Eyebrows...

For practically as long as I can remember I have had to draw my eyebrows in because I have a genetic disease that causes me to continuously lose the hair on my eyebrows. The older I get, the less hair I have on my brows. I get that disease from my Mom's side of the family. It wasn't so horrible when I was a teenager because I still had a respectable amount of brow. I still needed to draw them in a bit but, not as much as the past decade...give or take some time. My natural hair color is really light blond so, what little hair I had left was nearly invisible. In order to go out of the house, I would have to draw my brows on or wear a baseball hat to mask the lack of brows. I couldn't go swimming and dunk my head under the water because my brow would disappear leaving my forehead embarrassingly naked. I know that vanity is an unattractive quality but, as much as I would love to be a bigger person and just suck it up and be fabulously browless in public...I just couldn't.

So, several years ago, the trend of Permanent Makeup got under way. I had seen pictures of women, and some men, who had their brows "tattooed" on with Permanent Makeup but, they didn't really look that great to me and I worried that, if I tried to have it done, maybe I wouldn't like it and would regret it later or, what if something went wrong and the person who did it made a mess of things leaving me with a really horrible permanent look of surprise or something worse? I also wondered about aging. What if my brow followed my wrinkles when I got older? And, what if people could tell I had them tattooed? I struggled with the decision, kept it in my mind and pondered it over and over again for many years.

Then I had a visit with my nieces and nephew a couple weeks ago. We went swimming in the pool in my subdivision and the kids had a blast with my hubby. They played in the water as I waded in the water. They made little innocent comments about me not dunking my head in the water and I was too ashamed to explain to them how embarrassing it would be for me to lose my eyebrows and let my unbeautifully bald forehead stand out. They got closer to my hubby which, I love because I love to see them adore him like they do but, it tore my heart out to see it put a distance between me and the three of them. A couple days later we went tubing in the Chattahoochee River but, before we went, the youngest (8) told me that she wanted to tube with my hubby because he would get all the way in the water with her. Ouch! I know she didn't mean to hurt my feelings but, it did sting like no one's business.

When I was a kid, I was a water fanatic. I am by nature as I am a Pisces. It has hurt so bad for me to be missing out on the fun of what used to give me so much joy. I grew up summers on a boat and would swim every day as a kid. Now, I get in only as far as my chin before my vanity takes over.

This got me thinking even harder about Permanent Makeup for my brows. I went to my nail salon a week ago with it on my mind. They are a day spa that does the Permanent Makeup and ironically...or coincidentally, they had recently just decoratively painted some of their other services on their walls throughout the salon. They do Microdermabrasion and other services. And, as soon as I walked in, right there in colorful and eye-catching lettering is "Permanent Makeup". As I chatted with my nail guy, I asked him if anyone that worked for him had had the Permanent Makeup done and he said yes. He didn't elaborate and as I was still feeling a bit scared about it, I didn't push. Then I heard the conversation between one of the other nail techs and a client about the nail tech having had her eyebrows done. No way! What weird universe is this that, as I walk into the salon with this thought weighing heavily on my mind, they have recently painted that service on their walls and now Lena is talking about having had it done and loving it? Really either massively ironic or a crazy coincidence. Perhaps Kismet? Anyway, I got her attention and asked if I could see the work and she obliged. They looked great. Really natural and, she, unlike me, doesn't have a single hair on her brow but, you wouldn't know it to look at her.

Since the start of the Permanent Makeup trends, they have perfected the "Feathering" technique where they make it look like hairs on your brow.

I went home pondering it further. I spoke to my hubby about it and he asked how much it would cost. I hadn't asked that yet so, I called a couple of days later and found out it was a reasonable $220. I waited another few days before I told my hubby how much and told him that, at first, I wanted to wait until I got a new job before I went and had it done but, the more I thought about it, I thought maybe it would be a better time to do it while I am unemployed so that I can heal without it being an issue at work and in public. I know that there will be some scabbing, what I don't know is how bad and noticeable it might get. So, the hubby encouraged me to go for it. I made my appointment this Monday and went and had it done today!

They look great. They are dark right now but will lighten up and, they already look wonderful!

I had her do it a shade between my natural color and the color I am right now so that I can still go back to blond without looking like a freak.

So, here is how it goes. I drew them in this AM how I like them. She numbed me up with some topical Anesthetic and then she cleaned my brow up and drew it in a bit to get the right shape. We went back to the room where she does the procedure and she "Broke the skin" which was just the most minor little bit of prickly. Basically, if you rubbed sandpaper on your skin, that is sort of what it might feel like. She numbed me a little bit more with the topical and went to work. Breaking the skin hurt more than the actual tattooing. The tattooing itself sort of felt like a feather. It was a little bit more intense on the outer edges of the eyebrow as that part is closer to the bone but, it didn't hurt. I know that you would think that it would but, seriously...I have had 2 body tattoos so, I know pain and this wasn't painful at all.

The procedure...for lack of a better term...took only about a half an hour. I waited longer for the topical to kick in and for her to get the equipment ready, and for her to finish up with the client before me, than the time it took to actually do my brows.

She had me sit up to look at them and they were just slightly off. My left one was shorter than the right one so I laid back down and she extended the left one in towards my nose a little and a smidge on the outside and now, they are perfect. And, she was a perfectionist! I knew nearly right away that I had picked the right girl for the job. She was a perfectionist with drawing them in and then was a total perfectionist when she was tattooing them.

So, after this book...allow me to unveil my new brows. Sorry that I can't get a closer shot but, they came out blurry when I tried.

For anyone out there that is pondering having their brows done with Permanent Makeup...go for it. Just find a place with a good reputation. They will likely have a photo album of their work so you can browse through it.

I look forward to being able to get out of bed and head out without being so embarrassed by my browless face. Even though it will be another 6 months before I can dunk my head under water in the pool because the chlorine can lighten my brows, I look forward to the day that I can do that too! I also look forward to being able to rub or scratch my eyebrows without rubbing, scratching or smudging them and walking around looking like a mess all day. How great is this? Words cannot do it justice!