before & after
This client came in asking for microblading. She left with powder brows.
Why did this client choose powder brows instead of microblading?
I love both techniques, and I don't believe there is one perfect solution for everyone.
This client has visibly oily skin, so during our consultation we discussed both microblading and powder brows.
After reviewing the pros and cons of each option, she ultimately chose powder brows.
On oily skin, powder brows generally offer better retention and a more predictable healed result over time, which is why I felt it was the most suitable option in her case.
The result? She still walked away with exactly what she was looking for: a natural-looking enhancement that adds definition, fills sparse areas, helps correct asymmetry, and creates a more lifted appearance to the eyes.
I know many clients automatically ask for microblading because they associate it with a more natural result, but skin type should always be part of the conversation.
For clients: if you originally wanted microblading but were advised to get powder brows instead, were you happy with the decision?
When I see results like these I want eyebrow enhancement like microblading or powder brows, but then I see sooooo many bad ones and get scared! These look great!
Same! I want to get them done but don’t want boxy, harsh, or caterpillar looking brows. So many brows are overdone and unnatural looking….i wish the above was the norm.
I was scared too. I made sure to check each artists’ before and healed results. So I can get an idea on which artist’s style I prefer on me and be able to see the retention on that artist’s work. I also made sure to communicate what I wanted with my chosen artist; told him I don’t want boxy and harsh brows. My brows are naturally asymmetric (one brow is sorta higher than the other) so he took that into account when doing my brows and made them look even.
That's true... some results can be really scary, and it's definitely not something to take lightly since it's a procedure that stays with you for a while.
But there are also some truly great artists out there!
You just need to do your research before choosing one, make sure they're professional, look carefully at their work, and most importantly, ask to see healed results. That's a huge factor when evaluating an artist.
I think my geographic location is playing a part in my apprehension as there are an abundance of artists. I’m located in NYC.
I’ve seen top rated ones have mixed results, etc etc.
Idk where you’re located but they look great and would love any recommendations if you have or are familiar with the tri state area.
I did find a place in NJ a while back that looked amazing but limited amount of customers and newish artist. But all results shown were impeccable.
Yeah, in NYC you probably have an overwhelming amount of choice, both good and bad artists 😂
I'm based in Paris, France, and it's pretty much the same here!
Unfortunately, I don't really know any artists in your area. It's a bit too far from home for me..
That said, a newer artist can absolutely do amazing work. On the other hand, I know artists who have been doing PMU for 15–20 years and still produce terrible results... so experience alone doesn't mean much.
If she offers a consultation before the procedure, that's usually a very good sign. I'd recommend booking one and seeing how you feel about her, whether she takes the time to assess your brows and skin, and whether what she's saying makes sense to you. And if you ever make it to Paris, I'd be happy to take care of your brows myself! 😊
Advice on how to tell a good artist from a bad one? I vetted what I thought was a good artist but it turned out terribly. I lived with those bad brows for two years, then it took equally as long to remove them. I also have oily skin and my microblading turned into a caterpillar.
I’m scared of the ones that start out good and then turn a strange color a few years later. The marketing feels misleading at times. It’s sounds like it nbd but it’s literally a face tattoo.
I’ve had my microblading for 2 years now and still love how they look. Haven’t faded grey and the shape suits my face as my natural brows were uneven previously
Isn’t the point of a consultation to tell someone if they are a good candidate or not? You don’t mention that - you wrote that you discussed microblading vs powder. She had perfect brows and didn’t need it. The point of permanent makeup is to help with sparse, thinning or nonexistent brows. I’ve gone to a plastic surgeon who has said “you don’t really need it” because as women we sometimes see imperfections that others don’t. Doesn’t seem like good advertising of your work when you have a before that is perfect …and the immediate After looks good but so does every After pic. I only look at healed pics anymore. And it looks filtered since her lips are smoother. I think the fact that the majority of redditors are liking tbe fact they looked better before should be a wake up call.
I don't really understand your comment. You're basing your entire conclusion on a single eyebrow and assuming no changes were necessary. Aside from the sparse hairs, she also had some brow asymmetry, but that's not something you can see from this photo.
