Over the years the makeup trend for eyebrows have changed. In the early 2000s it was thin and arched and now we have moved on to dark, bold eyebrows like Cara Delevingne. Young women strive to have eyebrows that are “on fleak,” meaning getting them waxed, plucked, shaped and filled in for that perfect brow.

Unless you were blessed with naturally thick brows, mastering this technique of filling in can be time staking and frustrating. For the person who doesn’t have time to fill their eyebrows in every morning, there are many people that have turned to the popular trend of microblading.

“Those who want the procedure done are usually those that have sparse brows and want them to be more evenly shaped, full and define,” said Kree Kumai, a microblading specialist from Kreeative.brows. “People with alopecia and other diseases that cause hair loss benefit from microblading as well. It allows them to have brows that look natural and real.”

Microblading is also known as permanent makeup, eyebrow embroidery, micro-pigmentation and cosmetic tattooing. Woah. Yes, I said tattooing, but not like the types of tattoos people get on their body. Microblading is used with a group of 6 to 14 micro needles attached to a handle that creates lines or strokes to resemble natural looking hair. It is done by implanting ink into the skin just like a normal tattoo, but the needles doesn’t go as deep into the skin as a body tattoo does. That allows the pigment to slowly fade until fully gone. Microblading can last anywhere from 1 to 3 years depending on one’s skin, everyone is different.

What happens after microblading is where the healing process happens for those beautiful brows. There will be quite some effort that needs to be put into caring for your brows before you can enjoy amazing full brows, but the end will be worth it.

Right after the procedure, your brows will need to dry for ten days. This means that nothing should touch them, no water, no direct sunlight, or no sweat (so no working out for a bit). If that is difficult for your daily routine then put Vaseline over each brow to make them waterproof. This is a good trick when taking showers. After showering, make sure to blot the vaseline off until your brows are completely dry.

When washing your face, you must go around the brows. The reason for that is that many face washes have acids in them which will fade your brows. An alternative, is to use facial wipes (like Neutrogena) work well since you can go right around your brows easily. For the tattoo to fully heal it will take 6 to 8 weeks. After that is when the touch ups are done.

Eyebrows are a very important part of a person’s face. Even though people get frustrated with their brow shape, it would change how you look without them. Brows help people show emotion and define the face, so why not make them as great as they can be to match the rest of you?