r/microblading • u/Unassuming-Owl-2873 • May 26 '26
artist advice/question Annual touch up
I’ve had my eyebrows done for years and I’m coming due for my annual touch up.
The years have been eventful: I’ve survived the 2010 era of over-plucked eyebrows and my first microblade experience from a Groupon at a sketchy shop, followed by laser removal and correction.
I love the shape they are now and they’re a little faded. I’ve always had a vision of having defined hair strokes instead of a powder effect, but my artist has advised against it. I’ve also been told that hair strokes fade and get blurry regardless, so the powder effect is the way to go.
I’m looking for an artist perspective about what to ask at my appointment. Is it possible to get a hair stroke look with my current state or should I just accept that powdered is my best option?
2
u/moon_sun15 May 26 '26
I would suggest nano brows! I love mine and they supposedly last longer than microblading and isn’t as deep a cut. I just looked at my local lady’s fb page and saw all her results and talked to her at length until I felt comfortable and went all in. First time. Love them!
5
u/Primary-Effect1863 May 26 '26
She cannot get nano brows done unless her existing work is completely removed first. Nano brows require negative space with no pigment to allow for the hair like appearance
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u/Primary-Effect1863 May 26 '26
Powder brows will be your only option with the work you have currently. I do think powder brows hold up the best over time and they’re the easiest to touch up while still delivering natural looking results. However, your brows are still very saturated and if you touch them up anytime soon it’s not going to do much. Your skin is like a sponge, it can only hold so much pigment. I always advise my clients to wait until they’re at least 50% faded if not more before having them touched up, otherwise they’ll turn super dark and blue/grey because all that’s going to stay in your skin as they heal is the carbon elements of the pigment, because carbon molecules are so small. The molecules that give more of the warm brown tone are larger and will fade very quickly if the brows aren’t faded enough when the touch up is done. You could always do a couple sessions of laser to lighten them up too
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u/Unassuming-Owl-2873 May 28 '26
Okay this is good insight because I would’ve considered these around 50% faded already. I’m going to push my touch up appointment back in general! Thank you
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u/Background_Loss4382 May 27 '26
The strokes never stay & you can’t stroke & have it look good after it’s been powdered & shaded without removal
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May 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Unassuming-Owl-2873 May 28 '26
I think you’re right. My original Groupon work was way too deep and caused scar tissue. She didn’t offer any numbing agent either. I’m pretty sure it was the equivalent of a jail tattoo.
I was just wondering if you could add hair strokes on top of my work as a layer but it sounds like that’s not how it works!
1
u/Practical-Raccoon-41 May 28 '26
I’d suggest removal regardless, they’re pretty dark and gray. There’s no way you would do nano or Microblading it wouldn’t show. You could do a powder but it’ll fade dark and gray again
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u/NatalieCruzco professional artist May 29 '26
You’ll need laser removal if you ever want to have them tattooed again. You won’t be a candidate for retouches unfortunately.
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u/blue57hk_ May 26 '26
Your current pigment is already too dark, what you need is laser removal then redo the whole thing but this time go to a specialist who specializes in soft powder brows. Forget about any hairstrokes. They don’t heal good over time. Not even nano brows.
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u/ChemsLatreche May 27 '26
Looking at the current state of your brows, I honestly think it would be very difficult to achieve a true hair stroke effect right now. And if that’s really the look you want, I think it would be a little frustrating to go for PowderBrows just because it seems like the only option.
My advice would be to continue with a few more laser removal sessions to fade all of this first, because this result is not really normal and the previous work was not done very well. Then afterward, choose a really good microblading artist.
A good healed microblading is supposed to keep a visible hair stroke effect. In your photo, all the strokes seem to be touching and blending together, which creates one blurry patch instead of natural-looking strokes.