Episode 2 - The Top Five Reasons Why You May Regret Getting Your Eyebrows Microbladed

When I was planning on starting a podcast and going into the treatment side and services side of things, this topic was number one in my head because it's probably one of the most asked about services, or one of the most discussed in person or on social media. 

There’s a lot of misinformation out there so I’m here to give you the lowdown on microblading. There's a lot of controversy about this treatment because quite a few people don't actually know what it is- companies, brands, and clinics/salons  like to market it a certain way and call it different things. 

In this week’s episode we have a deep dive into all things related to microblading. We will be covering the following:

• What is eyebrow microblading?
• What is the difference between microblading (handheld method) and semi-permanent/SPMU makeup (also known as machine brows)
• What to look for in your microblading tech?
• How bad do they hurt, what is the pain level?
• What about numbing cream/lidocaine?

Without boring you too much, there are a lot of requirements behind the scenes when it comes to being a SPMU artist. You require qualifications and insurance of course, but also a premises license. As a client, or someone interested in getting this aesthetics procedure, you have every right to know this about your aesthetician so never be afraid to ask. I understand this can be a big decision so please take your time in researching clinics and always ask questions! This will reduce a lot of anxiety for you and allow you to know fully, and consent to what it is you’re getting. I am very transparent due to my background in the legal field and my law degree. 

There are different techniques for brow microblading such as hair strokes, powder and ombre also known as combination or “combo” brows. If you want to know more about the different effects then please drop me a DM on instagram and I'll be happy to help if you want more information on anything I’ve discussed!

And as always, thank you for joining me on the sofa! I really enjoyed chatting with you! 

