Remember when solariums were a big thing? Ah those days of sitting inside a box slowly cooking yourself. That was… until we realised solariums were linked to skin cancer. In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer re-classified solariums as a Group 1 carcinogen – in the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Commercial solariums slowly lost their popularity, then from 2015 they became illegal to operate in Australia.
While it won’t give you cancer, there’s an extremely popular eyebrow tattooing technique that can have devastating results. And no one is talking about it.
What Microblading Really Is
Microblading, also known as ‘feathering’ is still the most widely known brow tattoo technique in many parts of the world. Yet unfortunately not all consumers know what the technique actually involves.
Microblading uses a hand tool that looks a lot like a mini scalpel. The hand tool or ‘microblade’ is comprised of a row of needles which a technician uses to slice the skin in the brow area. Tattoo pigment is deposited into these slices to mimic the look of brow hairs.
It’s a smart marketing ploy to call this technique ‘feathering’. A more apt term would be cutting.
Microblading Creates Trauma To The Skin
As microblading is a manual method, it’s far too easy for a technician to make cuts too deeply and inconsistently in the skin. Which leads to the immune system reacting strongly to the procedure. Your body reacts to the pigment as a foreign substance and tries to get rid of as much of it as possible. The more trauma the cuts have created, the more the body will attempt to repair the area by quickly laying down scar tissue. So microblading clients can be left with little to no results and scars on their brows.
(If you need corrective work on previous microblading see 'Microblading Corrections')
Microblading Goes Blurry Over Time
Clients that do manage to get a result from microblading may still be unhappy with these results over time. This is because microblading cuts soften and blur. The manual method of microblading doesn’t place pigment precisely or at a consistent depth in the skin. So the pigment migrates over time and makes the cuts look blurred. Those fine crisp ‘hairstrokes’ you see in microblading photos don’t stay that way for long.
As the cuts start to blur, clients will want to get a ‘touch-up’. They’ll go through the whole procedure again and end up with more scarring. Eventually their skin will be too damaged to take any further microblading so they’ll either have to put up with blurry looking eyebrows or seek an alternative.
The Better Alternative To Microblading
Like spray tans for solarium lovers, there are better alternatives out there for clients wanting to improve their brows. The newer techniques like Ombre and Soft Powder don’t cause scarring and actually last longer than microblading. Using a cosmetic tattoo machine, a single needle places dots of pigment throughout the brow. The skin heals far better around dots of pigment, as the overall integrity of the skin is better preserved. A tattoo machine can also place pigment at a precise, consistent and deeper level in the skin which means it will last longer.
If clients were given this information then they would definitely think twice before going under the blade. To be able to make an informed decision you have to know exactly what you're getting. When choosing an eyebrow tattooist, make sure you have a consultation with them first. Get the answers you need. Only then can you make the right decision for you.
Want to know if the Soft Powder Brow Tattoo is right for you or do you need microblading correction? Book in your free, no-obligation consultation with Elise Louise here. Consultations can be over the phone or in salon.
Elise Louise is the client certified 'brow wizard'. Seriously, she has the certificate her client made her to prove it.
Find her in her Melbourne salon, specialising in the Soft Powder Brow Tattoo, the Keratin Lash Lift and expert brow services.
Check out more of her blog here.