There are some post-treatment instructions to follow after microblading. Knowing the post-treatment instructions beforehand can help you best prepare for the big day. A common question clients ask is, “How many days after microblading should I shower?
Technically you can shower right away after microblading as long as you avoid soaking the area. Soaking can result from shampooing or washing. As long as you have visible scabs, you should be quick with your showers, or opt for baths.
You are safe to return to regular once those scabs have shed and your skin is smooth and healed. Until then, soaking can result in you losing those scabs prematurely. This is problematic because your skin needs to heal around that colour first, and drop the scab naturally. If removed prematurely, even one tiny fibre, it may end up pulling an entire hair stroke.
You can wear makeup anywhere around your face and lashes. However, we recommend that you avoid anything over the brow area.
In addition, stay away from makeup that contains any type of shimmer/metallic glitter. Whether it’s on the face or around the eyes this should be avoided at all costs. These products have small metallic particles that can get lodged in the colour causing it to change shades or cause infection.
Laser tattoo removal is an option to remove microblading.
What happens if you don’t like your microbladed eyebrows?
The best defence is a strong offence. Avoid regret by doing thorough research on the establishment, the technician, and the service itself. However, we must keep in mind that the recipient of a microblading service also has a responsibility to ensure adequate healing post procedure. Adequate healing results in maximum results. We recommend you follow post-care instructions to a T.
However, if you don’t like your microbladed eyebrows, there are removal services that you can have done. Our recommendation above all the saline tattoo removal method. There is a saline solution made of salt and purified water that is placed over the area and into the skin. The solution lifts the colour and then you peel the flap of skin off. Though it is very painful, it is a professional service that should protect your existing eyebrow hair.
If you have no existing eyebrow in the area or you’re not concerned about losing hair, you can do laser tattoo removal. You probably wouldn’t need too many sessions considering the depth of penetration and the colours that are in there. Microblading rarely has blues or greens which are the hardest colours to get out through laser tattoo removal.
Another option are colour correctors. These are skin-coloured pigments that can be microbladed over the area.
The decision to have microblading is not a light one. Because the procedure is semipermanent, many people as, “What does microblading look like after 2 years?” Well, after two years you are going to see the last layers of colour in the skin. In other words, you are able to see the last colour that makes up any given colour.
For example, brown is not just brown. It is made up of a mixture of primary colours. Depending on the base of the chosen colour, red is usually the last to leave the skin. Therefore, you will see a peach undertone or light pink/mauve colour after two years.
However, the answer to the question “What does microblading look like after 2 years?” is not the same for everyone. Some people’s skin retains pigment exceptionally well. We have seen some clients whose microblading lasted over two years. Due to their natural hair colour, the remaining pigment blends right in. That is the reason for the major flexibility with our Refresher.
The Refresher can be booked anytime from 6 weeks to 12 months following the initial procedure. We ask that a minimum of 40% of the initial shape must be present for the Refresher. As stated above, this time varies per person.
While there are many pros to microblading, like anything else, there are also cons. Many of you know the pros, for example, full, natural looking brows that do not wash off. However, some of you have asked,
“What are the negatives to microblading?”
In our opinion, the number one negative is the pain. Unlike a brow waxing service where you get through that little bit of pain, microblading takes much longer. While we use numbing cream to minimize discomfort, we have seen a full spectrum of pain tolerance. To clarify, most clients take well to the numbing cream.
Another negative to microblading is the recovery time of the service. This is where some people may have trouble. People may reconsider their decision because of the look of the brows during the recovery period. Brows in recovery can either look extremely dark or off due to the swelling.
During the recovery phase you are limited to what you can do afterwards, not only because of the skin recovering but also because of the look of them.
A third negative we can think of is specific to people who have really thick and/or oily skin. Their pigment retention is lower so they will have to get their refresher sooner rather than later. We recommend refreshers as early as 6 weeks post procedure and as late as 12 months post procedure.
A minimum of 40% of the initial shape must be present for your Refresher. This time varies per person. Oily skin reaches a 40% fade rate closer to the first 2-3 months, while other skin types can stretch the refresher closer to 10-12 months post procedure.
Your safety is our first concern. While most people meet medical eligibility for the microblading procedure, there are contraindications that prevent some people from going “under the blade”.
Pregnancy
Microblading is nor recommended for pregnant women. The procedure requires us to cut into the skin potentially causing unnecessary stress. High levels of stress could consequently affect the fetus; Its best to wait. However, this comes down to personal preference because there is no research to date that has linked microblading to harming the baby.
Blood clotting abnormalities
People with blood clotting abnormalities because they are going to bleed a lot and the chances of them retaining colour is very slim.
Keloids
A keloid scar is thick and raised.
People prone to keloid scarring should definitely avoid the service unless their service provider is comfortable doing it and a test patch is done.
Senile skin
In old age, the skin and the blood vessels become more fragile. As a result, skin bruises easily from minor trauma. Senile skin does not have much adipose tissue. Without that “cushioning”, the incisions split open. In addition, the skin does not recover as quickly.
Other questions?
Call us or submit your questions to our “Ask Dérmica” feature.
Let’s measure pain on a scale of 1 to 5; With 1 being the lowest, and 5 being the highest amount of pain felt during the procedure. With proper numbing and preparation of the skin, most clients will report a 0.5 at the beginning and a 3 towards the end of their service.
On the other hand, some people don’t feel anything the entire time. It comes down to how the person’s body takes to topical anesthetic. For instance, if you don’t do well in dental procedures involving anaesthetic, chances are your skin won’t take well to topical anaesthetic used for microblading brows.
In addition, personal pain tolerance also has a lot to do it. To decrease pain level, we recommend following the precautions prior to your appointment. Examples include avoiding all forms of caffeine, and getting enough sleep the night before. For women specifically, menstruation may cause extra sensitivity.
Medications and Microblading
There are some medications that add to skin sensitivity. If you are taking any medication we recommend talking to your pharmacist. Some medications are a contraindication to microblading, for example, blood thinners.
Blood thinners are used by people that have high blood pressure and/or are prone to blood clots. They thin the blood which causes you to bleed more during microblading which can in turn result in less retention of pigment.
Does microblading ruin your natural brows?
Microblading does not affect the current growth of the brow. It can however stimulate hair growth because of the layers that we are cutting into. Some of our clients report new hair growth where hair growth had been lost.
Other questions?
Call us or submit your questions to our “Ask Dérmica” feature.
