To Microblade or Not to Microblade?

To Microblade or Not to Microblade?

Sometimes I feel so lucky to be exposed to beauty opportunities like that time I let a woman come at my face with tiny little blades and a jar of dye. What? Haven’t you heard of the latest beauty rage? It’s called microblading. (It’s also called 3D brows, HD brows and embroidery). I like to call it: A MIRACLE.

I got the service done thanks to Tweezerman and Ritual Toronto – disclaimer, I did not pay for the service however, I would definitely pay for it again as it has basically changed my entire face shape. And that, my dear readers, is priceless. I’ve gone from run and hide your face after yoga to stare at yourself in the mirror during yoga admiring your makeup-less beauty. The service (including the touch-up and consultation) is $500.

However, as the adage goes: Il faut souffrir pour être belle. Translation? It hurts like a bitch. The entire process is definitely a test of true patience and laziness. Heather Seo, my brow fairy godmother, who is booked months in advance, held my hand during the entire process.

First, you must go to a 1-hour consultation. Here, you will decide on the shape and colour of the brows. Heather will talk at length about the different shapes and then she will draw the shape onto your brow. This is done several times until narrowed down to two, slightly different, shapes. Next, you go home and take 10000 selfies. Do you hair, makeup, put on various clothes, and ask your significant other. NB: The last one is the most important because they have to see your brows every single day.

Once you decide on the shape, you go in for your first session. This takes anywhere between 2-3 hours. During this time, Heather applies a numbing cream and preps the brow. The actual “pain” only lasts about 45 minutes. How does it feel? Well, the numbing cream does get wiped off as she works so there are moments when you only feel pressure and other moments when it feels like someone is giving you tiny paper cuts all along your forehead. It hurts. I’m not going to lie. I have a high tolerance for pain. I have massive tattoos. Microblading is a bitch.

Next, you must do exactly what Heather says, without fail, to take care of the area. Even though the piece of paper she’ll hand you with care instructions says 7 days to heal, most people take about 14 days. It took me two weeks and a bit to be fully healed. During that time you cannot wash your face. You cannot wash your hair (I got weekly blow-outs and covered my face with a towel). No steam, NO SUN, no sweating (no working out) and definitely do not touch your brows or pick at the skin. It’s going to be super dark at first, and there will also be moments when half your brow looks like it’s missing. If you can grin and bear it, you’re golden,

If you’re going to be one of those picky whiny girls who is afraid to go to the grocery store in sweatpants or if you’re one of those women who thinks the brows should just be perfect with no effort on your part, let me tell you right now, microblading (and friendship) is not for you.

If you’re a go with the flow kinda chick, who can follow the rules and have reasonable expectations for such a delicate process and basically, if you hold the expectation that the result will be better than what you had to begin with, then microblading is for you.

Because guess what? You gotta do it all over again 6 weeks after when you go in for your touch-up.

I have to be realistic with the process. It’s not easy, it’s not perfect and it’s definitely not painless. However, the results, in my opinion are 100% worth it. I would do it over again and again. I will definitely re-fresh the embroidery in a year or so or whenever Heather wants to hack up my face again, and I will continue to do so all the days of my life.

I was once just a face with no definition and a girl who used to have to pencil her brows in every single day, now I just bronze and go. NB: You will have to maintain the hair that is still there (tweezing or waxing whatever grows but it’s much easier since the shape is tattooed on for dummies). My eyebrows, in my understanding of perfection, are indeed perfect.

To microblade or not to microblade, well, that is the question. It all depends on YOU.

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Guys, don’t laugh at my pictures! These are my brows without any makeup and I had to take these pics myself.

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12 Comments

  1. Jocellyn
    June 16, 2016 / 5:40 pm

    Omg. Just reading this made me cringe. I’d be the whiny bitch. I have no pain tolerance. My seasonal brow wax is enough for me. You’d need to load me up on some xanax and vicodin before doing that! But power to you. I love the shape you got. Different then the Kardashian brow look everyone & their mother is doing.

    BTW- Is this the same thing as “feathering”? This big Aussi Instagrammer I follow is all about it, and she made it seem like a walk in the park :p Lies- all lies!

    Jocellyn

  2. June 16, 2016 / 10:33 pm

    I was just looking into this other day. I tint my brows now but I have ZERO talent when it comes to filling them in or shaping them. Plus I’m lazy, I want to just wake up, slap some mascara on and go. I need to find a good place in NYC to get this done.

  3. June 17, 2016 / 3:41 pm

    OMG. A year?! That sounds amazing. Your results also look amazing. My aesthetician offers this service but I have been terrified to do it and I also have a high pain tolerance too (tons of piercings). That was of course, until I did this underarm hair pulling technique that had me praying to pass out LOL. I do tint, and I love filling in my brows but it is SO tedious sometimes. Hmm. You may have swayed my to try it out!

  4. June 19, 2016 / 5:52 pm

    Omg so glad I finally found my note to check out your blog (we met at the Lacoste party in Miami). Someone emailed me to try Microblading last week and I was like ehhhh idk…now I’m curious.

  5. Katie
    June 20, 2016 / 7:15 pm

    I recently saw a YouTube video on microblading. Thanks for sharing your experience in Toronto!

    Katie X

    Pepper & Piper

  6. Kristina
    November 25, 2016 / 1:49 pm

    Heather is the brow master :) I’ve been wanting to do partial but she insists we grow the hair out, for a bit more – love her!!
    I do browWOW every 4 weeks for now :)

    • Justine Iaboni
      November 25, 2016 / 5:38 pm

      YAAAA! I would do whatever she says lol. She is a genius! Honestly these brows changed my life! Keep me posted when you get the microblading done!!!!!! xoxo J

  7. Mary
    February 15, 2017 / 1:09 am

    What amazing colour and brand of lipstick are you wearing? Perfect shade or orange/red! Brows are looking good.

    • Justine Iaboni
      February 15, 2017 / 10:51 am

      Thanks!!!! I’m pretty sure that is NARS Jungle Red lipstick! It really is the perfect red/orange shade!!!! Try it in the velvet matte lip pencil – SO GOOD!

  8. Tim
    June 15, 2017 / 10:47 pm

    TIM THINKS THIS IS SCARY!!!

    • Justine Iaboni
      July 8, 2017 / 9:42 am

      LOL it is.

  9. Grace
    February 14, 2018 / 12:41 pm

    You are beautiful, but look way too much like my DH ex (who is gorgeous, IMO, while I look like a potato) for me to save this article :( I wonder if you’re related…are you of Turkish/ME origin? Okay I have issues, clearly. Maybe I do need microblading….and therapy…

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