When PMU goes wrong
So, someone else did a permanent tattoo on you and you’re not happy with the outcome. You’re now probably hoping someone (maybe me?) will be able to save your face, quite literally, and fix the mess. Here are a few things you need to know about cosmetic tattooing, and how it can go wrong:
Your old microblading has changed colour. It’s been a few years, and it’s looking either too warm, or too cool (aka orange or grey). First things first, brown pigment is made up of yellow, red, and purple. As the pigment ages, there’s no way of knowing which colour will fade faster than the other, which can result in the colour shifting to orange or grey. If this is what you’ve got, don’t freak out — it’s fixable. And it happens to the best of us. Your artist will try to avoid this by using modifiers, but sometimes it just happens.
Your old microblading isn’t crisp, it’s blurry, and its super dark. This happens for a couple of different reasons: Either your original artist wasn’t super experienced and went too deep (resulting in blurry, dark strokes), or your skin isn’t suited for microblading (also resulting in blurry, dark strokes). Microblading isn’t for everyone (on both ends of the service). If you’re oily, or have trouble skin, microblading won’t end well. Powder brows are much better suited, and is a much more gentle technique, will last longer/age better. I also am of the belief that eventually everyone will transition to powder — you can only go into the same strokes so many times before it just gets blurry and messy anyway.
Your shape doesn’t suit your brows. Either the shape is off, or is sitting too high on the brows, you have a double tail, whatever the case may be. You’re just not happy with the shape anymore.
So what the heck are you supposed to do now? In most cases, an artist will work on someone else’s work for a fee. Please don’t expect to pay an artist’s touchup rate if they didn’t do the original work. You should expect to pay at least the cost of a brand new set of brows, at the very least. You may also be required to have removal of some sort to lighten pigment that’s too dark, or remove pigment that doesn’t belong in your best shape.
If you’re OK with your brows becoming thicker or darker then they currently are, it’s usually an easier fix. If you’re hoping to get lighter or thinner, count on a few rounds of laser removal so that your skin/pigment is workable. If you’re looking for a trusted tattoo laser removal clinic, you can DM me on my socials and I’ll give you recommendations.
Corrective work is an advanced technique, and requires a skillset you won’t find with a beginner artist. There’s a reason experienced artists charge what they charge, and it is extremely important to check an artist’s portfolio for healed work. I’ll be the first to say everyone starts somewhere — we all need practice on actual skin before we can start to improve. And you may be someone’s practice… that’s ok. If you’re sitting across from an experienced artist asking them to fix your brows, don’t try to bargain: you’re paying for years of experience.
If you need an artist to correct work from another artist, contact me! I have experience doing this for clients. I always suggest book a consultation first so I can properly assess what needs to be done.