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to on the sofa with Simi, the brains behind polysemy beauty. This is a safe space where I will be sharing and discussing all things related to marriage, motherhood, makeup and everything in between for women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. So if you don't already know me, I'm your host, Simi. I have over 10 years experience in the beauty industry, specifically in makeup, esthetics and semi permanent makeup, also known as microblading. In those 10 years, I've gone from traveling the world doing makeup and generally living the dream, let's be honest, to almost giving up during the pandemic, to then becoming a mum and a wife. In my early 30s, I'm here to share all my knowledge, tips and tricks I've learned along the way, like the best friend you never knew you needed. So grab a cuppa, get cozy, and let's sit on this sofa and have a chat. And with that, let's get right into this week's episode. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who have listened to my podcast so far. I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the positive reaction that I've had to the first episode last week. So thank you. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, this week, we're going to be covering the top five reasons why you may regret getting your eyebrows microbladed. So with that, we need to know what is microblading. In my introduction, you may have heard I referred to Microblading as a form of semi permanent makeup. That is absolutely true. Anything semi permanent when it comes to the tattooing side of things, basically means that there is some form of pigment going into the skin, not onto the skin, like an eyebrow tint wood or a henna Brow Tint wood. This is actually going into your skin. Eyebrow Microblading and semi permanent makeup tattooing are really popular treatments when it comes to wanting to enhance your eyebrows. Perhaps you over plucked them, perhaps you don't seem to get hair growth there anymore, whatever the reason, you're pretty much guaranteed decent results with either of these treatments. With eyebrow Microblading specifically, is imitating those hair strokes, so it basically looks like your eyebrows are fuller because you've got more hair there. Now, what is the difference between Microblading and semi permanent or spmu makeup brows, also known as machine brows. I've had clients who've come to me in the past. They've been elsewhere previously, and they want to get their brows refreshed, or they've moved area. They're looking for a new tech, and I've popped up. So we go through the consultation, they do their patch tests, their consent forms. It comes to the day of the treatment, they're lying down. I'm cracking on with what I'm doing. I eat the microblading, and they suddenly say, oh, Simi, when are you going to put the machine on? Now with eyebrow Microblading, there is no machine involved. It's basically a hand tool with a small blade, and we are inserting the pigment into the skin with a machine brow, or a semi permanent makeup brow, there is a full on machine involved, and it is a lot more intense, without getting too technical, the eyebrow Microblading only goes around one or two layers deep into the epidermis, whereas the eyebrow machine tattooing goes Six or seven. It is essentially a proper tattoo with that, there's obviously different pain levels, there is different retention rates, and there is different advice on your top ups and how often you need to come back for them. However, as a technician in the industry, this is really, really what gets on my nerves, is, as a client, you are approaching your technician or salon or clinic, and trusting them with your face, you are going to believe every word that they say if you're not already familiar with the industry. So if they're telling you, what you're getting is Microblading, and then suddenly a machine pops out, you're not going to know any different. However, you've signed for a different treatment, you've given your consent for something, you've found pictures of a certain look, and you've ended up with something different. Now, don't get me wrong, certain hairstroke machine method brows can look really natural, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is, it's not eyebrow microblading. From a personal point of view, I've actually suffered from this, or rather, my business has previously because I've had clients come to me who've had tattooed machine brows done previously imitating hairstrokes. They've come to me for a freshen up, or, like I say, they've moved to the area, and I'm someone that popped up, and they thought, yeah, we'll give her a go. And they've actually given me negative feedback or left me a negative review or complain, because no one machine was involved. So that really, really bothers me, because I've suffered through no fault of my own, really, and it's affected my business because of the misinformation out there and because of the different branding and marketing techniques, which really don't help the client, they don't help the technician, it's really important to just be transparent. So again, hello. That's why I'm here. Frighty, or that brings me quite nicely into my second point, and that is what to look for in your microbial. Condition. I promise, I promise. We're going to be getting into the juicy stuff soon, but these are all important points to cover before we get there. So what to look for? Obviously, they need to be qualified and ensured. And if you have any doubt, please, please ask for copies of these. They should have them on their walls or maybe paper copies, whatever. Please don't feel shy or embarrassed or nervous to ask for these because No self respecting legitimate technician would ever say no. On top of that, they should have something called a local authority license. Now, assuming they've got this license on the wall, you can rest assured that they've got their insurance and got their qualifications. The reason I say that is because in order to get a license, someone from the local authority needs to come to your premises, check it's all sanitary, hygienic, above board, etc. They check your insurance. They check that you've got a sharp spin contract. That's important for all the clinical waste. I won't get too technical, but what that means is that you can rest assured that your technician and the premises is all above board. Secondly, never be afraid to ask your technician for photographs. There's plenty of pictures on their Instagram, I'm sure, on their Facebook, on their website, but don't be shy to ask them for the unedited pictures. I have no issue providing these for clients, because sometimes a client wants to see the real life after effects. All the pictures, funnily enough, on my Instagram, are taken exactly before and straight after the treatment, which is why they may look a little red around the eyebrow. The reason I do that is, of course, honesty. I want you to know what you're getting into and what to expect from the treatment. Like I mentioned earlier, it's a physical procedure. I am implementing pigment into the skin. I'm not going to get too technical, because I appreciate some of you may have just had your breakfast and you're on the way to school to drop the kids off in the car, and nobody wants to hear the nitty gritty of all this. However, there is going to be some discomfort. My number one asked question when it comes to this treatment is, will it hurt? How bad will it hurt? What's the pain level? And I'm here to tell you, unfortunately, I can't give you an exact answer. I've had clients. Most of my clients probably say Simmy. Do you know what? It wasn't that bad. It was sore, it was tender, but it was nowhere near as bad as those YouTube videos were showing me. I had one client, I kid you not. She had a tattoo around her face, an actual proper tattoo around her eye, I should say. And she told me eyebrow Microblading was worse than childbirth. So I hold my hands up here. I have no idea what to tell you, but the general consensus is... not that bad. This brings me nicely onto the point of numbing cream. So numbing cream in the industry in general, is a massive gray area. There is a lot of surprise, surprise misinformation out there regarding it