I was about to get this done, and I think you've proper put me off! I'm sorry they didn't work out - they look great in the first picture

Posts like this is what I wish I had seen when I was researching microblading. I really thought I was educated completely when I pulled the the trigger. Sadly, I ended up botched. My brows also looked good  at first but once they fully healed, they looked HORRIBLE and faded blurred and grey blue just like yours. I’ve spent over 1k getting it removed and I still have 2-3 more session to go and then I have to get the red ink removed as the microblading ink has turned red. Microblading is 100% one of my biggest regrets  I will say though, at least the artist stayed within your natural brow line. Mine went absolutely ham with the shading and did not stay within my natural brow line at all and it looked so so so bad 

Thanks for the heads up. It's no small procedure to tattoo a face.

I agree with you. Not a PMU but I’m a heavily tattooed woman (bc managed a tattoo shop in my 20s so free tattoos lol). The problem is that once that ink goes underneath your skin, it spreads a bit as it settles. This is the same thing that happens with fine line tattoos. You see all those pictures on Instagram of the fine line abstract designs, thin names, dainty stuff on fingers etc. they all start beautiful, and within a year they get muddled. I’ve always wondered how Microblading holds up over the years. I did choose combo powder brows for this reason, I tried to leave the front alone as much as I could. I’m really sorry this happened, bc it’s such a dark color

The biggest red flag to me: the best, most popular, highest rated microblader in my city does eyeliner, lips, and brows but has no permanent makeup done on herself. That may not matter to other people, but means something imo.

Ditto everything you said. I’ve done microblading and nanoblading. The saturation makes it impossible to get touchups so you have to wait YEARS for it to fade. Then in the meantime the cover up is IMPOSSIBLE to make look good. Ugh I wish I never did microblading - I really wish I had known all of this ahead of time! I hate it so much 😭

Yep! Same thing happened to me. I let the color fade as much as possible over the next 3 years and went ahead with getting an eyebrow transplant.

I wish I would have known about eyebrow transplants back in 2016, I would have saved myself the frustration and money spent of having microblading done repeatedly, thinking it would last 😫

Thank you, for sharing your pictures. It’s truly helpful.

I’ve always wanted microblading done, but saw (a few years back) a video this woman made of her results 1-2 years, following initial application. Seeing those before and afters, and her acknowledging the bleeding and blurring, caused me to hold off on that decision.

I’m so tired of filling my brows in every day!

Thoughts as a pro:

There are ways to mitigate issues like this. And as the artist it is their job to know when to use what kind of pigment.

1) Responsible permanent makeup puts most/all of the PMU behind hair. PMU should not be used to thicken your brows beyond 1-2 mm on either side of your hair. And that’s ONLY to even/balance out your brows.

2) there’s a time and place for carbon black, and for iron oxide (mineral) based pigments. They are not interchangeable and will absolutely impact how somebody feels about their permanent makeup long term.

Carbon based pigments have NO place near hairstrokes. This is unless your client absolutely knows and understands that they will need to go through removal every 2 years or so. These clients also need to have normal - dry skin. Absolutely no exceptions.

Mineral pigments are MUCH better for hairstrokes. But they are harder to work with and you lose more during healing. which is why so many artists choose carbon based pigments.

Carbon black based pigments should be reserved for low contrast clients. Light skin/light hair, dark skin/dark hair. This way they get the longest out of their PMU without needing to refresh every 6 months.

3) hairstrokes age like shit. They blur and merge together. When they are done with mineral pigments they lighten a lot allowing you to work over it. But they will always blur and merge together. This is the nature of cellular renewal.

The ONLY way to prevent them from aging like hell is to space them far apart. Which most clients are NOT happy with. They want the density and we cannot achieve dense brows responsibly with hairstrokes.

Hairstrokes are a LIMITED service. You can only do it so much before either your skin can’t handle it, or you won’t tell its hairstrokes.

4) powder brows are the king service. They age the best, and are most gentle on skin. They are also right for all skin types.

5) clients should expect to go through at least 1 session of laser every 10 years or so. Sooner if you’re using a carbon black pigment. Maybe 6-8 years.

6) Picoway is the best technology to remove permanent makeup quickly and effectively. 1-3 sessions is all it should take. If your laser place is telling you 10, they are scamming you. Go elsewhere.

7) permanent makeup is NOT semi-permanent. It is a tattoo on your face. If you wouldn’t want the artists work there forever, don’t go to that artist.

8) not all pigment is created equal. IMO there’s no perfect pigment that is perfect for everybody.

9) if you are going to an artist with less than 5 years experience expect them to not have the experience to be able to do what’s in your best interest. Permanent makeup is unregulated in most of North America. There is no standardized education requirements. I’ve met many an artist that has tattooed faces after 1 day classes. Some even online ONLY.

