I had a client last week that came to me for advice after having her eyebrows done the week before. There wasn’t much I could do to help her apart from advising her to take the following steps:

If the skin was no longer an open wound and healed over, moisturise and massage the area with a face friendly vitamin oil such as Environ A&C oil, to stimulate skin cell turnover, healing, and loosen pigmented scabs to prevent the colour from taking.

Not to have her follow up appointment with the therapist as she was already very distressed with the shape being very uneven and above the natural border of her brow line, it would be unlikely to correct this and the last thing she needed would be to add more colour to it.

Allow her skin to relax and heal for 2/3 months, and then she could consider having salt & saline removal treatments to lift out the colour. The saltwater solution is applied with cotton wool to the area and then cotton wool is rinsed off with a saline solution. This should be repeated until the pigment (ink) has been removed. It is best to use cool solutions because hot solutions will increase the risk of scarring and burning the skin.

Once having a few salt and saline treatments to soften down the work she is not happy with, it was important to have a few months to recover from the upset caused by the previous work before researching a reputable artist to carry out the microblading of her eyebrows again.

The client was so distressed, she knew the work wasn’t right for her, but the artist felt otherwise, and maintained that she did a good job.

 

Take this as a warning that you should be very careful when it comes to choosing an artist, especially if they are charging significantly less than the other therapists in the industry.

I have had clients come to me after having work done by cheaper therapists because they were unhappy with their eyebrows, either due to the pigment being too dark, or the wrong colour for their skin tone, too thick and heavy causing loss of definition, or even missing brows entirely.

 

So, the client was telling me that she wanted to take it up with the artist’s insurance company – this is tricky. In all honesty, when I saw the work, I could understand both perspectives since it wasn’t the worst job I’ve seen in my career, but then again, it wasn’t the best either. If the artists have the necessary qualifications, insurance, has followed the correct protocols and has done a somewhat satisfactory treatment, then frankly, what can an insurance company do to settle a difference of opinion? They can only really help you if there was a complication because of the treatment such as an infection etc.

The client was upset and demanded a refund. I advised that it may be so, that the artist is not obliged to give her a refund and to possibly the best path was to negotiate a partial refund as she won’t be returning for the follow-up treatment. She was upset that she would then have to spend again to have them done when the time comes. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s better that we just cut our losses and put it down to experience.

 

A cheaper option is usually worse because there are fewer regulations than at more expensive places. With a better, more knowledgeable person, you will rise to the level of their abilities. With a cheaper option, you stay at the level your microblading artist is at – a mediocre result that may or may not last if it should.

In summary, I would say that a cheap microblading treatment can be dangerous as it is less regulated. At a more expensive salon, the artist will be better at what they do, and you will receive a better level of service. It is worth it to spend a little more money and wait an extra day so you can get the best possible result.

I hope this helps anyone who is considering microblading, because as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, there are certain risks involved with any surgical procedure – especially one that involves tattooing or semi-permanent