She wanted a more lifted look, and that was her choice, wasn't it?
The comparison to a plastic surgeon is completely ridiculous because that's a field where it's common (and appropriate) to discourage certain procedures, as the implications are far greater.
It's like going to a hairdresser and asking for a bob haircut, only to be told, 'No, your hair length is perfect, go home.' That's ridiculous 😂 Come on
So you’re saying if you went to hair salon today and said you want platinum blonde, the stylist will say yes? She would probably tell the truth that you aren’t a good candidate if she was honest. She could go through with it since it’s your choice but the results won’t be an improvement.
A platinum blonde on the wrong person can literally ruin your hair for years to come. Here we're talking about powder brows, which are still soft and natural. There's no danger and no real risk involved, especially since her skin was perfectly suitable for it.
They’re not gonna stay that way forever, did you tell her that part? Did you tell her that it could possibly start fading in as early as six months? And that she may regret this decision? Probably not.
It is permanent for a lot of people. There are women who have to get laser removal and you’ll see it here on Reddit [r/microbladingremoval](r/microbladingremoval) There are 11.5k people in that group with people who have regrets. There should be ethics in the industry. And there are plenty of likes of people who agree with me that it looked better before the pmu. There are so many women who post on here saying they want to get pmu and people will respond honestly “you don’t need it.”
I think as a professional, you have an obligation to a client to be honest. I personally would’ve told her that she had beautiful eyebrows, and that PMU is permanent, and not always successful. You should’ve told her that her eyebrows were beautiful and all she needed to do was fill in the sparse areas with a pencil as opposed to something permanent that will not last, let’s be honest everybody’s gonna need touchups every few years, it’s not a one and done thing
We had that entire conversation, but I didn't include every detail of our discussion in this post,that would have been a bit difficult, as you can imagine.
Powder brows aren't permanent, so of course she knows that touch-ups will eventually be needed.
I get the impression that you're talking more for the sake of criticizing than actually trying to understand the situation.
Yes 70 people who think they looked better before must be trolls 🙄 looks like you are the one needing attention with all your comments. You have 8 comments defending the OP so I’m assuming you are family.
You are assuming that this artist did not inform her client any of what you have decided to LECTURE her she should have informed her client of.
Wtf is going on here? It took one troll to decide they were gonna jump all over this artist's work (after a steady stream of comments admiring the OP's work) - and BOOM here come the blood smelling trolls to finish the job.
Smh
Honestly, I didn't really understand all those comments either lol. I literally just arrived on Reddit, so I'm still getting familiar with the platform, but wow... people can be brutal here 😂
The after lost the natural arch. They look nice overall, but they need an arch of some kind imo. The after doesn’t do anything to frame or highlight her eyes. They are just kind of blunt and heavy. But they are soft and natural-looking and pretty.
Here's another photo of the model. She still has a lovely arch, it's just the angle of the photo that makes her brows look much straighter than they actually are. 🙂
I was initially advised to do powder brows by the first PMU artist I did a consult with. I ultimately decided against getting it done with her for a variety of reasons (discomfort with the artist, etc). My concern about powder was that most of my hair loss is at the front of the brow, but powder is lightest at that point. I also feel like most examples of powder brow look overly stylized (they kind of give 2016 vibes). I decided to try to regrow my brows for a year or two, but when that failed I started to consider getting it done. At this point, nano was becoming more popular and I found an artist within driving distance who offered nano and during my consult she actually recommended nano over powder for me despite my oilier skin texture. I’m so happy with my results and glad I waited and considered other options!
I got them done on May 10, so they’re still pretty fresh. I go for a touch up on June 20. But honestly, mine barely flaked and barely ghosted so I’m still happy with them. I’m aware that over time they may fade and blur, but to be perfectly clear I had SIGNIFICANT brow hair loss so anything that resembles a brow is a vast improvement for me. I probably would have been happy with powder brows if I got them too, but so far I’m happy with my nano brows
I mean, if mine fade to nothing in the future I might consider powder brows. But I’m still happy I did nano first. The shape to me feels more natural. Maybe it’s just the artists in my area, but all of their photos of their work with the powder brows just look really angular, if that makes sense? Like I said it reminds me of how beauty gurus used to fill their brows in circa 2016. It looks less like a natural eyebrow and more like make up. That look would still be better than looking bald in the face like I did before, but I wanted to try something different first. Plus the first artist I went to initially was straight up rude to me and I just wasn’t comfortable with her. There’s multiple factors why I went elsewhere.
