Permanent makeup FAQs
STOP. YOUR. SCROLL. Do you have some burning questions about cosmetic tattooing that you’re dying to have answered? Are you frustrated with constantly worrying about your brows, especially since now that’s all people can see? Read on, I’m answering some GREAT questions in this blog post.
A little bit of background, in case you stumbled upon here by accident, my name is Laurie and I’ve been a cosmetic tattoo artist for over 7 years, and I’ve done thousands of procedures. I own Waxonomy Frisco, Waterloo and Guelph, and I’m the self-proclaimed Brow Queen of the KWC region (soon to be Frisco too). If you have any questions that I don’t cover in this blog post, COMMENT! I read the comments and would love to help you solve your brow issues.
How long does microblading last before needing to get redone? I always tell my clients, bank on having a touchup annually. You may or may not need it, it’s kind of at your discretion. When you feel like you’re filling in your brows every day, and you’re getting sick of it, book it in. If you think you can stretch it out a few months, stretch it out. If you’re not sure, shoot me (or whoever your artist is) a photo of them in their current, natural state (sans makeup) and we can make a judgement call. I do, however, usually see people once a year.
What would you say is the most natural looking technique to fix patchy brows?
It doesn’t matter what looks most natural. It only matters what your skin can handle. If you microblade oily skin, it’s going to look like rubbish when it’s healed, so it won’t look natural either way. I hear this from clients all the time, “I want it to look natural!” Yeah, I get it. You don’t want people to know you had them done. Sure. But my job as your artist is to make sure I choose the right technique that best suits your skin. If you have uncompromised, normal to dry, perfect skin with perfect pores, no wrinkles, that microblading is going to look undetectable. In fact, you have your pick of whatever technique you want to have done. If you come to me with oily skin, larger than tiny pores, scarring, compromised skin (think rosacea, psoriasis, acneic skin) I’m going to push you to go for powder ombre because I know what’s best for your skin type.
If you do microblading, as you get older will you have scar tissue?
Long story short, yes. With microblading, you’re making superficial incisions in the form of a hairstroke. You’re cutting. It would make sense that eventually, down the line, if your artist isn’t working at the proper depth, you’ll have scar tissue. Also, in my opinion, and it’s a shared opinion amongst many PMU professionals, a microblading client can only microblade so many times before they can’t microblade anymore — they always eventually graduate to powder/ombre (the buildup of pigment will prevent you from seeing actual strokes after many years of touchups). Whether or not you’ll see actual visible scarring — I’m not entirely sure. I know my earlier works (say year 1) where I went too deep, I can see dips where my blade really cut into that skin… eep. But now, my strokes are so so so superficial… I’m not sure I can personally answer this question and say you’ll have buildup of scar tissue. I’d have to have a good 10 more years of experience under my belt to answer that with first-hand knowledge.
I love the natural, microbladed look, but I’m too oily. Nervous ombré will look too glam on me. Thoughts? I think the look we’re referring to here is this:
While this is beautiful work done by international artist, Brow Daddy (whose training I’ve actually attended) — this style isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay! This is mega glam, and really only good for clients who will never be caught without a full face of makeup; and even still, really only done by a younger age group (think 20-30). Generally speaking, I go for a softer edge with my ombre brows so it heals with a feathered, pixelated edge. I hear you, my oily-skinned friend, but I also have oily skin and my brows are powdered — and you’d never know. I can still go without makeup on my face and I don’t look too glam, but I can add more makeup and glam it up when need be. I’ve got you, gf.
What is recommended for someone with blonde eyebrows? I’m scared!
I like to call myself a shopaholic. Whether it’s in relation to my supplies for work, or clothes, I love exploring and finding new things. I say this because I think I have a solid 20 bottles of pigment open, and another 20 bottles of different pigment colours unopened waiting to be tried out on a new client. Whether you have blonde hair and normal/dry skin, or blonde hair and oily skin, the pigment choice will be the key element to make you not feel like Eugene Levy. I can safely say, I have every shade of blonde, and I’ll have something light or dark enough to help you feel comfortable with your new brows. I will also say, with my nervous nellies I tend to do lighter and more conservative with my shape and colour, and almost ALWAYS we end up going darker and thicker at the touchup. But building is good, taking away pigment is an entirely different process.
healed blonde powder/ombre in taupe
As always, I LOVE hearing your questions, and I want to have conversations with you guys! If you’ve enjoyed this post and you have your own burning questions, please leave them in the comments below! You can also book a virtual consultation and we can become IG buddies. DM to set it up. Can’t wait to hear from you all!