Hello my Friends!
It's been so long since I've made a blog post!
Part of me feels like it's an out-dated form of communication. With things like TikTok, Youtube and Reels, blogs just seem so antiquated. But another part of me feels like a good blog post is the only way to really get out all the thoughts, information and nitty-gitty details of a topic. Like a book vs. a movie, there is no replacement for written words. This year I want to focus more education surrounding the maintenance and longevity of your brows. For my clients reading this - many of you beautiful humans have been with me for years now and your brows are just as (if not more) important to me than a fresh set! And for those of you that are not my clients, you may have never received information about maintenance. If you are just a few (or many) years into having permanent brows and not sure about the maintenance - don't worry, I got you!
As your Forever Brow Girl, I want your brows to have the best lifespan possible. To me, this means brows that:
A. Always look natural (even as they fade)
B. Have a timeless shape
C. Color doesn't shift over time and
D. Don't get overworked (which can result in the need for removal).
It's important to remember that this IS a tattoo. And there are reasons that we don't go around touching up our tattoos all willy nilly! It's because TATTOOING CAUSES TRAUMA. Now, let me not sound dramatic. When done properly, the skin heals from the trauma and is totally fine. But everything has limits and our skin is no exception. You can't go causing trauma to the same exact spot year after year without eventually having long term consequences.
So, to accomplish those items above, these are some loose guidelines we want to keep in mind when considering a Touch Up:
1. Instead of getting Touch Ups in certain time frame, judge by the amount faded.
2. Ideally, we need AT LEAST 30-40% fading. I have some clients that reach that amount of fading in 2 years and others that won't until 5 years.
3. Go as long as you can between Touch Ups! Your skin will be healthier, your healed results will be better and you will have a lower chance of ink buildup.
4. We tend to adjust to things and become blind to what they actually look like. Many times I get clients in and their brows are very bold but they feel as if ALL the ink is gone. In some cases it's hard to tell if your brows have faded or if you have simply become Brow Blind! If you are still getting a lot of compliments on your brows and if the work still blends with your hair, you may want to wait a bit longer before getting a Touch Up. You can always send me a photo and I'll let you know whether to come in or hold off.
6. When working with Hair Strokes, it's important to understand that hair strokes aren't forever. There will come a time that there is too much ink buildup and hair strokes are no longer an option (I'll make a separate post on this and what I'm doing to delay that situation soon!)
Let's Talk Laser Removal
So why have I been going on about spreading out Touch Ups?
Well, it ain't cuz I don't like money!
It's because I know the long term reality of cosmetic tattooing and the consequences of doing Touch Ups whenever a client wants - especially when it isn't necessary.
When Touch Ups are done too frequently that results in a buildup of ink,
A way to think about it is when it rains really hard for a week straight and your grass has so much water that the rain just sits on top. Its called saturation and that happens with tattoos as well. This is why it is so important to really wait until your brows have faded as much as you can stand it! When saturation occurs, Laser Removal will at some point become necessary to make room for more ink.
And while this sounds like the worst case scenario, it really isn't. It's not ideal and we do want to push that off for as long as possible, but every other industry does some form of resetting; You wash your makeup off every night before reapplying. You strip color out of your hair before re-dying. You finally have to get a new set instead of just a fill (nails and lashes). Eventually, our skin can run out of room for ink. At that point, no matter how much you tattoo it, it will push out any new color.
So, for most of you, you have many many years before things like ink buildup and laser removal are an issue because I do recommend pushing out Touch Ups and I try my best to keep the work soft and airy, but I am ALWAYS thinking about your long term results.
So if I ever tell you no to a Touch Up, please don't be upset with me! I'm just here thinking 5 steps ahead so you don't have to ;)
Touchup after 4.5 years