MY EXPERIENCE WITH MICROBLADING
My treatment was done by Charlie Corkill, a microblade technician at The Urban Beauty Lounge in Gardens, Cape Town. I was a bit worried at the start but in the end it was all okay. It was a bit painful but not unbearably so. The experience feels closer to surgery than a standard cosmetic procedure and I had to fill out a lengthy indemnity form before we got started.
My brows were rubbed with anaesthetic cream and my forehead wrapped in clingfilm to aid absorption of the cream. The apparatus Corkill uses looks like a make-up brush but instead of soft bristles it has tiny thin blades set in a row like a comb’s teeth.
“We choose the type of pigment and a tool with more or fewer, and thicker or thinner blades, depending on your skin colour and how thick your natural brows are,” Corkill says.
She measured my forehead with a ruler that bends around the face and drew outlines so my new brows would be even. After I’d approved the eyebrows she’d drawn she got down to business.
I could barely feel the blades but they made an unpleasant, scratching sound. There were a few drops of blood – some clients bleed more than others, Corkill told me. There was a sensation of having hair tweezed or waxed. It was sore but within seconds the pain disappeared. The procedure took about two-and-ahalf hours and when I saw the results I got a fright because above my eyes were two thick, dark stripes. They were red and swollen but Corkill assured me that the pigment would lighten within 10 days and that the inflammation would settle. This turned out to be true. My eyebrows itched slightly as the cuts healed but after two weeks they looked as if an expert make-up artist had got hold of them. At a follow-up appointment, final touches were made. The process was repeated but this time it was more painful. Luckily an extra layer of anaesthetising cream did the trick and an hour later I walked out with beautiful brows.