The popular brow trend that women are paying hundreds of dollars for
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — A relatively new eyebrow trend called 'microblading' has women rushing to spend hundreds of dollars on perfecting, what some call, the most important part of your face.
Lately - and with the help of social media - bolder brows seem to be what's 'trending' thanks to the likes of retired Supermodel turned Actress Cara Delevinge, Actress Sofia Vergara, and British-American Actress and Model Lily Collins.
"Eyebrows are in the spotlight now so more than ever because of social media; everybody is focused on brows right now," Emily Joy, owner of Dollistic, says. "Brows can really enhance your face if they're done right."
With fuller brows being popular, more and more women are rushing to purchase pencils, powders, brow gels, and are even having traditional tattooing done to create that fuller look. Often times, however, those options leave women with 'marker-like' eyebrows that either don't look good or look downright fake.
Even worse, the powders, pencils and gels can come off relatively easily, leaving others wondering where those big eyebrows vanished to.
So what do you do? You get them microbladed.
Microblading is a relatively new semi-permanent makeup option that gives women real looking eyebrows in just a few hours.
Emily Joy and Lizzeth Gutierrez of Dollistic in Washington, D.C. define microblading as a manual method that is performed by using a very fine blade to deposit pigments into the skin. They say because they are applying color closer to the surface, the strokes appear crisp, very fine, and extremely natural.
They say this method is ideal for anyone wanting to enhance the look of their brows.
Microblading is considered only to be "semi-permanent," meaning the results can last anywhere from one to three years. The two dolls at Dollistic recommend having microbladed brows touched up annually to retain the shape and color.
"The results are varied," Lizzeth, Dollistic partner and brow expert, says. "It really depends on their skin type and their life style."
Microblading differs from tattooing because no machine is ever used. In fact, it is an extremely meticulous process all done by hand, which is why the process takes about two to three hours.
"Unlike the traditional tattoo brows, we are using a hand-held tool instead of a machine, which is done with electricity," Emily says. "We are able to control the depth and the width of each hair stroke to create real-looking brows; real-looking hairs on your eyebrows."
Surprisingly, most of the time spent is on shaping the eyebrow and perfecting the outline, measuring bone structure, assessing asymmetry, and going over before and after care.
The actual microblading process itself only takes about 30 to 60 minutes.
Both Emily and Lizzeth will also pick out the proper color pigment that will be used for the client's brows. Together, the client and artist will agree on the best color before the artist begins the microblading process.
During the process, a topical anesthetic is applied to the eyebrow area to minimize the pain, and maximize the comfort.
"Most people are surprised and pleased to find out that it doesn't hurt more than tweezing or threading would," Emily says. Emily says that once their clients see their brows, they forget about the pain anyway.
Depending on the artist, and where a person is geographically located, microblading can range from $500 to $1,000, Emily says.
The two dolls from Dollistic are experiencing insane success in their industry right now. They have recently revamped their branding, logo, image and even moved locations in Washington. They are now located in D.C.'s Historic U St. Corridor.
Emily Joy, owner of Dollistic, has had a vibrant career thus far, studying under brow legend, Anastasia Soare. After some time in the beauty industry and her in-depth knowledge in management, Emily chose to move to D.C. to open Dollistic (formerly known as District Dollhouse). Emily has received her Microblading Master Certification from International Microblading Brow Master himself, Branko Babic, at his first American Academy. Emily is also the first microblading artist to be certified and insured in the District of Columbia.
Shortly after opening, Emily brought Lizzeth onto her team. Lizzeth has also had a vivacious career in the beauty industry. Prior to coming to Dollistic, Lizzeth owned her own company, LG Beauty Muse, a mobile spray tan and beauty service company serving the Metropolitan area. Lizzeth received her brow training from Emily.
Business for these two women is growing rapidly. They have re-branded their company, moved into their own stand-alone studio and are continuing to expand the Dollistic team.
Emily says, "Right now we are very popular because it looks so natural and no one can tell you've done anything to your brows."
If you, like many women, have over plucked your eyebrows, never had hair properly grow in, have suffered from hair loss due to medical reasons, or just want thicker brows, microblading could definitely be an option to look into.
"The concept eyebrows are on point is a status symbol. So if your eyebrows are on point, your life is on point," Emily says.
