You’ve finally taken the plunge and had your eyebrows tattooed, you’re in love with them, but what next? How do you look after them properly and ensure they heal well and end up looking as perfect as they do right now?
1. Follow your technician’s aftercare advise TO. A. T!!
Every artist will have a different aftercare protocol and it is imperative that you follow exactly what they say, do not listen to what your friend’s technician told her to do, or what your neighbour has to say. If you do not follow the specified protocol given by your artist, you will be responsible if your brows do not heal well.
Keep your brows out of the sun. Sunshine and freshly tattooed brows do not mix! (See my blog here for more on this subject.)
2. Apply aftercare products exactly as you are told.
Often cosmetic tattooing does not follow traditional body tattoo aftercare protocols such as applying Vaseline, so again, ensure you follow your own technician’s instructions. They have been trained a certain way and the aftercare will relate to their method used in the treatment of your brows.
3. Keep your brows clean & dry.
You will be advised of timescales for this, and it can range between 3-7 days, but you MUST keep them dry for at least 72 hours post-procedure (ideally the entire external healing time which can be up to 2 weeks). If you need to wash your hair, ensure your head is tipped right back to ensure water does not trickle onto the brows. People underestimate how important this fact is. You can’t cover them with cling film! Please do not attempt this as you risk dislodging the scabs prematurely. Dry shampoo is your best friend at this stage!
4. Do NOT wear any foundation on your entire brow area for a minimum of 3 days post-procedure.
If you are conscious of this, pick a time for treatment when you have some time off and you CAN do this – it is vital to not touch the brows AT ALL during healing. Also, foundation contains bacteria, freshly tattooed brows are essentially tiny open wounds and extreme care must be taken to stop any chance of bacteria getting into them.
5. Be patient and TRUST THE PROCESS.
Your brows are about to go through a strange cycle in their appearance. They will look great at first, then then they will start to scab, this can make them appear darker and you may feel a tad self-conscious at this stage (use heavier eye make up for a few days to balance out the face). Then they will start to flake, think the surface of tiger bread for worst-case scenario here (do NOT pick up a pencil at this stage to fill in any gaps, they will look rubbish, but to achieve a good heal you will have to just “suck it up”. Sorry!). Lastly, once the scabs fall off naturally, brows often appear to be very light. This is completely normal, don’t panic. Colour returns over the next 4-5 weeks.
6. Do NOT TOUCH your brows with your fingers throughout the entire healing process and do not pick, peel, scratch or pull off any scabs prematurely.
This will lead to colour loss in places and can cause scarring or even worse, bacteria from your hands could trigger infection.
7. If your brows feel dry and you are tempted to apply creams before you can see the tiny scabs lifting from the skin, don’t do it!
The whole external healing period is just 2 weeks, so in the big scheme of things that is nothing in comparison to having gorgeous brows for months ahead, that you no longer need to worry about! Again, suck it up and deal with it! If you are self-conscious that they look a mess, just laugh to people and say, “excuse my brows, they are healing”! If you really can’t cope with this aspect of the treatment then you need to seriously think about this aspect before having them done because not following aftercare 100% will definitely lead to gaps and colour loss which will mean extra work having to be done, and as it is not ascertainable who is at fault, most technician’s will charge an additional fee to cover their time & materials used for additional work.
8. Ensure you attend your second “follow up / perfecting” appointment.
This should have been included in your original price and is considered best practice within the industry. Even if you feel your brows look fine a reputable professional will want to assess them too as it allows the artist to complete their work 100% and make any adjustments to colour or tweaks to the shape. You have paid for this appointment, don’t skip it as it is very important.
If you’ve any other queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
About the author – Sarah Gibb is a Cosmetic & Medical Tattooist established 2012. Sarah specialises solely in these practices and has carried out thousands of procedures. She is fully insured and regulated by her local authority.