Eyebrow Microblading is a form of Semi-Permanent Makeup. It is a method where pigment is put in the skin to define the eyebrows by making very small scratches on the skin with a thin blade – this isn’t your traditional eyebrow tattooing (think big block 80s brows) and is something way more natural and modern.This treatment is best for women (or men) who want natural looking brows.
As it is a semi permanment it can be beneficial if someone has over-plucked in the past, is losing hair, or for whatever reason has little hair in the eyebrow region at all. In fact, microblading doesn’t have to just be done on the brows, it can also be used to create a thicker looking hairline or beard. Over all, eyebrow microblading has become so popular so quickly due to it’s abilitiy to give the appearance of natural, fuller looking brows to the point where you can put the eyebrow gel down and neglect drawing your brows in at all.
I chose to have my eyebrows microbladed for a number of reasons. Although I have in general been blessed with quite thick brows, I choose to fill them in daily and sculpt them to be more angular and defined – like my natural shape, just better.
Although I do enjoy doing this it can become quite tiresome when doing this every morning before work and when I am on such a pressed schedule as you guys know, I am trying to do what I can to keep beauty maintence to a minimum whilst still looking groomed and fresh. Therefore, I just relished the idea of being able to slap on a tinted moisturizer in the morning and go.
Microblading is a semi-permnanet treatment which essentially consists of cutting into your skin. Therefore although I had wanted the treatment for many months I was really keen to find a place with all relevant qualifications, council approval and with tip top hygiene to complete the treatment. When I learnt that April Mae Cosmetics comes from a medical background, with a combination of studies and work experience in mammography, radiography and sonography, with their treatment room located above a medical surgery, I knew I would be in safe hands.
Read more below to find out all about the story behind April Mae Cosmetics.
My treatment at April Mae Cosmetics was absolutely brilliant from start to finish. April Mae Cosmetics is currently located above a medical practice in Salford, Manchester which was super easy to drive to, and I was welcomed with a drink and sat down for a consultation with Roseanna who let me know exactly what to expect. We talked about the treatment and the aftercare and I signed a disclosure form as it is semi permanent.
Next, Roseanna took in my requests for my brows (defined and dark yet in my natural shape and relatively bushy!) and used a ruler to precisely map out my brows using the brow mapping technique to ensure the start, arch and end of my brows fell in line with various other facial features to creative the perfect shape. We checked the shade of pigment I wanted – I requested a dark brown with cool undertones – and after checking I was okay with this, it was time to begin!
Roseanna gave me the choice of either starting with numbing cream on, or as she preferred, making a few incisions first and then applying numbing cream (this activates the cream quicker). However, after going over both brows I felt confident enough to go ahead without any numbing cream and therefore proceeded through the next three hours without any.
Roseanna said I am her first patient to ever do this but to be honest, it wasn’t that painful until right at the end and two plus hours in. Although numbing cream doesn’t compromise the over all result, Roseanna did say it may help me to achieve an even sharper line. Although to be honest I am just proud of my ‘high pain threshold’!
Roseanna firstly used a small size blade to make natural, hair looking strokes around the outside of my brow to outline the initial shape, and then went inside the brow with tiny strokes to fill them in. When making the incisions, she was using the pigment at the same time to apply colour into the skin. After doing this for around an hour, she covered all the brows in pigment and we took a tea and cookie break to let the colour sink in thoroughly.
After letting the colour sink in for ten minutes, it was back to work and Roseanna wiped it off and began on the brows again. This time, she used an even smaller, tiny blade to make even more precise strokes and spent the next hour and a half really cultivating the shape that I wanted. We took a few breaks to stop and check the shape and Roseanna was super attentive at asking for feedback and making sure I was totally happy with any changes, however small they might be!
When my brows started to bleed a little and they started to get painful (it had been almost three hours without numbing cream by this point), we checked I was happy for a final time and then finished up with some sealing gel. Roseanna sent me away with special ointment to use on my brows after cleaning with sterilized, cool boiled water morning and night and some simple after care instructions to help me get the most out of my brows, booking in for a top up appointment in 4-6 weeks time when fully healed to define the shape even more.
My brows won’t be fully healed until about 10 days time, and so I don’t want to share a final result image yet as it won’t be quite fair – although I am sure you can see from the before and after pictures how amazing and natural they immediately look straight after the treatment (even if a little swollen and bloody!). What I can tell you is that I am absolutely over the moon and today at work (my new eyebrow debut) I have had SO many compliments on my makeup… Only for me to tell my colleagues I’m not wearing any! In fact, almost everyone has said I looked lovely but couldn’t put their finger on what it is – and that is a true indication of how natural my eyebrows look.
Absolutely. I have had an excellent experience from start to finish and couldn’t recommend them enough. Roseanna was totally professional and made me feel totally comfortable from the minute I walked in.
Eyebrow Microblading at April Mae costs £210 for initial appointment and £50 for subsequent top ups. They also offer 50% discount for Eyebrow Microblading and top ups to any person who has had chemotherapy treatment or suffers from alopecia.
However for all of my readers you can get 20% off any treatment by quoting the code APRILMAEWOW when booking. Enjoy.
April Mae Cosmetics is the brainchild of Roseanna Mae and April, who met whilst working together in a medical clinic treating mostly cancer patients. Roseanna’s first degree was in Prosethic Makeup for Media and Performance and she worked for MAC for two years whilst studying. She met April working part time at a clinic where Roseanna is now studying radiography with the hope to do muscle skeletal sonography and steroid injections for sports injuries. Meanwhile, April works full time time doing mammography, does competitive weightlifting in her spare time and is about to start a training course for Russian Lashes.
With their combined interest in both beauty and medicine, April and Roseanna together hope to create a company that helps men and women to be happy and confident, particularly those clients going through chemotherapy or suffering from alopecia amongst other conditions. They carefully select their treatments offered to encourage a healthy lifestyle both with eating and exercise alongside our treatments, such as cryolipolysis, cavitation and radiofrequency, which are all used to help aid fat loss. I emphasise “fat” loss here rather than “weight” loss as there is no substitute for diet and exercise for weight loss.
In the future they wish to expand into medical tattooing including areola tattooing, scar camouflage, injections for hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and many more. The ultimate dream would be to have a full service cancer clinic that not only treats and scans patients, but offers cosmetic treatments that can help to boost their confidence and wellbeing, which is truly a story I am backing.
Full time I'm an ambitious Head of Marketing and Communications in the luxury industry. Part time, I'm an enthusiastic British Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle blogger and YouTuber from Manchester, UK. This blog has been my outlet for the past 7+ years, and as a longstanding, Award-winning blogger I take the most enjoyment from creating content I truly love and believe in. All authentic. Always.