As I wrote in my previous post, I had my own eyebrows microbladed and I wanted to share my healing process with you, so that you know what to expect should you decide to have the treatment done yourself.
On the Day of Treatment: This is actually one of the most important days to care for your brows and any reputable artist will tell you that regular wiping is necessary to do.
So within two hours after the treatment, I wiped by eyebrows with distilled water on a cotton pad. A small amount of Green Soap is good to add into the water as it is antibacterial.
My brows air dried within a minute and I added a tiny amount of the aftercare balm.
Use a bud to apply the balm or make sure your finger is very clean!
The one I used is the Phibrows Skin Candy balm, which I give to my clients in their aftercare pack.
So what does wiping do?
Regular wiping takes away any 'lymph' which is a clear liquid produced as part of the healing process. The lymph is responsible for forming scabs after a cut to the skin, so the idea is to prevent scabbing, it is beneficial to wipe the lymph away. Healing will still take place, but without scabbing. Forming scab can end up removing pigment when they fall off, especially if picked off!
I wiped my eyebrows every 1-2 hours and repeated the above. I finished my treatment at 2pm that day, so was able to wipe all afternoon and evening and before bed.
After wiping, the cotton pad will have pigment colour on it. (coloured lymph) This is good so don't panic. It doesn't mean the pigment is coming out of the strokes.
It is important not to touch your brows. Yes they felt very tender, but the wiping with the cool water really eased the stinging sensation and it felt so good applying the balm.
I made sure my pillow was clean to sleep on so that no bacteria could get into my eyebrows.
Oh I have to mention, I could not stop looking in the mirror all day!
Days 1 - 7
My brows appeared a bit darker than the day before, but it is normal for them to look darker for the first few days.
I had to keep my brows dry for at least 7 days. When I say dry I mean I could not wash my face or get them wet in the shower.
Day 1 I wiped about 4 times, Day 2 I wiped 3 times a day and Days 3-7 I wiped twice a day, morning and night. Each time I applied a tiny amount of balm afterwards.
By the third day, the cotton pad had less colour on it, so that showed me that the lymph production had slowed down.
During this first week, I had quick showers so there wasn't much steam production. (Steam counts as getting your brows wet!)
By Day 5 I was desperate to wash my hair, so I carefully tilted my head back so that my brows did not get shampoo in them or very saturated. Yes they got a bit wet, but I dabbed them with a tissue straight after.
I am used to exercising regularly, but instead had to do gentle exercises to prevent sweating.
Sweat contains bacteria & salt which is not good for microblading healing.
On Days 5-7 My brows started peeling a bit. There were visible flakes of skin that resembled scales forming on my eyebrows, but this is totally normal as the Epidermis heals.
The wiping removed the skin easily.
This is when my brows started fading slightly in places. Again I knew this is part of the healing process.
Overall I would say the aftercare is very straight forward to do. I didn't have to take any time off work or stop my usual routine. I just popped to bathroom to do the regular wiping.
Despite a bit of itching from the skin healing, resist the urge to touch or scratch your eyebrows!
To summarise, this is what I did for at least 7 days of healing:
- Kept my brows dry apart from the wiping & balm
- I did not sweat into my brows when exercising
- I did not swim or go into hot steamy places
- I did not go in the sun (It's winter so no chance!)
- I did not wear make up on my brows or apply any other creams for at least 14 days.
-TRUST THE PROCESS....
It is important to note that everyone heals at a different rate. Older skin may take longer to heal than younger skin. It roughly takes two weeks to heal over and fully heal within a month.
So on the precaution side, just be more vigilant how you treat your eyebrows for the first two weeks after microblading and you should be fine.
So here is a before and after of my brows!
My shape is fuller and more aligned which is what I wanted.