WTF DID I DO TO MY FACE?!?!?!?!?!
So you guys all know that I have amazing eyebrows.
What many of you DON’T know, is that I draw them on.
Everyday.
And it takes me 20 minutes to do them.
Everyday.
Each morning, I wake up to the brows on the left, and I draw them into the brows on the right…
I know, I’m talented right!??!?!?!!?
Well, as you can imagine…I got tired of spending 20 minutes a day doing my eyebrows.
Like, really tired.
Like, so tired, that I decided to get them tattooed permanently onto my face so I never have to draw them on again, kind of tired. I want to be saving instagram pictures, not doing my eyebrows. Thinking up ways that would allow me to get free instagram followers and grow my audience!
So I did some research and found this Refinery29 article about eyebrow tattooing. I got so inspired after reading the article and seeing the author’s before and after pics that I called the salon the author went to and made an appointment. Low and behold, the salon was able to see me the following day on Saturday! (So if you say this was an extremely impulsive and hasty decision, you are totally correct!)
And since I share everything with you guys, I decided to document my tale and share my harrowing experience of the world of face tattooing with you all.
SOOOOOO…
Here’s my Saturday in pictures. Enjoy!
11:15am
I read that you’re supposed to arrive to your appointment with your eyebrows already drawn on. This way the beautician knows exactly what shape you want.
So of course I spent like an hour on them to make sure they were PERFECT.
Here’s what they looked like right before I left my apartment to go get them tattooed!
Pretty damn good. I’m not gonna lie.
OK…
Wait!
Before I go any further, I should probably explain what eyebrow tattooing is. Most of you probably think it’s someone with a tattoo gun who’s going to make me look like a constantly surprised clown.
Well, to give you a better understanding of what it is, I found a video that shows you the technique up close and personal.
Although it’s a tattoo, most salons call it eyebrow “microblading” or eyebrow “embroidery,” probably just to make it sound sexy and less intense.
But the reality is, someone is cutting a blade into your face for an hour, creating individual fake hairs that are tattooed permanently onto your eyebrows. While it’s not a tattoo gun, it’s also not someone’s grandma embroidering a doily on your face.
Watch below:
FREAKY RIGHT?????
OK, back to my Saturday in pictures!!!
1:30pm
EYEBROW EMBROIDERY HURTS
Dude, you guys, I have a pretty high pain tolerance when it comes to beauty treatments. I get chemical peels for my acne, I’ve had laser hair removal on my armpits (6 sessions which was recommended). My friend told me about armpit laser hair removal cost, and said she said it was worth it. So I decided to go for it.
But nothing prepared me for the feeling of someone slicing the skin right next to my eyes for an hour. This is definitely not for the faint of heart.
That being said, I took this pic after eyebrow #1 was finished.
Left side, tattooed eyebrow Right side, drawn on eyebrow
Pic from the side.
(After this pic, I had her add a little bit to the tail so it didn’t just look like just a straight line).
But you can see the individual crosshatch “hair lines” that she created with the blade. Pretty interesting.
2pm
Here’s a photo I took immediately after getting them finished while still at the salon. There’s absolutely no makeup on my eyebrows.
It’s crazy because with all the cutting she did, I thought my eyebrows would be bleeding down my face. But other than a little weeping, they were totally dry to the touch after about 10 minutes.
Below is the workstation when she was done.
Don’t worry, she wore gloves and it was super clean. This is an after-the-procedure photo when she was cleaning up, and I wanted you all to be able to see the dye and the microblade.
Yeah, I know it’s gross. But I’m not gonna sugar coat this. I want people to know the truth about beauty treatments. I wasn’t just kissed on the eyebrows by a fairy in my sleep. I went to Chinatown and had a painful procedure done to my face!
2:30pm
Home and $390 lighter ($350 for procedure, $20 for ointment, $20 tip).
This is 30 mins after the procedure.
They’re slightly sore, and you can see a little bit of redness. The chocolate brown color is also SUPER intense and will remain that way until they scab over in the next few days, but all in all they look like real, regular eyebrows!
I went out 30 mins after this picture., so there was literally zero downtime between getting them done and going back to my normal routine.
11pm
No makeup, except a dab of brown powder on the insides to give an ombre illusion.
(And Spree eating hummus in the background)
After a few hours of looking at them, I pinpointed a few minor things I want her to fix when I go back in a month for my $35 touch-up appointment. One of them is adding a few hair marks on the inner brow to help with the ombre illusion so I don’t have to use powder going forward. At the moment they’re a bit too “boxy” in front for my liking.
Again, NO makeup on my brows except for a dab of powder at the very front to give them the ombre effect. They are going to fade though, and in another week they hopefully won’t be such a stark contrast to my face. The depth of color should tone down a bit too.
(Spree found out I was taking selfies and threw me a little shade)
NOW,
AM I HAPPY I DID THIS?
Short answer: Yes
Long answer: Not really
While these last two days, I’ve slept in an extra 15 minutes and not had to worry about touching up my eyebrows throughout the day, there’s a few things I regret:
1. I wish I didn’t go so big.
Eyebrow fashions change over the years, and so does the shape of your face. Hopefully these brows will tone down and fade with time, but I wish I went slimmer. You can always go bigger with another treatment, but you can never go smaller. Unfortunately what’s done is done, and if I want slimmer eyebrows I’ll have to apply makeup to cover these up.
2. I miss my completely make-up free face.
Yes, while I love wearing makeup and I feel a lot more confident with my eyebrows drawn on, I don’t really like looking at my face in the mirror without makeup right now. I don’t recognize myself. These bold brows don’t fit with my soft make-up free face. Or maybe I’m just not used to seeing such stark brows when I get out of the shower. But either way I feel like Groucho Marx when I wake up in the morning. And while I’m sure they’ll either fade or I’ll get used to them, I think I will always miss my naturally real, untouched face.
