Have you ever thought about getting your eyebrows tattooed?  You start to imagine yourself being able to wake up and run out the door with the perfect shaped brow… perfect brows at the gym… perfect brows straight after a shower… It’s a no no-brainer, right?  I decided to sit down with a top Australian cosmetic technician, Lita Stathis, to discuss all things cosmetic tattoo related.

I’ve had my eyebrows micro-bladed twice before and also recently a powder application with the electric pen. Full disclosure, I didn’t just decide one day to tattoo my eyebrows and then make an appointment with my local artist the next.  I found my cosmetic tattoo technician via a recommendation from a friend and then continued to stalk her social media for a month before I contacted her. *Her being the aforementioned Lita of Lita Brow Boutique in Darlinghurst.

I was very aware of the fact that I was about to permeantly mark my face and Google readily provided me with many blog posts containing detailed horror stories.  Lita agrees that researching your artist is imperative, “The beauty of social media is seeing a full feed of the technician’s work.  10 years ago, you would see just 3 pieces of their work on their website. Typically, only their best results.  It’s the marriage of talent and training in an artist that creates excellence.”

 

The first thing that hit me about many of the ‘horrifying experiences’ was that the writer opted for a cheap deal, rather than a researched artist.  One blog I recently read, openly admitted to finding her technician through a voucher-based discount site for $99!!  On this occasion, she decided they were too dark when arriving home so covered her brows in lemon juice and bicarb soda, in attempt to lift the colour.  I stopped reading the article at that point.

With so many of these posts floating around the internet, I thought I’d better share my story and some facts from one of the most highly regarded artists in Sydney.

At my first visit with Lita, she was very frank about the process & expectations and also exceptionally confident with her craft.  With 5 years experience tattooing, 10 years as a brow specialist and 20 years as a makeup artist under her belt, I can understand why.  As micro blading was the new ‘buzz word’ I decided this was the technique for me.  At my initial consultation with Lita, she recommended I opt for the powder effect as she felt I would be far happier with the result.  I refused and insisted on the micro blading.  The reason for her recommendation was soon apparent.  I had quite oily skin at the time which would make it difficult for the pigment to heal into my skin and stay put.  Being stubborn, I actually tried this twice…same result each time.

APPLICATION

Fast forward a year and a half, and I was back in Lita’s chair for powder brows.  This application requires an electric pen and the coloured pigment.

PAIN

The actual process doesn’t hurt.  Lita applied a numbing gel to my brows 30 minutes prior.  I felt nothing throughout the process (although, my husband thinks I have a pretty high threshold for pain being that I feel asleep whilst getting a tattoo).  They were a little ‘stingy’ later that night but nothing that I would consider painful.

Lita explained why the pain result can differ from each artist, “Some people don’t know what pre-numbing gels to use. It’s important to fully understand this part of the process”

HEALING

The healing process isn’t fun.  The first day my brows weeped.  When they begin to dry up, they then became itchy.  But the best bit is when the chunky dark scab begins to peel off…really pretty!  Ha, ha.  Let’s face it, nothing worth having is easy.  So yes, you have a week of dark, flaky brows – but that’s a small price to pay for the end result.

RESULT

Here is where you need to be patient.  It takes a few weeks for the full colour to show.  Initially, my brows are great!  I love the colour and shape immediately.  It’s now two weeks into the process and they are literally getting better each day.

MISCONCEPTIONS

Lita breaks down a few of the misconceptions around eyebrow tattooing.

Aging of a tattoo: “Sometimes pigments can go an ash tone (grey) or can also go a warm tone (orange) and there is a misconception that it’s the tattoo artists fault.  It’s the patients skin. Once the pigment is in the skin, we don’t know how it breaks down. The artist interprets your skin tone and determines what colour to apply.  But the breaking down of the pigment is all skin related.

Tattoos are semi-permanent: “Cosmetic Tattoo is “permanent”… but needs maintenance.  It seems in America it’s called permanent and here we call it semi-permanent – both are true but misleading to call it semi-permanent as there will always be traces of the tattoo there… the pigments are made to fade and soften in the skin over time, unlike tattoo “ink” used in body art.  I have taken to explaining this to my clients in detail so they understand the process.”

Lita is renowned as one of Sydney’s most experienced cosmetic tattooing, eyelash extension and eyebrow shaping specialists.  She specialised in brow shaping prior to switching to cosmetic tattooing and then spent many years perfecting her craft.  Lita spends a lot of money on additional training, “You can always be better.”  She recommends upskilling via seminars and additional training 3 – 4 times a year.    Lita can be found HERE.