When my daughter had her eyebrows microbladed I thought they looked really good. So when my hubby gave me a microblading gift voucher for Christmas 2020 I was really excited. At 57 my eyebrows were getting a bit sparse and going grey so I thought giving my eyebrows a semi-permanent colour was a fab idea. So is microblading worth it? Here’s my experience.
How Much Does Microblading Cost?
Although this was a xmas gift I already knew how much microblading my eyebrows was going to cost. The total amount was £260 for a combination brow. With ordinary microblading the consultant uses a pen like tool with little needles on the end to create hair-like strokes around the border of your brows. With combination brows she also applies a powder effect (again with the needles) to the body of the brows giving them a shaded, full look. I had mine done at The Brow Wow, a local microblading salon in Low Fell. The cost was broken down into: £50 consultation fee, £160 for the combo treatment, and £50 for the touch up treatment. The microblading combo effect is expected to last up to 18 months.
The Consultation
At my consultation treatment, the consultant measured my brows and talked to me about the shape and colour I wanted. I decided to go for an iced coffee shade. She showed me pictures of people with ordinary microblading and people with the combo treatment so I could decide which I wanted. As my daughter had gone for the combo I decided to have this done. At this session she also waxed my brows to get them into shape ready for the treatment the following week. She charged me £8 extra to have them waxed.
The Treatment
Is microblading worth it? You definitely need to take the actual treatment into consideration. The whole thing probably took about 3 hours. The consultant applied some numbing cream to my eyebrows as I sat in the waiting room. 10 minutes later I was taken into the treatment room and lay on a fairly comfortable treatment bed. As soon as she started the procedure I felt I’d made a mistake. It was quite painful. I’d heard other people say it was uncomfortable but this was actually painful. She did numb my eyebrows a few times during the procedure but it was still very uncomfortable. The consultant also kept resting her fingers on my closed eyelid and it felt like she was pressing on my eyeball. I probably should have mentioned that to her but I didn’t. She got me to sit up a couple of times during the procedure so she could check how they were going and I was quite dismayed when she told me to lie back down. I just wanted the whole thing to be over. But I kept thinking it would all be worth it.
After approximately two and a half hours it was over. She sat me up and gave me a mirror to look at my eyebrows. I have to say I was quite shocked. I looked like a clown! She did reassure me that the effect was much darker straight after treatment and that it would fade.
My Microblading Experience: The Aftercare
I was given a leaflet before I left the salon and the consultant explained the aftercare procedure to me. Basically I wasn’t to get my eyebrows wet for 10 days and to avoid makeup. Not wearing makeup wasn’t really a problem, but I was left wondering how I was going to shower and wash my hair without getting my eyebrows wet. She also explained that my new eyebrows would start to scab over and then the scabs would fall off leaving my eyebrows a lot lighter. I would also need to have the touch-up done 6-8 weeks later which is when I would get the final effect. My daughter had said she didn’t like her brows at all until after the touch-up.
Unfortunately the day after I had my eyebrows microbladed we had arranged to take my grandchildren to a local aquarium. I had not anticipated how ridiculous I was going to look.
I felt like everyone was looking at me wondering what on earth I had done to myself. My grandchildren also had a little giggle when they first saw me that morning. I spent the outing trying not to look anyone straight in the face. For the next 14-21 days my eyebrows did indeed scab over and then the scabs started to fall off leaving my eyebrows looking very patchy. This was almost as bad as the clown eyes on the first day. I really felt like I couldn’t go out in public as I looked so ridiculous. I didn’t wash my hair for a few days afterwards but then I did actually master washing it in the shower without getting my face wet. Not an easy task. And trying not to pick the scabs off was very difficult!
By week 4 all of the scabbing had come off and my eyebrows were left looking normal. It didn’t really look like I’d had them done at all. But because my daughter had mentioned this to me I wasn’t too worried. She told me they would look good after the touch-up.
Is Microblading Worth It? The Touch-up Treatment
At 8 weeks after my initial treatment I went back for the touch-up. I really wasn’t looking forward to it. This treatment lasted around one hour and was again painful. I hadn’t banked on having to go through all the after-part of looking like a clown and the scabbing situation all over again. I somehow thought this wouldn’t happen after a touch up. Wrong. The next four weeks were just like the first time. I didn’t go out a lot lol.
It has now been six months since I had my eyebrows microbladed. Here are my pros and cons.
Pros
- You don’t need to bother with your brows when you’re putting your makeup on. Although I hear some people still use a pencil on them.
- They do look good eventually. I was actually happy with the end result. My brows look a lot better than they did and my face just looks more well framed … even without makeup on.
Cons
- I felt £260 was quite expensive. But I suppose you need to take into consideration how long the treatment takes the consultant to do.
- For me the weeks of looking like a clown was extremely off-putting. I’m not sure if the effect would have been the same had I gone for the ordinary microblading and not the combo treatment.
- You still need to pluck or wax your eyebrows. Microblading doesn’t stop the hairs from growing where you don’t want them.
- I found the procedure very painful. But note that other people have said it was only uncomfortable so that may just be me.
So is microblading worth it? Like I said I know a few people who love it. They don’t find it too painful and I haven’t heard them complaining about the aftercare part, so it may be that you would have a different experience. But for me, after careful consideration I have decided that microblading just isn’t worth it. I really wouldn’t want to go through the experience again, even though I really do like the end result. So it will be back to the eyebrow pencil in a few months time.
If you’ve had your brows microbladed what was your experience? Let me know in the comments section 🙂