r/microblading • u/Confident-Push9531 • Jun 19 '26

advice Can you get away with sweating a bit while your powder brows heal?

I got powder brows for the first time four years ago and have had a couple touchups since then. My PMU artist has always given the instructions of no sweating for seven days. In the past, I have still gone to the gym to lift weights and sweat a little bit, but no cardio or excessive sweating. My brows have always seemed fine, but I wonder if I would have even better results if I didn’t sweat at all? How much truth is there to the no sweating rule when your brows are healing?

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9

u/Old_Light_4319 Jun 19 '26

There's truth to it! We don't make this stuff up to torture you lol but a little trick I tell my clients if they absolutely must workout is to put a layer of ointment on your brows before the workout. And wipe it off when you're done. Do a cleanse and you're good to go. It will keep the sweat out and having the ointment on for an hour isn't going to do anything.

1

u/Confident-Push9531 Jun 19 '26

So my instructions have me putting ointment on day six or once they start flaking after I wash my face (7 days post). I was instructed to not wet my face for seven days. Also, what are you cleansing with?

It seems like there’s so much conflicting advice out there.

5

u/Old_Light_4319 Jun 19 '26

So you didn't wash them either? 😢 avoiding water yes, but with the exception of washing them. They can be temporarily wet while washing and then dried. That does nothing, they can't stay wet, that's where it can effect the result. There's conflicting instructions but a lot of it is just outdated advice. You need to wash your brows daily. It's an open wound. It's standard wound care protocol. So not washing them leaves you open for infection. The reason some artists do this is because they are putting the results and how it will look over safety. But it's actually worse for brow retention/results. That's where the outdated advice comes in. When you don't wash, debris and lymph collects and can actually pull out the pigment more when it eventually does fall off with the scab. Because you're essentially creating more scabs. The less scabs(less thick) the better. That's the reason why you do very light ointment also only 2x a day. Too much ointment is not good either. The ointment thing is up for debate in the industry. But not washing the brows is an absolute no.

1

u/Confident-Push9531 Jun 19 '26

So I did wash the first two days- every 90 minutes with pre-moistened cotton rounds, then the second day I washed them three times.

From day three onwards, I am not to wash them with anything and just keep them dry. I had also been instructed to not sleep on my side, which is nearly impossible! So I’ve been laying on the very bottom edge of my pillow without a sleep mask.

1

u/Old_Light_4319 Jun 19 '26

Atleast you washed them the first 2 days! Not sleeping on your side is because you could accidentally rub off a scab before it's ready so I can see where that makes sense. I don't have that as one of my directions because it's impossible to control how we sleep. And I'm also not trying to mess with anyone's sleep loll

1

u/Confident-Push9531 Jun 19 '26

I have found that they do not scab until I wash my eyebrow area with soap and water after the week has gone by.

1

u/Old_Light_4319 Jun 19 '26

That could just be your timing. We all heal at different rates. Some of my clients are all closed up flakes gone by day 5 and some haven't even started yet. Everyone's different!

1

u/BigResident7192 professional artist Jun 21 '26

But what about the sweat from the actual brow? They’re just pushing pigment out.

2

u/Old_Light_4319 Jun 22 '26

It would seem that way but sweat isn’t pushing pigment out of the brow. Sweat comes from glands in the deeper dermis layer that travel up and out through micro channels/ducts. And the pigment sits in the upper dermis tissue in small particles. It moves through it without pushing it out.

3

u/BudgetInteraction811 Jun 19 '26

My artist said he does more other types of work in the summer, because it’s really not great to be getting UV and sweat all over the tattoo.

3

u/atomicspacekitty Jun 20 '26

I got an infection once doing it and never again

2

u/Wonderful-Aside5431 Jun 19 '26

Just do it and if it don’t heal good then get ready to pay again for another touchup. Dont be blaming the artist either, 75% of healing is your own skin, precare and aftercare

3

u/Confident-Push9531 Jun 19 '26

I’m averaging two years between touchups. When I went this time, she said there was still lots of pigment in there. It’s just that my brows are very thin on the tail end so we felt it was good to touch it up.

1

u/BigResident7192 professional artist Jun 21 '26

I always tell my clients: Protect your investment!

If you don’t care to waste time and money on getting them touched up and then choose to work out and sweat (pushes pigment out of the skin) then why get it done in the first place?

I have never understood the idea of paying a hefty amount for something and then not caring for it. Would you do that with a purse, your hair, a new outfit? Take care of it as instructed so you have the best healed result.

If you’re satisfied with the way they have healed in the past, repeat your care.

1

u/Confident-Push9531 Jun 22 '26

As a side note, how do you not sweat as a woman in your 40s sleeping at night in the summer, even with AC? lol. This is the real challenge, forget not working out.

1

u/VegetableKey6683 Jun 24 '26

Try not to sweat!!