Microblading healing process is one that requires patience and time. It is demanding and somehow slow, so before you go through the procedure, you should first know about how it heals.
Microblading is done to fill your eyebrows, making them thicker and fuller. It is done as an alternative to using brow gel or makeup.
There are many reasons why microblading is done apart from makeup alternative, reasons like constant plucking of the eyebrows, injury, skin infections, chemotherapy.
There are health conditions that can cause baldness or loss of hair in areas of the body including the brows, these conditions can be:
- Alopecia areata: A condition that makes the hair to fall off
- Psoriasis : An autoimmune condition that makes patches to cover the skin’s surface.
- Hypothyroidism : The hair dries and thins off because the body does not make enough thyroid hormones.
- Hyperthyroidism: Overproduction of thyroid hormones that cause hair loss if left untreated
- Vitiligo: Inability of the body to produce skin pigment, this makes areas of the body to have white color.
- Trichotillomania: A health condition that causes pulling of hair due to anxiety.
To fill the hairs on the brows, cuts are made in the skin with an instrument. Pigments are inseted into this cuts to create an appearance of hairs. The procedure is quick as compared to the healing process that requires time.
The healing may take up to around 25 to 30 days depending on factors like the type of skin you have, your age and how healthy you are.
Each day, the texture of your face will change. You will also experience itching, tight and painful feelings on your face as well. The results of microblading typically last 18 to 30 months (Healthline). After microblading, you will be required to come for touch-ups every 12 to 18 months.
MICROBLADING HEALING PROCESS
You should know that the healing process differs, while some people may experience all the itching, much scabbing and flaking, others may just feel little of these things. This is because of skin type but there are usually 6 stages of healing in microblading, they are:
- Swollen and dark stage (Day 1 to 4)
- Scabbing and flaking stage (Day 5 to 10)
- Light eyebrows stage (Day 8 to 11)
- Patchy look stage (Day 11 to 41)
- Touch-up stage (Week 6 to 8 after first procedure)
- Full recovery stage (After touch-up)
MICROBLADING HEALING PROCESS: DAY BY DAY
(1) Days 1 and 2 : You will experience swollen and eyebrows, the area will be tender when you touch it too. The lines of the cut will look too dark and thick; most people will hate their face at this stage because of this, this is normal and part of the healing process. There may be mild bleeding and feeling of cuts on your eyebrows.
It is advised that you stay away from touching the eyebrows as infections can easily enter through the pigment cuts. You should not apply any makeup or make your brows so wet. Avoid sleeping on your face, swimming or exposing the area to sunlight, remember that it is sensitive at this stage.
(2) Days 3 to 4: The brows will still be dark but not like the days before, you may get this feeling of satisfaction. You should still stay away from makeup and swimming because your wounds are still fresh and sensitive. Clean the area properly but do not get the brows so wet.
(3) Days 5 to 7: By day 5, scabs will form on the brows and they will become itchy. You should never try to scratch it no matter how irritating the brows will be. Scratching it will take off the pigments (the pigments are inserted not so deep into the skin).
Also when you scratch, the scabs can forcefully fall out and it will take some pigments making some parts to have excess patches and look bald. After some time, the scabs will start to flake. This is normal, your pigment may not fall out; even if they fall out which will be little, your technician can replace them during the touch-up session. You can clean the area and use ointment to gently massage the area, the ointment should be recommended by the technician. Remember not to scratch the eyebrows when they itch.
(4) Days 8 to 10: By now your brows are lighter than they were and the scabs are flaking off. The flaking off is part of your recovery process, it does not mean that your body is rejecting the pigment. The area where the scabs fall out from will look lighter than other parts, you should not freak out or think your microblading did not turn out to be good like others. The new skin will later blend with the other parts with time.
(5) Days 11 to 28: These days will have your brows looking like they should but the healing process is not over, there are still few things to be done. You will no longer feel the itchy feeling and the scabs would have all fallen out by now.
You can start doing normal activities like swimming, makeup as the area is no longer tender and sensitive but you should confirm from your technician if it is okay to do it.
The patches may still be on your brows, this will be fixed during your touch-up session. Before the end of these days, your skin will adjust to the pigment. You can also schedule for the touch-up between the 4th and 6th week. Some technician may want to wait till after 8 weeks.
(6) Days 28 to 42: The healing process is over and your brows will look like they are supposed to.
MICROBLADING TOUCH-UP HEALING
The touch-up session is very important for microblading, it is done to fix the pigments to become normal and perfect. There may be gaps, patches and irregularities after the skin has healed caused by the scabbing and flaking off stage.
The first touch-up will be done to add more strokes in places where the pigments did not settle well. This period is when you can reduced the colour of your pigment, size of the arch and make all corrections. If the touch-up is not done especially after healing, the brows will maintain their patchy or scanty pigments. The brows may even fade off within 6 to 12 months if the touch-up is not done at all.
The touch-up session will only take half of the time it took for the microblading to be done and the healing period is just 5 to 7 days. There will not be itching, swelling or feeling of cuts. There may be flaking but very little including the scabs. The touch-up can be done often so that the microbladed eyebrows will last as long as possible.
SCABBING FOR MICROBLADING HEALING PROCESS
The microblading procedure involves cuts made on the skin and pigments are inserted. These cuts make the skin to be broken and need to heal like normal injuries. The way the skin responds to these cuts and recover is by scabbing. Scabbing causes the area to be itchy and you will feel like scratching it but you should not.
The scabs will start flaking after some days and they will fall off; if they fall off on their own, only very little amount of pigment will fall off but it you scratch them, you may pull out most of the pigments.
The scabbing process is
• Day 1 to 3: There are no scabs yet, just that your brows will look dark and thick.
• Day 3 to 4: Your eyebrows will start to itch, this is just the beginning of the scabbing process.
• Day 5: The scabs will start to flake off, you will have patches on your eyebrows
• Days 6 to 8: You will experience more flakes and the patches will become more. Some of the pigments may start to fall off with the scabs.
• Day 9: The flaking will reduce as most of the scabs would have fallen off by now. But the brows will look lighter and a bit faded.
• Day 10 to 12: The scabbing will stop but the pigment will look so faded and the eyebrows will be light as well.
• Days 12 to 28: The skin will adjust to the pigment and the color will start to appear again.
• Days 28 to 42: You are at the final stage of your healing and can schedule for a touch-up.
OILY SKIN MICROBLADING HEALING PROCESS
Microblading can be done on any skin type but it is difficult to get defined strokes. Also the microbladed brows will last for a shorter time, the pigment will look thicker because they may blur. The oil sebum can push out the pigment often so regular touch-up is recommended.
However, using a skilled technician will make it easier and satisfactory. He or she will know how to make the strokes to avoid blurring. The strokes can be improved but how long the microbladed brows last cannot be fixed by the technician.
The healing process is still the same as regular skin type. There will be redness and tenderness in the first 3 days, followed by scabs and flaking. The pigment will become lighter after the scabs fall off. At the last stage, your pigment will settle in your skin.
CONCLUSION
Microblading is done to fill in the hairs on the brows and make them look fuller and thicker. Anyone can get microbladed brows but those with oily skin will have to go for many touch-up sessions to make their brows look perfect.
The healing process involves scabbing and flaking, it does not mean that your pigments are falling out or your technician did a bad job. It is normal and should be expected. Go for touch-up after you have fully healed to fix the imperfect arches and strokes.