Heard of Microblading? Well I gave it a bash & (spoiler alert) I love the results!

Strong eyebrows have very much been a vibe in the beauty industry over the past couple of years, but even before they became “on trend” I’d been wanting to pump mine up a little to better frame my face.  I had heard about microblading, but thought it sounded super scary, so never seriously looked into it.  But then, almost like an angel sent from above, a lovely lady by the name of Rene got in touch and asked whether I would be interested in trying out and reviewing the process for Cape Town My Love.

I won’t lie, I was really apprehensive at first.  After Googling microblading for about 2 hours I had found some horrible videos where things had gone very very wrong, but Rene put my mind at ease by sending lots of before & after shots of other clients she had done and by also promising that we can go as natural as I wanted, then work up from there once I got used to them.

I was tired of filling in my brows every morning, so I thought why not.  Let me put my big girl panties on and do this!

Just to explain the difference between traditional eyebrow tattooing and microblading:  where tattooing or permanent make-up can end up giving you a very sharp, unnatural look, microblading is a semi-permanent option that delivers very natural results thanks to a technique that creates hair like strokes using a special microblading pen which deposits pigment superficially into the upper region of the skin.  The blade of the pen comes in different thicknesses which means your therapist can select an appropriate thickness to best complement your natural hairs, and the process is a very meticulous one by which your therapist applies each stroke individually, giving them complete control over the shape, colour & density.

It’s a great option for anybody who’d like to fill in missing eyebrow hairs from say over-plucking, or people who’d like to improve on their overall eyebrow shape, length or thickness.  They can even fully reconstruct an eyebrow if you have very little or even no hair.  Isn’t that amazing??

Typically microblading is done as a 2 step process:

• Initial appointment which takes about 2 hours
• Follow up treatment 6 weeks later for touch ups

Rene operates from the Lifestyle Emporium in Mouille Point (where she’s also a fabulous hair stylist I’ll have you know).  She hasn’t been doing microblading for very long, but the lady is clearly a natural.  She passed her microblading course with flying colours and hasn’t looked back since…

Upon arrival, Rene applied a topical anesthetic to help take the edge off.  Microblading, as painful as it sounds, really isn’t.  It’s a bit uncomfortable and you’ll hear like a little scraping sound, but overall I thought it wasn’t too bad.  I definitely wouldn’t say no to the anesthetic cream though.

The first hour is spent precisely measuring out your new brows, ensuring that the shape fits your face perfectly.  Then they also select a colour that best matches your hair colour and skin tone.  Blondes may be a little more stressed about the colour selection because I think it’s way easier to match a brunette than it would be to get the perfect colour for a blonde, but Rene assured me it really wasn’t that tricky to get it right.

Then the creepy part… haha.  Look away if you don’t like blood.  There’s a little bit of bleeding, I mean they are making tiny cuts on your skin, but if you avoid having a big booze up the night before (which of course thins your blood), you should be OK.

Then lastly Rene added some extra colour just to make sure it all sinks in properly:

So the results??  Below I’ve created a little side-by-side look at (top) my brows before without any make-up applied, (middle) my brows before after adding a bit of brow filler and then (bottom) my brows after the microblading treatment & without any make-up whatsoever:

Needless to say I freakin’ loved the results!  On day 2 you’ll find that they’re go much darker and you’ll probably freak out a little:

I wasn’t too stressed because Rene had sent me this super cute info-graphic which really helped me through the process.  It explains exactly what to expect as each day passes and totally helps to put your mind at ease:

I’m currently in the “Day 14 – 28: Nevermind! They are coming back. Phew!” phase and going to my touch up in about 10 days time.  So far I’m still super happy with the results, there’s just one or two spots I want Rene to fill in – but that’s exactly why you do the touch up a couple of weeks later.

Pain-wise, my brows were a little sensitive for a day or two and on the day I had a bit of a headache, but nothing a Panado couldn’t fix.  Then for after care you need to apply a gel which Rene will provide every day for about 10 days and also ensure that you don’t get your brows wet for at least the first week.  I didn’t find the scabbing part too bad, but it does depend on person to person.  Rene will give you a little eyebrow brush to help comb them off, but you should NOT pick at them in any way.  They must fall off naturally.

Now for the important stuff:

• How long does it last?  About 1 – 2 years.  It really depends on your skin and how well it holds the pigment.
• How much does it cost?  Rene charges R2000 for the initial visit and then R1000 for the follow up after 6 weeks.  So that’s R3000 in total.  I really don’t think that’s bad for ensuring your brows are bangin’ for 1 – 2 years.

Interested?  Then call Rene on 073 681 8782.

Of course you can shop around as there are a couple of people who do it in Cape Town, but I loved how careful and cool Rene was throughout the process and therefore can put my full backing behind her. (also her pricing is super competitive)

Giver her a call, go for a consultation.  You’ll love her too, you’ll see.

xxx