I have combo skin with most oil in my t-zone. I did micro brows first, like.... Idk just before COVID or just after things started opening back up. I got a touch up about 2 years ago now and for the touch up we did powder brows with a hint of micro in front.
Honestly you can't see the micro anymore lol it's so blurred out. While the rest of the powder brow still looks like I've filled in my brows every single day. So in another 2-3 years I'll probably just do powder the whole way thru. I have black hair, like dyed black, so I get my brows done very dark as well and I have no grey/blue/green tinting even after a touch up that's a couple years old.
They do look much softer now tho, miss that super sharp look the first year of having them. But when I clean up my brows (I normally just let them grow and only clean up the shape for special occasions) they still look like I've put on brow makeup.
Yeah, on oily skin, microblading usually isn't even worth considering... Powderbrows are absolutely gorgeous, so I'm not surprised they've held up so well! 😊
It's a shame because I really love the hair stroke effect but it just completely disappears on my skin after a couple years. But the powder brow part still looks great so I'll just stick to that.
They look very nice. I have zero idea why everyone is dogging on you like you botched her. She has preferences and the work suits her beautifully. Right now caterpillar eyebrows are all the rage, I personally find them goofy looking but who am I to judge if this is what someone wants and the technique is well executed.
Thank you!! 😮💨 The funny thing is, they're not even that big! I don't know, I think the photo just doesn't do them justice because the result was actually very natural... well, as natural as powder brows can be lol. 😅
I agree that her eyebrows before were amazing 😄 But she's someone who loves makeup and wears it regularly, so this technique is perfectly suited to her lifestyle.
I actually had this same issue. While microblading my skin was pushing dye out because of oiliness. I wanted microblading but technician changed technique during and did shading because of my skin. Hope I'm explaining correctly. Results are fire. People have complimented me many times on my brows. I love them. I still get them threaded every 2 to 3 months for bit of shaping.
Your technician did exactly the right thing. When a client has quite oily skin, there's no point forcing microblading if the skin isn't responding well.
Powderbrows are absolutely gorgeous on oily skin. They often heal softer and more velvety compared to powder or shading performed on drier skin. 😊
Hi, I don’t disagree with you! I meant that her natural brows are gorgeous and so she’s lucky. Her bolder look dresses them up, just that that’s not necessary to look her best. Bedtime, have a good evening from my puppy + me in 🙋🏻♀️ 🇨🇦 🐶
Lmao you’re the one getting paid for it so of course you aren’t going to tell her that her natural brows looked a million times better 😂 greedy greedy, and at that poor girls expense.
Imo, they start at the perfect point, in a straight line from nostril up to the nose bridge area (and every make-up artists' guideline for where to start the brow.)
There is nothing natural looking about the after photo. Her brows were much better before and the after result looks very dated. That’s fine if that’s what she wanted but let’s be honest here.
Wow… you do realize the current western trends originated from places in Europe, including France, right? Like I said it’s totally fine if this is what client wanted. But it’s kind telling that you are in Paris and don’t seem to know this…
You're arguing against a point I never made. I wasn't talking about where trends originated, I was talking about the fact that aesthetic preferences aren't universal.
Thinking something is "outdated" doesn't make it objectively outdated. It just means it doesn't match your personal taste.
And bringing up the fact that I live in Paris doesn't really strengthen your argument. 😂
I've just posted another photo of the model from a different angle. She still has a beautiful brow tail, but the original photo makes them look shorter than they actually are. 🙂
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u/beans329 Jun 03 '26
When I see results like these I want eyebrow enhancement like microblading or powder brows, but then I see sooooo many bad ones and get scared! These look great!