makeup but want to look put together, people who are tired of smudged makeup or even people who are allergic to makeup products! The only people who might not think it was totally worth it are the makeup gurus out there - as I said above, my powder and foundation can tend to cover up some of my microblading if I'm not careful, so if you're set on a super bold brow, you would probably still need to fill them in around the edges.....but it would still give you a head start!
There you have it! I seriously love my results! It is SO nice to more or less skip my brows when doing my morning makeup + it's fantastic that they don't sweat off at the gym or when I'm at the pool haha. I'm sure some people frown on permanent makeup, lash extensions, spray tans etc., but to me, those things make my morning routine SO much easier and make me feel "naturally" beautiful without spending an hour in front of the mirror and to me, that's 100% worth it.
If you're local to OKC and are interested in microblading, powder brows or any other type of permanent makeup (like eyeliner or lip color), definitely reach out to Michele and schedule a consultation! If you mention my name she'll give you $100 off microblading.
I was not compensated for this post, however, I did receive the microblading service free of charge in exchange for this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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