Last Thursday I bit the bullet and had my eyebrows tattooed! I have never had lush eyebrows and have spent many years of my life creating a ‘perfect pair’ every morning!
When I worked I would set the alarm half an hour earlier to paint my eyes, primarily to manufacture eyebrows with minimal assistance. I produced my own version with a dark brown pencil and have stuck to that shape for the last thirty years.
So, last Thursday, after waiting for almost three months for an appointment, I painted my eyebrows for the last time (so that the woman could find them!) and drove to the little beauty parlour just outside the village. I was still not sure if I wanted to go ahead with the procedure.
Rebecca asked me to sit up straight at the end of the bed, eyes closed. My current eyebrows were removed with the sweep of a wet wipe. ‘That’s not your natural shape’ I was told. I was surprised that there were enough hairs to see any shape! ‘I’m going to draw eyebrows for you and we can work from there’ Rebecca said, the sound of the pencil almost grating in my ears.
I looked in the mirror. I hardly recognised the face staring back at me! I saw two brown slugs languishing above each eye! Rebecca explained how she measured the eyebrow from the inside and the outside of each eye. She remarked that eyebrows weren’t twins, they were sisters. No two were identical! After a few minimal tweeks I lay down and the process began.
Rebecca spread an analgesic cream on each eyebrow and explained the process, detailing what will happen over the next seven days. I can’t get them wet and must avoid touching them. They will form small scabs which will drop off (great!). The defined strokes will soften and my eyebrows will look natural. After a month I return to have them perfected, filling in any gaps and thickening up where required. Every year I go for a ‘top up’. And, hey presto, that is how I will become the proud owner of a pair of no maintenance eyebrows, sisters, not twins!
This is Monday morning. My eyebrows itched through the night. They look darker than last week and I have to remember not to touch them. My hair will not be washed tonight but will have to make do until Thursday. I’m getting used to the slugs on my face and am hopeful that the defined strokes will soon morph into delicate hairs, lush and natural!
I’ll keep you posted! 👠
Jenny Burrell 