Wednesday, June 24, 2020
5:46 PM
This is a question I get quite frequently. There seems to be a bit of confusion as a lot of people use the term "microblading" as a blanket term for permanent makeup on the eyebrows. First though, lets go a little into what permanent makeup is below…
Permanent Makeup AKA Permanent Cosmetics, whichever term and/or technique is used, is a tattoo that is placed into the skin with either a tattoo machine or a manual handheld blade. The pigments used are specially formulated for the eyebrows (or lips, eyeliner, etc. but to keep this blog post simple, we will just be talking about eyebrows) and are designed to fade over time so in the future your technician can make shape and color alterations. This is actually ideal compared to traditional ink, which some technicians still use on the brows, because we WANT them to fade! As we age, our face changes. Our personal style changes. Most women do not have the same brows they had 5, 10, 20+ years ago and that is because the "in" style of brow changes frequently, and our personal styling changes with it. When you have permanent makeup done, you will usually need a color boost touch-up anywhere between 1-2 years depending on MANY factors (I will be making a separate blog post for why and how the pigment fades over time). Traditional tattoo ink lasts FOREVER. That is why its beneficial for it to fade, so we can make these changes throughout the years and not be stuck with a permanent over-tweezed 90's brow look. Now lets dive into the difference between the 3 styles I personally offer for my eyebrow services.
Microblading - Microblading is executed using a manual handheld Microblade which is attached to a handle. It is similar looking to a scalpel, but instead of a long blade there is a row of teeny tiny needles, usually around 9-14 of them. The technician dips the Microblade needles into the tattoo pigment, and then glides it across the skin and usually in the direction of your natural hair growth to create hair-like strokes in your brows to make them look naturally fuller than what you already have. Microblading is only suitable for dry to normal skin, very rarely can combination skin have a successful Microbladed eyebrow without the strokes blurring together or completely fading prior to your touch-up appointment that is booked 4-8 weeks after the first. It is also more traumatic to the skin than using a machine to create Powder Brows and cannot be done over for years and years without the possibility of scarring the skin.
Powder Ombre - Also just called Powder Brows. This look is basically exactly what it says. Using a tattoo machine, technicians do several light layers of shading and what we in the industry call "pixelating". The needle places teeny tiny dots closely together, over 2-6 layers of shading depending on the look you're going for, to achieve the brows looking like they have been filled in with a brow powder makeup. This style is suitable for any skin-type.
Hybrid Brows - This style is simple to explain, it is a combination of both Microblading and Powder Ombre! It can be customized to be more on the microblading side, more on the Powder Ombre side, or whatever you choose! Usually as a tattoo artist, I will do Powder Ombre over the whole brow, and then do Microblading in just the areas that need it that are missing hair so it causes as least trauma to the skin as possible. This style is also suitable for any skin-type, but combo and oily skinned clients should be aware some of the Microbladed strokes will not stay or fade lighter than clients who have dry or normal skin.
If you are still unsure what brow service is right for you, no worries! You can always book a in-person consultation, or if you already have your appointment booked, we will go over all of the options at your appointment and pick what is best for your skin and your favorite brow style! As always, feel free to reach out via email/call/text/social media with ANY questions you may have, I am happy to answer them all! See some examples below of the 3 different styles and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @pageninecosmetics to see all of our before and afters!
POWDER OMBRE
HYBRID BROWS
#microblading #powderombre #powderbrows #hybridbrows #wasillamicroblading #anchoragemicroblading #alaskatattoos #alaskapermanentmakeup #alaskamicroblading #anchoragepermanentmakeup #wasillapermanentmakeup #anchoragebrows #wasillabrows #alaskabrows #palmerspa #anchoragespa #wasillaspa #alaskablog #alaskabusiness