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I mentioned that Winter is the ideal time to begin your semi-permanent cosmetic journey. Why is that?
The short answer: Because microblading and other semi-permanent techniques are tattoos, and tattoos require time to heal before they look their best. Also, they usually require two appointments to achieve the desired outcome.
That being said, let’s take a deeper dive into what you can expect before, during, and after each of those appointments. For the sake of ease, I’m using the microblading process as an example, but these principles apply to almost all of the semi-permanent processes IndelliBelle offers.
Appointment #1
During the first appointment I’m really focused on getting to know you a little bit better. Every person’s wants and needs are different. Every person’s starting point is different. And every person’s skin is different. The differences affect how sensitive the skin is, how easily the skin absorbs pigment, etc.
Because of this, I take a conservative approach at the beginning. This isn’t a tattoo you can keep covered if you decide it’s not what you expected. It’s your face! We start slow and add over time if we need to. I’d much rather you arrive at your second appointment wanting a bolder brow than feeling like Groucho Marx.
Appointment #2
This is where the magic happens. Your skin has healed and I’m able to assess how much pigment was retained and how your skin responded to the color we used. You’re able to tell me how you feel about your brows at that moment and what you’d like to be different moving forward.
Immediately After Each Appointment
Your brows are going to be dark. As soon as the pigment hits air it begins to oxidize. Over the next few hours this oxidation makes the pigment go almost jet black. Don’t let it scare you. I promise you will not look like this for long.
The Healing Phase
After each appointment you’ll have a healing time of about 7-10 days. The goal during this time is to not touch your brows!
The first few days you will keep ointment on your brows to keep them as moist as possible. We need your skin to heal with the pigment inside it so, the longer you can prevent the area from drying up and the pigment from flaking off, the better your color retention will be.
After four days you’ll stop using the ointment I provide and allow the skin to continue the healing process on its own. It’s here that you’ll probably notice some slight flaking and itching.
Until this process is complete, usually around day 10, you’ll want to avoid anything that could hinder your skin’s ability to retain the pigment. For instance, I’ll advise you to stay out of the sun, keep your brows away from water as much as possible, and not to apply any makeup your brows. After this you’ll be able to resume all your usual activities.
Winter is Best!
As you can see, the healing process involves avoiding many activities associated with summertime. It’s much easier to skip the sun and swimming pool in February than it is in June. Plus, as a general rule, we tend to hunker down at home a lot more during the Winter months. Many clients opt to do just this as they are healing, making our colder seasons the perfect time to begin this process.
This way, you’ll be ready when the weather warms up. Bonus: your makeup will stay right where it belongs when you hit the pool, ocean, or spin class.
Top photo: Before
Middle photo: Right after 1st appointment
Bottom photo: Healed, ready for 2nd appointment – also got lash extensions
Tell Me More
In my next series of blogs we’ll dive into eyebrows and eyeliner separately. I’ll tell you exactly what each appointment entails, and I’ll answer my most frequently asked questions. That being said, please comment with anything you’d like to know about the semi-permanent cosmic process, and I’ll do my best to cover it in an upcoming post. If you have a more urgent question, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at [email protected].
–Ashley Goldston, Owner of Indelli•Belle
