What is the key feature that makes a face stand out? While the logical assumption would be your nose, eyes or mouth, it’s actually our eye brows that hold the highest face value.
Brows have a strong social significance for emotional expression as well as facial recognition. If you don’t believe how important your brows are, shave them off. Seriously, I dare you to do so. Without brows, our face looks lopsided and completely disproportionate.
I was born with no eyebrows (or so I’ve been told). Thankfully, as I grew older, my brows grew and I looked less like a freak baby. Although I have a naturally nice shape, my brows are not very prominent, and unlike most girls who can draw their brows without having to look in a mirror, I was not blessed with the skill. In fact, looking into a mirror doesn’t help much either, which is why I turned to Allure Beauty for their expertise in all things brows.
As far as I can remember, I have had my brows micro-bladed at Allure Beauty. This was even before the term “micro-blading” even existed. When my friends raved about their eyebrow salon that offered bargain basement prices, I still stuck by Allure, because I knew the ladies behind the brand and I had faith in their skills and passion and eye for creating the perfect brows, with just a few strokes of their magic wand.
When I am at Allure, I have the confidence to drift off to sleep, knowing that when I woke up, my brows would look spectacular and without fail, each and every single time, they have. I proudly tell everyone who cares to listen, that I would trust no one but Allure with my brows and this is true. If you are new to micro-blading, my advice is simple, find a salon and a brow artist who understands your face and has an eye for brows (not everyone does). Under no circumstance should you choose the salon based on price. Trust me, the last thing you need are badly drawn or greenish brows. It would cost you so much more to have them lasered off, so whatever you do, don’t be penny-wise but pound-foolish.
So for those of you who are new to micro-blading and want to know what the whole process entails, here goes:
When you go in for your appointment, your brow artist will apply numbing cream onto your brows and leave you to relax for about 20-30 minutes while it takes effect. Once sufficient time has elapsed, she will clean off the numbing cream and examine your face and draw on a few strands of hair or more to see which sort of brow shape would best suit your face and features. Once you are both satisfied with the results, she will take you into a room where you will lie down on a bed while she selects the right colour ink for your brows. Because my hair is black, she chose a very dark brown, almost black hue.
She will then start drawing in the hairs, one at a time, painstakingly matching the direction of growth of you real hair. Once done, she will have you sit up in bed so she can examine your new brows, lying down, sitting up and also outdoors in natural light, to ensure that she has got the shape and thickness just right.
The whole process takes time and immense concentration and focus to ensure that you will leave the store with the most spectacular pair of brows that will frame your face and enhance your features and look like you were blessed with fabulous brow genes.
For the next five to seven days, you will needs to apply an antiseptic gel – which you can purchase from the salon – five times a day to ensure the colour sets and the area doesn’t get inflamed or infected. You will also need to avoid wetting the area for the same amount of time. In six to eight weeks, you will need to make an appointment to go back to the salon to touch up your brows and follow the same steps again, to ensure that your brows will be able to last for up to 12 months to two years.
THE LIFESTYLE COLLECTIVE 