and its usage. You can buy over the counter numbing creams, to be honest, they're not really that strong. They don't really work. And a lot of pharmacies and chemists, they don't seem to like to give it out when you say it's for a cosmetic procedure. I'm not sure why that is, but that seems to be the general feedback I get from clients who said they've popped over to Superdrug or boots, but they won't give it to them. The second one is prescription numbing creams. Now, a lot of clinics and salons, I can guarantee, probably use this level, and that's absolutely fine if they have an in house prescriber who can manage and oversee the use of the cream, so they're there to apply it topically to clients, or they can be there for the patch tests and things. But the kind of solo clinicians like me, we don't have access to an in house, 24/7 prescriber, and that's why it's actually illegal for me to apply it when I'm not in the presence of a prescriber. Let's say there is a active ingredient in there called lidocaine, which is a prescription only anaesthetic, and I am not allowed to apply that without somebody there to medical supervise. Aside from all the legality of it, I personally, as a technician, don't like using numbing cream. And before you spit your brew out, let me explain. The lidocaine is something called a vassal constrictor. This reduces blood flow, which is absolutely great for me when working on the eyebrow. But what it can do is, because of the swelling it then creates, it can affect the pigment absorption on top of that, because it's obviously made the procedure more comfortable for you, I could potentially end up causing more trauma to your eyebrows, because I go off what your eyebrow is saying to me. You could lie there and say to me, I can't feel a thing crack on. However, I can see when your eyebrows starting to get a bit tender, I know it's time for me to stop. If we've got the Lidocaine on there, the numbing cream, then your eyebrow is basically numb, obviously, and I can't see how sore or how tender it's getting because of that swelling, so I could keep on doing my passes over your eyebrows and inadvertently cause more trauma, because I didn't listen to what your eyebrow is actually telling me, because the numbing cream has created almost like a false comfort blanket over your eye. Brow. Another reason I don't like using it in my practice is because of the sheer time you need when using numbing cream. I mentioned something called an eyebrow pass earlier. What that means is when I'm going over your eyebrow each time, we call that pass, if I were to use numbing cream after each pass, I would need you to lie there and for me to apply the numbing cream topically for around 20 to 30 minutes each time for it to get full effect. If you've come to me for physical treatment in the past, you'll know that I pride myself on a quick treatment, a comfortable experience and a long lasting result. So if I can cut your appointment time down by an hour and a half, then win, win for both of us. And to be honest, a lot of feedback I do get is it wasn't that different with and without the numbing cream. Say they had used numbing cream for their last treatment elsewhere, and then they had the treatment done by me. And because I'm quick, by the time they start to get a bit tender around the brow area, you know, it's time to go and your brows are done. I also say if you can manage to get your eyebrows done without the numbing cream, then you are probably going to have to see me less. And whether that's a positive or a negative, that's up to you. By that, I mean, because of the physiological changes to the eyebrow, when I'm applying the pigment, it might not go as deep, therefore you're going to have to come back more often for top ups. So in other words, if you can grin and bear it for those 45 minutes, then you're going to have longer lasting eyebrows, and you're probably going to need less top ups, Okey, dokey. Enough of that now, and let's get into the juicy stuff and the real reason why you're all here. So my top five reasons why you may regret getting your eyebrows microbladed. Drum roll please. Number one, it saves you time, so you no longer have to run around the house like a headless chicken. In the morning, you end up at school gate and realize that your brows are wonky, or you do your eyebrows in the dark in the car on the way to work, and you realize that you've totally swapped one entirely. The reason why that is a regret is because now you have all this free time you just don't know what to do with a longer, more relaxing shower in the morning. Give over what about an extra 1015, minutes in bed? Absolutely outrageous, but it's true, that is one of the main regrets you have now got far too much free time on a morning. Number two, I have saved you money. You don't need to worry about the next new brow pencil that's being released, or this brow pomade or brow gels or brow powders and all that nonsense. You can chuck them all away, and you can save that money, because now your brows are there and they ain't going anywhere. Number three, and this is probably my favorite, I'm laughing to myself here when I remember my clients telling me is that you may not be able to hide your emotions anymore. Your eyebrows are going to say it all. Your mouth might be saying something else, but your browser is going to be telling the real story. So don't forget now that you have eyebrows, you've got to make your face match your mouth. I suppose that one will come in a bit handy when we get to number four, the fourth regret, you no longer have an excuse as to why you can't get in the pool on holiday, you can't say to the kids, no, honey, I'm not getting in the water. Mommy's eyebrows are going to come off. Or you can't say to your husband, don't you dare dunk me, because my eyebrows are going to be left in the pool. And I don't want to terrify all the children, you have to get in the water. And kids, if you're listening, mummy no longer has an excuse. You can push her in that water. She's not going to be mad, I promise. And mummies, I'm sorry. I know you wanted to lie there and work on your tan, but this time, you're going to have to get in the water, because those brows are staying there. Now on to my fifth and final regret, and this is probably my favorite, Simi, I'm getting far too many compliments. I'm getting people say to me, you're looking good. You're looking good. You're looking well, there's something different about you. Oh, you're glowing. And you know what, I am all for that it's amazing how much difference a set of eyebrows can make. They can frame your entire face and give you some structure that you didn't know you needed. And what I really love about it is it helps you find that inner confidence that you thought you lost it was always there, hon, you just need to embrace it now, and if those eyebrows can let it out, then I'm all for it, and I see you, girl, I see you. So there we are. We come to the end of this episode, and they are my top five reasons why you may regret getting your eyebrows microbladed. I hope you found some value in this episode. It did get a little bit technical, because I wanted you to understand what micrograving is, what it's about, what to look for, etc, because it's easy for me to tell you about all the regrets and what people like and don't like, but if you don't know what I'm actually talking about, then it's pretty pointless. I also want to say, if you manage to get to the end of this episode, thanks for bearing with me. I did have covid Last week, and I filmed a full video for it, but my voice just sounded absolutely terrible when I listened back to it. So I've had to do this all over again with just my handheld microphone. As always, drop me a DM or a comment on Instagram if there's anything else you want me to discuss, if you've had your eyebrows microbladed, not necessarily by me. Did any of these points resonate with you? Or if you haven't had it done? And you're looking into getting it done. Is there anything I didn't cover and you'd like me to cover? Just drop me a message, and I'll see what I can do. Thank you so so much for joining me on my sofa. I really, really enjoyed this chat, as always. Have an amazing week, and I will see you in the next one. You.