3. I gave in to society’s ideal beauty standards and I feel ashamed about it.
My entire blog is based on loving your real self and embracing your body with all its flaws and imperfections, and then I go and get makeup permanently tattooed on my face. I feel like a hypocrite and am struggling with how to justify what I did within the broader scope of who I am, what makes me happy, and how I fit into society. To center myself, I have to keep remembering WHY I got them done.
I got them done because I LOVE the way I draw my eyebrows and how they frame my face. I got them done because I was so tired of being self conscious about going outside without my eyebrows drawn on. I got them done because I wanted that extra time in the mornings to spend on other things and not have to focus on doing my makeup. I wanted to be able to sleep a little longer, get ready a little faster, and not spend a ton of money on eyebrow beauty products going forward. I got them done because I thought it would make me happy.
And making myself happy should be enough right?
I’m going to quote one of my Instagram followers, @CaleyRedd because I think she summed it up best when she commented the following on my freshly tattooed eyebrow photo:
“I remember when Beyonce performed with that giant feminist sign behind her, and reading all of these feminist articles/comments/critiques based on how she couldn’t be a true feminist because she talks so often about pleasing her husband and fits inside societal standards of beauty. And I just find that point of view so….short sighted and outdated. There’s not one type of person, so there can’t be one type of feminist or Body Positive Blogger. You can be an amazing leader or person and be conventionally attractive… There’s not a scale where the less you fit into society’s standards means the more ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ you become, or the stronger your morals are.”
Damn. Mic drop.
She’s right.
I didn’t create these beauty ideals, I’m just trying to be happy, and live within the world and ideals that are already in place.
I shave my legs, I whiten my teeth, I wax my upper lip, and I wear deoderant and a bra. I admit that I do a lot of things to my body that conform to society’s beauty ideals. But I also try to fight them too. I don’t weigh myself, I stopped dieting, and I fight every day to love my body, my skin and myself.
I am absolutely inspired by women who can walk outside with no makeup on and be confident with every aspect of their bodies. I truly am. That may not be the type of feminism that suits me, but those women motivate and encourage me daily to continue to step outside of my comfort zone. I want to help make this world a safe space for every woman to feel sexy, confident and comfortable in her own skin, whether she has tattooed eyebrows, braided armpit hair, or needs a wheelchair to live.
There really is no wrong way to be a woman, but every once in a while I need a little reminder from my incredible readers and followers.
I will keep you all updated on my eyebrows over the next few weeks. Maybe I will fall in love with them, maybe they will fade and totally disappear tomorrow and be a huge waste of money. Either way, what’s done is done, and I’m really looking forward to all that extra sleep time I’ve just added to my morning routine!
And now, without further ado, here is my long awaited eyebrow tutorial!!!!!
I filmed this the night before getting them tattooed, as I knew I’d never have another chance to do it.
Now you can get my eyebrows without the pain of someone slicing up your face up for an hour!
You’re welcome.
:)
LATER DUDES,
XX-HOTPANTS
Since overcoming Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder, Dana Suchow has become an expert in the field of body image and eating disorder prevention. Offering a nonclinical and holistic approach, Dana will teach you how to put your child on a path towards body love, empowerment and self-acceptance.
1st: they look really good! You look amazing – I really could not tell the difference, and maybe because the hair is “embroidered”, they look even more natural!
2nd: you don’t have to feel bad about it! To fight for body acceptance does not mean to trully be happy with everything about you, almost everyone has their own issues…and if you can “fix” them, go for it! The struggle is about being happy! Just beacuse I love my body and I am thankful for it, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t chage a thing or two :)
They would seriously probably have to knock me out before they etched into my face. I have a crazy high pain tolerance (I bartended with shingles!) but like zero gore tolerance. I can’t even handle crime scenes on TV shows sometimes haha. Mad respect for you for handling that – I probably would have gone straight to the nearest bar!
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but in the plastic surgery field, doctors often warn their patients about a post-surgery Blues period. It’s partly from all the meds and there’s some studies that show that the body assumes any surgery as a trauma and reacts as such. But moreso there’s just something to the knowledge, I think, that you just permanently changed your body/fave in some way. For better or worse, you’d lived with it for your entire life and then that part of your identity is suddenly morphed and it takes awhile to adjust. Even people who have spent years researching and contemplating the surgery often go through an initial “oh my god, what did I do/it’s too big/small/not the right aesthetic” period. The good news is that most of the time once the period is over they can’t imagine going back. I think you just have to mourn the loss of one part of your identity while learning to embrace a new one.
So don’t sweat it, love! You’re just getting used to it all.
Your brows are way too big! They look awful! I know its a matter of opinion but you are so pretty without massive eyebrows that take up half of your face. :(
If it’s a matter of opinion and on her face, not yours, why would you tell her this? Especially given the relative permanence of a tattoo. Having an opinion is fine, but it’s in poor taste to negatively comment on anyone’s appearance, especially without their asking you to.
WHAT? Who asked you to comment on my face? Seriously. I’m trying to figure out where I asked for your opinion about my body or face?
On another note, eyebrow tattoos fade. They look darker and bigger because they’re fresh tattoos which haven’t healed yet. But…still can’t figure out who asked you?
Unless it’s your own face, no comment is the best comment.
(Also, I just realized how old this post is hahaha. Time flies?)
HAHAHA – thank you for standing up for my eyebrows bb!