What Is Microblading: How It Works And Does It Hurt?

If there's one beauty treatment that is essential for summer, it's microblading. Hear me out. As someone who never leaves the house without putting my eyebrows on, the idea of a summer holiday (complete with swimming and sweating) fills me and my invisibrows with dread. 

Either, my brow makeup will wash away rendering me unrecognisable (not an exaggeration), or I'll spend half my holiday reapplying it. To be able to splash around all day long and then seamlessly transition to the beach bar without feeling the need to hide behind my sunglasses would be to fulfil my carefree holiday hopes. 

While brow tinting is a great, longer-term solution for everyday life, in my experience, it's no match for the combination of saltwater and sun cream; and the dye always seems to fade in a day or so. Microblading, on the other hand, lasts. 

If you're not acquainted with the technique, chances are you soon will be. Microblading has quickly become one of the most popular beauty treatments available thanks to its ability to provide definition and fullness where brows are naturally lacking and shave hours off your daily makeup routine. Plus, for those who struggle daily to draw in matching brows – or got carried away the tweezers in the 90s – this semi-permanent fix might be exactly what's needed. Sure, it's significantly pricier than a brow pencil, you'll be sure to get your money's worth in the long run.

If you're intrigued about how exactly the technique works, read on for all the answers...

What is microblading?

The actual technique of implanting pigment into fine incisions in the skin goes back thousands of years, but gained popularity for being used on eyebrows in Asia, with the feathering or embroidery trend. Later known as microblading, it's essentially tattooing, but it involves using a specialised and more delicate manual hand tool.

Rather than giving you a block of colour like traditional tattooing, fine strokes are done by hand to create the illusion of real hairs, which is why those on the search for brow perfection prefer it. Many beauticians class it as semi-permanent, but with regular top-ups and great aftercare, it can last a lifetime. It's great for those with alopecia or people who've gone through chemotherapy, or just for the average Josephine who's keen to up their brow game.

We sent one writer, Jade Moscrop, off to try the treatment out and report back:

Now I'm not going to try and make everyone feel sorry for me here – the reason my eyebrows aren't brow-envy-contenders isn't because of an illness or condition, it's purely because I over-plucked them as a youngster and they just didn't grow back properly.

In high school, I was cruelly bullied because a) I didn't have eyebrows and b) when I tried to draw them on, I failed miserably because I didn't have the right eyebrow products or talent. Kids can be awful, can't they? Having so much attention drawn to my brows gave me a bit of a complex about them, and I grew to resent them, while they didn't grow at all.

After many years of tinting, gallons of castor oil and sampling each new 'best eyebrow pencil', I'd looked into microblading as a way to solve all my problems. So, when I was offered the chance to not only have my eyebrows microbladed, but to have them done by Suman Jalaf of Suman Brows, whose clients include Poppy Delevingne and Amy Jackson, I jumped at the chance.

I arrived at the salon and was greeted by Suman, who immediately made me feel welcome; she's one of those people you feel like you've known for years. We chatted about the shape I desire and because it's been such a long time since I've had proper brows, I confessed that I didn't know what my actual eyebrows should look like. She said it was no problem and that she was excited for me to see my perfect brows!

Suman started out by threading my eyebrows to remove any excess hairs and then applied some numbing cream. This took about 40 minutes to kick in before the drawing process began. Using specific measuring tools, she worked out where my brows should be, as well as what shape worked best for my face. She also showed me some colour options and let me decide which I thought would be best. As I'd pencilled in my eyebrows for so long, I'm used to having quite a dark look, so chose a darker colour, which she said was normal.

Once she was happy with the shape (which she was an extreme perfectionist about, filling me with even more confidence), I was handed a mirror to inspect her art. I was pretty stunned and outrageously excited. Although they were just an outline, I could already imagine flopping my hair into a messy bun and frolicking out of the house with no makeup on (as sad as that sounds), with not a brow-worry in the world.

The actual process was uncomfortable, but not painful. If you've had a tattoo (I've got a few), the pain is way less than that of a tattoo. If you haven't been inked, for me it felt no worse than a light scratch. The only off-putting thing was, if I'm honest, the sound. You can hear the blade as it moves across your skin, but I soon forgot about it when I remembered how gorge my brows were about to be.

A little less than two hours later and I was all done. The skin felt a little tender but there was no discomfort to write home about. Unlike tattoos, I didn't have any kind of stinging afterwards.

They were a little heavy at first, but after a few weeks, the colour settled down and even without the top-up, were absolutely perfect. There was some flaking, just as Suman said there would be, but it wasn't noticeable to the average guy with a cuppa on the tube.

For someone who has amazing eyebrows (or, well, any at all), it can be difficult to understand what a big deal this was for me. After years of hiding my eyebrows behind my hair, dreading days I'd have to put my hair up and avoiding swimming like the plague, finally, I could have some freedom. It wouldn't be something I'd have to think about anymore.

At long last, I could pop to the shop without needing to spend 15 minutes trying to make my eyebrows look half decent, I could avoid the stress in a morning when my hands weren't doing what my brain wanted them to do to pencil them in evenly, and I could join my friends in the pool on holiday without fear of my brows sliding halfway down my face. I'd actually have some confidence in front of my friends, family members and boyfriend without having to wear makeup.

Now, of course, I know there's more to life than eyebrows. But, they say that the eyebrows frame the face, and not being happy with my own affected me in more ways than I thought it ever could. My only regret? That I didn't do it sooner.

Microblading aftercare

Throughout my appointment, I was given in-depth information about aftercare. Here's what you need to know about looking after your newly mircobladed brows:

• Apply coconut oil or Bepanthen to your brows at least twice a day until healed.
• Avoid cleansing the area for a week, or using any harsh skincare products.
• Don't apply any brow products or makeup to the area for a week.
• And avoid sweating as much as possible for two weeks, in particular going to the gym or sauna.

You can find out all about Suman on her website and don't forget to give her a follow on Instagram for all the amazing before and after photos.

And don't forget to choose your eyebrow shape carefully!

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