Today I’m gonna talk all about microblading your eyebrows. You will find out everything you need to know about this beauty trend.
Is microblading worth it? Is it safe? Is it dangerous?
Table of Contents
What is Microblading?
Microblading is a form of permanent makeup or cosmetics that is a variation on a tattoo. Microblading differs from a traditional tattoo in that a traditional tattoo uses a handheld machine to deposit pigment into deeper layer of the skin.
On the other hand, microblading is using a single-use sterile handheld tool to deposit that pigment into the deeper layers of your skin in a stroke-like fashion.
Because of the way that the pigment is deposited in the skin, microblading fades much more quickly than a tattoo.
Because as they are stroking the pigment through your skin and into the dermis, there’s bleeding that occurs and you get pigment loss, the pigment is extruded out through the skin at the same time as the blood is coming out of your skin.
But microblading is actually a great option for people who are coping with what’s called eyebrow hypotrichosis, thinning or loss of the eyebrows due to a variety of reasons.
Is Microblading Eyebrows Safe?
Microblading is a type of tattoo, so in terms of complications the same complications that can happen with getting a tattoo can occur with microblading.
One complication is that people can actually develop an allergy to the pigment that is deposited in the deeper layer of the skin. You might already have an allergy or just some of the components of it. Or you may develop one with time causing you to have problems with the tattoo.
The fact that it’s gonna fade faster doesn’t mean that it’ll go away per se, you’ll still have that allergen in your body and that can cause problems for you. So that is certainly a risk.
If you are somebody who scars very easily, you make those thick scars or you make keloids, I would stay away from it.
Anything that creates injury in the skin, whether it be a tattoo or microblading, you want to avoid. Last thing you want is keloids on your eyebrow area. Keloids can develop in people who are predisposed to very minor trauma to the skin. Piercing is really common. Children get their ear pierced and develop a huge keloid on their earlobes.
So if that’s you and you know that in your history, stay away from microblading. It’s not worth it.
Also if you have certain skin diseases, you definitely should stay away from tattooing and microblading. Some skin diseases exhibit what’s called Koebnerization, meaning anytime there’s any trauma or stroking of the skin, the rash will come out.
A disease that classically does this is psoriasis. If you have psoriasis, I would not do microblading because you can make your psoriasis come out in your eyebrows.
If you have a history of herpes simplex virus breakouts on your face, I would avoid microblading.
I would talk to your healthcare provider before doing it. The reason for this is that any procedure on the skin of the face in people who are predisposed to herpes breakouts can elicit a breakout.
That’s not a great thing because when you breakout with herpes virus rash, you shed some of those virus particles and they can then get into the area that’s been treated, that is essentially a wounded skin, whether that be from the tattoo or a resurfacing laser. That can cause a really bad, more widespread herpes infection on your skin. You don’t want that complication.
If you have that history, definitely talk to your healthcare provider before doing something like microblading or any kind of procedure on the skin of your face, because an antiviral medicine may be prescribed that can reduce that risk for you.
If you have any active skin infection or you just don’t heal well, for example you are on a medication that lowers your immune system, you may want to reconsider doing this because you could potentially develop scarring or some sort of a complication more so than someone who’s not on one of those medications.
I think one of the scarier things though, and not uncommon unfortunately, that can definitely happen with microblading is going to be skin infections due to the individual not using sterile technique.
It’s one of those things where you really have to spend a lot of time reading reviews, talking to your friends who do this and finding reputable people in your area.
In terms of how this is regulated, it varies a lot from state to state.
For example, in the state of Texas, microblading is under the auspices of the Texas Health and Human Services Department. You have to pay $1000 fee to the department for your facility and that involves a regulation of the facility, how hygienic the facility is. You also have to be 18 years of age or older.
And that’s it. You don’t have to go to cosmetology school, there’s no regulation as far as the skill set of the individual.
That can vary a lot, which is scary!
You can go on YouTube and see videos teaching people about microblading techniques. So somebody could be totally self-taught and be doing this. You need to be very careful with who you select as far as their technique and and their skill set.
There’s no regulation on the pigments that they use or select for you and/or their technique, how they do it. There’s no oversight into that. That’s something to be aware of. 42-year-old woman from Kansas City underwent treatment that left her with distorted brows.
Microblading Post Care
Once you have the microblading done, in order to protect it and to preserve it and make it last longer, there are a few things to do.
Something you definitely want to do is to cover the eyebrows with a vaseline petroleum jelly.
If you use vitamin C serum, if you use any kind of topical exfoliant, like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, alpha hydroxy acid, tretinoin or or retinol, any of those that exfoliate the skin, you want to coat your brow area with vaseline before you apply those.
Even if you are applying that stuff to other areas of your face, because it can migrate and travel around and get on your eyebrows and fade them and do so in more of a patchy fashion, which you definitely don’t want. So cover your brow area with vaseline.
Other things that will accelerate the fading of your microblading include ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. So make sure you’re putting sunscreen on your brow area. Wearing a broad brim hat also helps protect them to a certain extent.
LED light treatments, facials (whether or not they be using exfoliant) and steam from the facials can also accelerate the rate of fading of your brow.
If you do have eyebrow microblading done and you’re gonna have a laser procedure, whether it be hair removal or treating hyperpigmentation, or if you’re having LED light treatment of any kind to your face, what you want to do is cover your brows with a thick, non nano-sized zinc oxide sunscreen, like one for the babies.
How Much is Microblading Cost?
Microblading ranges in cost from around $350 dollars to as high as $800 dollars.
The average microblading cost is around $400.
How Long Does Microblading Last?
It typically lasts 1-3 years, depending on skin type and age. Skincare routine will also affect the lasting effect of the pigment. Each individual’s color retention will vary.
To maintain the brows looking fresh, a touch up is suggested every 12-18 months.
Microblading Removal
Microblading is permanent. Even though it fades, it is actually permanently part of you.
What if you get microblading and you hate the way it looks and you want want to get rid of it? How do you get rid of it?
That’s where the dermatologist comes in and that is going to be a laser tattoo removal.
When it comes to the laser removal of the tattoo, I can tell you firsthand that it almost never, if at all, goes back to looking like your skin did before you have the tattoo. There’s always some residual of the tattoo there. It never really looks right.
There are great laser surgeons out there who do really phenomenal work in removing tattoos, but it’s really expensive and really painful, not something fun to go through.
You may think that with microblading it would be easier to remove, because it fades faster. It’s actually the opposite.
Microblading is a lot harder to remove then on regular tattoo because of the way in which the pigment is deposited in the skin. It is dragged through versus direct deposit. That makes it harder in terms of directing the laser to remove that pigment.
It’s definitely something to keep in mind when deciding is microblading worth it.
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Rebecca is a licensed aesthetician and certified laser technician with almost 15 years experience in the dermatology. Her life-long passion is making people look good and happy.