If you’ve been dreaming of sporting Cara Delevigne-esque brows then chances are you’ve heard of microblading. While it’s still the biggest trend in Australia, other parts of the world are leaving microblading behind… But more on that later. What you may not know is why microblading won’t work for you.
What Is Microblading?
Microblading (aka feathering/embroidery/hairstroke tattoo) is a manual method of cosmetic tattooing. A small handtool comprised of a row of needles is used to cut very fine lines into the brows. These lines are meant to simulate hairs, so it appears like you have a fuller brow. Cosmetic pigment is soaked into the cuts, giving colour to the lines to resemble hair.
Why Microblading Won't Work For You
What you may not know is that these lines can soften and blur over time. Only with a very good technician and the perfect dry skin type do these lines stay somewhat fine and crisp. This is why oily/combination skin types don’t get good results from microblading. Oilier skin has larger pores and excess sebum which can’t retain the pigment when it is microbladed. The sebum literally pushes the pigment out or the strokes becomes blurry due to large pores. As microblading must be done very superficially to create fine crisp lines, your skin type really affects the result.
Microblading Doesn't Last
The other thing you may not know about microblading? It doesn’t last very long. The cuts should be made just into the bottom layers of the epidermis which is quite ‘superficial’ for tattooing. Due to skin cell turnover of these layers, microblading really only lasts on average for maybe 6 - 12 months. You may have some hairstrokes left by 12 months but half of them will most likely have dropped out. Or they will have blurred. This means you will need to have touch up sessions every 6 months or so to have your brows still looking full. More sessions = more trauma to skin. The more trauma your skin undergoes, the less likely it will be able to handle more microblading. Scar tissue has a different composition to normal skin and heals differently. So you can only have microblading for so long before your skin won’t be able to take it anymore.
What’s The Alternative?
The latest trend in the cosmetic tattoo industry is the ‘Ombre’ technique. A digital cosmetic tattoo machine is used to superficially implant pigment into the skin without cutting it like microblading, leading to far less trauma being created. Very fine dots of pigment are precisely tattooed into the brows, resulting in a soft, powdery effect after healing. With higher precision and less trauma, results are much longer lasting than microblading. Many parts of the world are now leaving microblading behind, due to better and more consistent results found with the Ombre technique.
With a skilled technician and the right skin type, microblading can definitely have good results. But a more consistent and less traumatic technique is definitely the Ombre, which I like to call ‘Soft Powder’. This technique suits all skin types and lasts longer than microblading, which means less touch ups!
Want to find out more about the Soft Powder Brow Tattoo or need microblading correction?
Get in touch with me lovely! I offer free consultations over the phone or at my Melbourne studio so you can find out everything you want to know.
Let’s talk BROWS.
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.