Brow Aftercare

1.1 No Guarantees:  Most people have great results from permanent makeup, but there are no guarantees.  We cannot predict how your skin will heal.  There is the possibility that your skin just rejects pigment quickly so permanent makeup isn't going to work for you.  You cannot know until you try.

1.2 2-Step Process:  Many clients have the expectation that permanent makeup is a one time experience.  Although many clients have great results with just one procedure, you should not expect perfection after the first treatment.  Permanent makeup is less hassle than traditional cosmetics, but it does require maintenance and is at least a 2-step process and you should expect to get the 6-week touchup for correcting and fine tuning of your brows.  

1.3 Healing Timeline:  Permanent makeup requires a 6-week healing process.  You will not be able to change your brows until the end of the healing :

• Day 1. Brows are swollen and color looks warmer.
• Day 2-5. Brows look obvious dark and reddish. 
• Day 3-14 Exfoliation takes place. Brows look light, ashy, and uneven.  Over the next few weeks, the brow color and shape will fill in and set. 
• Day 42 Brows are now fully healed. Color has bloomed back.
• 6-Week Touch-Up - Get a touch-up to fine tune and finalize the your brows.

2.0 Brow Care:  The better you care for your brows during the 6 week healing stage, the better they will heal.  Here are some tips for caring for your brows.

• Washing and healing cream-  For the first couple weeks, wash your eyebrows twice a day. Use a mild cleanser on and around the procedure area. DO NOT use any cleansers containing anti-aging/anti acne agents (IE retinal, glycolic, lactic, or AHA). Dial soap or Cetaphil are good choices. Foam up a tiny amount of soap in your hands, then use the foam to gently cleanse your eyebrows. Rinse well. Gently blot dry with clean paper towel. Make sure moisture blotted off before applying your healing cream. Never put ointment on a tattoo. Do not let your brows dry out.  Also, apply a light coat of healing cream after washing. Although it is important to use the cream, using it excessively can discourage the skin of air and can result in pigment loss during the healing period; so, use, but use it sparingly, just enough to moisten the brows.  
• Showering -  For the first few days, do not take steaming hot showers and keep bathroom doors opened as to not cause a steam effect.  Do not let the shower hit you directly in the face. At the very end of your shower, wash your hair and rinse away from your face.
• Exfoliation: The brows will typically shed off during the first week leaving the under brows looking light and patchy.  They may even look as if nothing was done.  Do not panic.  This is normal for permanent makeup.  Once the outer skin peels off, the brows will start to fill back in over the next few weeks.  The color and shape will shift as the brows heal.  The final result will be set by the end of the 6th week.  If needed, touch-ups can only be done after 6 weeks. 

3 Things to avoid -  Immediately after the procedure, your brows will be a little reddish and irritated.  Most likely you will experience a little itchiness.  This will typically last for 1-3 days.   It is part of the healing process.

• 3.1 Makeup - No topical make up on the healing procedure for a few days or until flaking has ended. Topical makeup may have bacteria and your new procedure needs adequate time to heal.
• 3.2 Brow hair removal: No tweezing or waxing the eyebrows for 10 full days .
• 3.3 Facials - No facials or peels for two full weeks. 
• 3.4 Lasers - Avoid laser treatments in the brows area in the future.
• 3.5 Pet Grooming/Dust - No pet grooming, gardening or anything that causes dust or dirt for a minimum of 72 hours. Waiting 7 full days is best.
• 3.6 Excessive sweating - Sweating is not good for the healing process.  We recommend not exercising for 7 days or any activity that would induce excessive sweat  or cause your face to heat up and turn red.  Salt from the sweat can lighten the brow.
• 3.7 Steaming showers - Do not take steaming hot showers and keep bathroom doors opened so as to not cause a steam effect.  Keep your face from being directly hit by the shower. At the very end of your shower, wash your hair and rinse away from your face.
• 3.8 Sun/Beach/Tanning Beds - Avoid the sun and tanning beds as much as possible for a couple weeks.  Too much sun can burn the skin and cause a darker color.
• 3.9 Swimming - Avoid swimming for the first couple weeks.  Saltwater and chemical in pools can affect the healing color. DO NOT expose your new procedure to chemicals, hot tubs, saunas, salt water, chlorinated pools, lakes, or ponds.

4. Touch-Ups - Permanent makeup is not a one-and-done experience.  You should expect to follow up the initial procedure with a 6-week touchup and then occasionally a refresh touchup.

