If I’m being honest, microblading is changing the game for cosmetic tattooing. It’s creating convenience, building confidence, and letting people sleep in longer in the morning.

Showing results just immediately after a procedure is not the same as showing the entire process, leaving people with A TON of questions about it. The procedure itself is only about half of the experience the next 30-60 after is the real deal.

I have rounded up everything you need to know about the latest eyebrow obsession to hit the beauty world, from how it works to who it’s best for, as well as my before and after pictures.

What is microblading?

Microblading is a semi-permanent make-up technique that leaves you with natural-looking, fuller brows. How? The secret lies in a manual pen-like tool with tiny needles. Sounds a bit scary but, actually, it’s a lot less painful than you think.

It puts the finest hairs back into eyebrows putting the best definition and dimension possible. It’s a fantastic treatment for anyone looking to improve or enhance the appearance of their eyebrows.’

The main difference is that the manual pen-like tool is used instead of a permanent make-up machine, so the strokes aren’t blurry. Instead, they truly do look like fine hairs. Even up close.

Before you get all anxious that you’d end up screaming bloody murder every time they pierce your skin, don’t panic. A numbing cream is applied to the area before any stencilling is done. So, you don’t feel a thing. However, a bit of redness may occur, but this settles soon after. The more relaxed you are, the better the process is.

DAY 1: On Day 1, you’re excited. You get to go into your artist’s studio with patchy uneven brows, or no brows at all and you come out with legitimate hair strokes that you want to show off to the world, literal #browgoals. You can’t wait to blow up social media with your selfies focusing on those babies.

They look textured, dense but a little bit red, but it’s a world of a difference, you feel like a changed person. Your brows are bold in color. If you aren’t used to filling them in a lot, they will look slightly more dramatic in appearance than normal, tender, slightly swollen, and you may even experience some slight bleeding. The day you get them done you may be in awe of your fresh set of brows.

If you’re used to filling them in and are used to bolder brows, you may be in love. If not, do not panic. If they look darker than you normally wear your brows, stay calm, the color will fade over the next week.

Here’s what mine looked like on Day 1:

DAY 2: You will try really hard not to sneeze, because of the multiple tiny papercut-like wounds on your face. Your brows will be reddish, still quite tender, and maybe even a little bit thicker in texture than the day before. You may really notice the difference in your brows and feel like people are looking at them, but chances are you’re more self-conscious about it rather than people noticing them being darker than normal. At this point, I really loved the way that they looked and was super happy with them. I could still see every hair stroke that was made and the redness for me had subsided a lot. They had not started to form hard thick scabs yet. Day 2 was pretty easy.

DAY 5: Day 5 is when things start to change. This can be the turning point in the healing process, where your brows are getting itchy and it is advised to NOT scratch them. RESIST the urge to blow up your artist’s phone firing off questions and accusations alike. You have a wound on your face, therefore your body is trying to repair itself, hence the scabbing. It’s all apart of the healing process, and if you’ve had any other kind of tattoos in the past, it heals very similarly. Just know that this is totally normal and even if it doesn’t look pretty, you shouldn’t worry, they’re going to be #browgoals again in no time.

Here’s what mine looked like on Day 5:

DAY 7-10: Your scabs will probably be all flaked off or flaking off on their own by this point and you’ll start to see the light at the end of the healing tunnel.  But because the skin has not completely mended itself back together, there may still be some cause for concern. The color during these days may seem way too light or even gray and missing in spots. You might feel like your skin didn’t take the pigment, but that’s not the case. You are close to the end and just keep reminding yourself in order for it to be perfect, it has to go through all the stages.

DAY 14-21: Healing is almost complete! Yay! You’re almost there. The color and definition of the hair-strokes will return at this point. The color is beginning to even out and look more natural. You’ll be settling into your new shortened makeup routine – oh and those waterproof brow beach days? Amazing.

By DAY 30: The process is officially complete! Your follow up appointment will be shortly after this.

Through the ups and downs of the healing process, I was always assured that everything happening was normal, and was guided on how to take proper care to ensure the best results! Thanks to my girl Ashley for giving me the ultimate #browgoals