My Experience With Microblading

I have to share my latest obsession… Microblading! I would love to pretend that these are the beautiful eyebrows I was born with, but alas I would be lying. Like many women I know, I got a little tweezer happy in my teens when very thin eyebrows were in style. My poor eyebrows were never the same again! (I have already made my six year old stepdaughter swear to never touch her natural eyebrows.. haha!) For the last decade I have been drawing them in with an eyebrow pencil or filling them in with eyeshadow. Then a girlfriend suggested microblading to me. I was instantly interested and started doing my research. At first I assumed it would be like the normal tattooing process and was a bit nervous that it would be permanent. My supportive husband teased that I was probably going to end up looking like an angry muppet… lol. I learned that it was actually more of a semi-permanent makeup in which pigment is placed under the skins surface. It is also referred to as micro pigmentation or cosmetic tattooing. It is in fact not permanent and does require touch ups. Learning this I felt much less intimidated.

After browsing through Instagram and looking at incredible before and after photos, I decided to book at Studio Sashiko, right here in Langley, B.C. The studio opened in 2015 by eyebrow guru Shaughnessy Keely. If you haven’t heard of her, you have to checkout her Instagram, the woman is an incredible artist! They only open up their booking once a month and I ended up waiting about five weeks for my appointment, but let me tell you… it was worth it! I booked with the lovely Tanya DeSousa, one of the artists at the studio. I was super particular about how I wanted my eyebrows to look and she never made me feel like I was being a pain, which I really appreciated. I was in the studio for just over three hours during my first visit. Most of the time was spent drawing and redrawing my eyebrows with a pencil to follow my natural brow line. Once we got the shape I wanted, she applied a topical numbing cream. While my brows were “freezing” Tanya mixed up different colours to try until we found the perfect soft, ashy brown that I had in mind. The microblading was done with a small, bladed hand tool that actually drew hair strokes into my eyebrows. I found the procedure a tiny bit irritating, but thankfully not at all painful. I honestly could not believe how natural my eyebrows looked when they were finished. Tanya explained that they would lighten and almost dull a bit as they healed (usually about a week). After at least six weeks I could book my follow up appointment.

I waited nine weeks to book my touch up appointment due to my schedule and being away on holidays. As anticipated, my eyebrows had faded a bit and were not quite as “dramatic” as I wanted them to be. Following the eyebrows she had previously created, Tanya filled in some of the thinner spots and made them a bit fluffier. When she finished they were exactly what I was hoping for. Overall I am thrilled with how they look! I think microblading is such an intriguing procedure. Not only for women like me who simply love the convenience of not having to apply makeup every morning… but for people who have scarring or who have experienced hair loss. Some of the transformation pictures are pretty amazing!

This being said, it is definitely a bit of an investment. I promised my husband that it could be my Valentines, Mothers Day and birthday presents and he is holding me to it… lol! Oh and for the man who previously mentioned that I was probably going to look like an angry muppet, he thinks that they look great!

Lastly, I want to mention that I have not received any sort of discount or promotion for writing about Studio Sashiko or my experience. I am honestly just so happy with how my eyebrows turned out and want to encourage anyone who is debating if they should have theirs done or not. I would love to hear about your experiences or answer questions from anyone if you would like to comment below!