• 6-Week Touch-Up - This is the 2nd part of a 2-step procedure.  While many clients are satisfied with their results after the initial procedure, you should expect to get a 6-week touchup to fine tune and finalize your look.   Some clients want a touchup immediately after the procedure, but they need to wait 6 weeks in order for the skin to heal and the color, shape, and pigment to set.   Doing a touchup before the 6 weeks of healing is finished can damage the skin.
• Refresh Touch-Ups -  Permanent makeup, or sometimes called semi-permanent makeup, fades slowly over time so expect to get a refresh touchup every couple years.  How often you get a refresh touchup varies from person-to-person depending on your skin type. 
• Touch-Up Pricing -  Touch-ups are not included in the original price, but touch-ups for returning clients cost less.  Check current touch-up pricing at 

5. Common Concerns:

• 5.1 Dark Brows Initially  - You brows will be very dark, bright, and/or sharp right after the procedure.  The outer layer will typically peel off within the first 1-14 days leaving your brows looking very light or like pigment didn't take (ghosted).  Don't worry.  The pigment is still under the skin and the color will gradually darken some over the next several weeks causing them in them to partially darkening again.  Expect your brows to be light, very light, or like they didn't take.  We will evaluate how they healed at the touch-up and make the needed adjustments to the darkness, color and shape.
• 5.2 Red, Soreness, or Itchy - You may experience soreness for a few days.  This is common. The brows are irritated and take a few days to settle back to normal.   In some rare cases, you may have some itchiness for over a week.
• 5.3 Peeling brows - During the first 3-14 days, expect the outer layer of your brows to peel/exfoliate, leaving a lighter and possibly patchy look.  Don't freak out.  This is normal.  Also, do not pick the brows off.  Let them fall off naturally.  Once the brows peel, the color will come back from under the skin and darken over the next 6 weeks.  After the first week, you may use a little makeup to make the brows look even.  Avoid makeup the first week so that bacteria doesn't enter the skin.
• 5.4 Ghosting (Pigment is light/patchy/gone) -  Permanent makeup appears to peel, fade dramatically, and then darken again because of the skin’s natural healing process. Immediately after the procedure, the pigment looks bold and dark due to swelling, oxidation, and pigment sitting in the top epidermal layer. Around days 5–10, the epidermis begins to regenerate; the old, pigmented skin cells flake off like a very thin scab, taking much of the surface color with them and leaving the area looking extremely light, patchy, or even “gone.” At this stage, the new baby-thin epidermis acts like frosted glass, temporarily hiding the pigment that successfully reached the deeper dermis. Once peeling finishes and the new skin matures (usually weeks 2–4), the epidermis becomes more translucent again, allowing the dermal pigment to show through; the color “blooms” back, often looking slightly darker than the final result as the pigment continues to oxidize. By 6–8 weeks, the skin fully stabilizes and you see the true, softer, retained color—which is why a touch-up is almost always scheduled at that point. This dramatic light-to-dark rollercoaster is completely normal for brows, lips, and eyeliner.
• 5.5 Looks unnatural - Clients that get the combo are sometimes worried that the shading is too dark in the beginning.  Wait out the healing process because the shading will lighten over time.
• 5.6 Imperfect healing - While many brows heal perfectly after the initial procedure, many do not.  You should expect to get a 6-week touchup to fill in light spots and finalize your look.  
• 5.7 Shape and symmetry:  The initial look of your brows will not be the final look.  The shape and symmetry of the brows will change as the pigment comes up and sets from under the skin.  Also even the best artists can be a little off.  Don't worry if the initial look isn't perfect.  If at the end of the 6-week healing process, the brows still look a little off, the 6-week touchup is used to correct the shape,  symmetry and color. 
• 5.8 Out of healing cream - We give a weeks supply of healing cream which is typically enough.  If your brows are still dry and/or cracking, you can order more of the cream, After Inked, from Amazon or if you need it right away you can buy Cetaphil or Aquaphor at most stores.
• 5.9 First-timer concerns - It isn't uncommon for permanent makeup first-timers to have concerns during the first couple weeks because they didn't anticipate the healing process.  We understand your concerns because your looks are very important.  Don't worry.  Update yourself on the healing process and follow all the instructions for aftercare.  Keep in mind that the 2-step process isn't complete until after the 6-week touchup.
• 5.10 Touchup timeline - Plan on getting your 6-week touchup at the end of the healing process which is 6 weeks after your initial procedure.  Touchups are not included in the price of the initial treatment.
• 5.11 Don't like them - If you don't like the way they look initially, wait out the 6-week healing process.  The color and shape you see in the beginning will change during the healing.  Also, don't worry because you can make adjustments at the 6-week touchup. Most clients are very satisfied with their brows once they finish the process.  If after the process you still don't like them, which is rare, there are removal techniques, but they are often costly and involve many sessions.  

More questions?  Call or text 727-213-8801.