If you are new to cosmetic tattoo for brows, considering it for the first time or just keen to know more about how it all works, this blog will help provide some more detail. Firstly, it's important to note that the procedure happens over two sessions and these two session are six weeks apart.
About 80% of clients ask us for a soft and natural look and are sometimes quite shocked with how bold and dark their brows look at the end of our first session. The healing phase, is the time between the two sessions and this is where there magic happens!
As we are tattooing multiple layers of pigment into the skin, we are creating tiny channels with each brush of the needle, through the epidermis and into the dermis where it needs to be (the first and second layer of skin). This then causes the epidermis to fill up with pigment resulting in a very full and rich pigment colour.
During your first week of healing, your brows will have formed a crust or scab over them which is our body's natural response to wound healing. This crust has an important function which is to protect and heal the new skin forming underneath it. During this stage, all the pigment that was sitting in those tiny channels in the epidermis, has been pulled out into the crust which then naturally flakes away, usually after about six days.
This is often when clients will wonder why their brows now look quite light and somewhat patchy. The reason is that half the pigment load has fallen away with the crust, so you’re left with layers of tiny particles remaining only in the Dermis. Remember that new skin forming which has been forming under the crusts? This is now quite opaque and is sitting on top of those pigment particles causing them to look faded and washed out.
Typically, it takes 4-6 weeks for your skin to fully heal and renew itself, and when it does, the new skin will have formed and will be more translucent allowing the pigment to shine through a little more.
So remember, we’ve lost half the pigment load with the crust and you now have a new epidermis on top of the pigment so your brows will look a lot softer and slightly cooler than the original colour.
This is the best time for the second session, where we build on the tiny layers of pigment particles left in the skin which adds more colour & vibrancy. It also helps to fill in any patchiness and complete our desired look as well as adding to the longevity of the healed result. See the image below for results from a second session.
The moral of this story? Trust the process, you won’t be disappointed!