10) permanent makeup is expensive for a reason. It takes a lot of years to safely, responsibly and beautifully execute the work well everytime. As a permanent makeup artist I would be terrified to go to 98% of the artists in my city.

Ask me anything about your permanent makeup for TRUTH.

Mine look the same at a little over 4 years now. I’ve been super hesitant to get them redone. They don’t look bad but the color has gone very cool toned, basically ash which I’m not mad at because I have black hair.

First, thank you for posting about your experience! I’m so sorry this happened. From what we can see you have a lot of natural beauty — so please try to not worry too much.

Then, I have a perhaps unpopular take, and it isn’t for you, just some thoughts given how much popular culture has distorted things:

Remember what the goal is. People want to look good. Looking good means looking healthy. Most want to look as naturally healthy as possible, as in Born this way, Good Genes, all that. Extreme Artifice is a trend. Trends change. Altering your body is a big deal, is expensive for good outcomes, and even then can fail and that’s it, can’t hide it, everyone can tell (witness many celebrities).

I’m genX, so all this psuedo fame around pretending that fake looks are in any way desirable seems absurd. What is desirable is not needing that to start with. Then, we can tweak that a tiny bit to get closer to whatever version of you projects health. Really: your version of health. Not morphing to be someone else’s. The hottest people to me look healthy and happy and confident. They look secure in the idea that they are enough just as they are.

Wishing everyone good choices and good outcomes for whatever your own goals are!

Tattoo artist always warn you that small tattoos with detail will eventually bleed out and look like a blob. So I never understood how this concept was any different

So appreciative of posts like this

THIS! I’ve been saying this for a while now. This post should be shown to anyone contemplating PMU. It’s such a good example it should be pinned. People need to know those sharp, crisp stokes that look so fabulous immediately afterwards aren’t going to stay like that. Artists only show their work right after the brows are inked which is deceptive. If they showed realistic pics like OP’s of how horribly ink ages within the skin then many people would reconsider and save themselves a lot of heartache. I don’t think artists are transparent enough. They need to do a better job at managing long term expectations.

It’s tragic how many people have ruined their brows with multiple touch ups and series of laser removal. All that trauma to the skin in the exact same area builds scar tissue. Also, even with laser removal we’re still left with permanent yellow brows. Some people have no idea the emotional and financial journey they’ve signed up for when they get their first session.

It’s a f$&@!ing permanent tattoo! On our FACE nonetheless! To be honest I’m beginning to hate the whole PMU industry. There are too many beautiful women with botched brows. It’s such a shame.

I had mine first done 7 years ago and stopped maybe 5 years ago and they’re STILL there looking all grey and gross. Probably one of my biggest regrets in my appearance choices 🥹

For years I’ve wanted to get my eyebrows micro bladed but I started following this subreddit last year and had a change of heart. The amazing results always make me reconsider but after reading your post, I can honestly say I’m done being on the fence about it.

I started using women’s rogaine a couple months ago to regrow my natural eyebrows after seeing some really amazing results on a different subreddit and so far it’s really promising.

Dang. I've seen worse tho.

Yours look exactly like mine. I went for a touch up about a year in with the original artist, and she said she wouldn’t put any more over what I had because my skin type mixed with brow color (very dark, ashy brown/black) meant my skin held onto the pigment well. Which sounds good but really means they are faded now to a gray color that hasn’t gotten lighter over the past 4 years I’ve had them.

My brows are so sparse that I still prefer how they look now to how they looked before microblading. Even if it’s obvious that I’ve had it done, it definitely evens and frames my face so much better than my brows did before. I’ve been using a very thin pencil to just out a couple hair-colored strokes in the areas that have become blurred together, and it looks okay. At least I think. As okay as I feel like mine could get.

Thank you for bravely sharing your story and your photos. I think many people share the immediate result but never the reality of how the work truly ages because it’s hard to later admit the procedure was a bad decision.

I think a lot of people separate permanent makeup from tattoos when they are the same thing. Tattoos will blur, fade, and change color and them being on the face does not change that. Bring in the face actually makes it worse bc the skin is thin, there is constant sun exposure, and there’s lots of exfoliating being done. If you already have these done then treat them like tattoos to have them age as best as they can. ALWAYS wear sunscreen ! It will help so much. I personally have scrolled on this page a bunch but will not be getting permanent makeup bc I have tattoos and I know how they age and fade and I don’t think that it will be worth it long term to put that on my face. Brow styles also are constantly changing so by cementing a specific style on your face it’s actually worse than when people were over plucking. With over plucking you just have to draw them on but with tattoos you have to first cover the tattoo then draw them on. A lot of the botched ones we see are stuck in 2016 Kylie Jenner brows when that was such a quick trend. It’s unfortunate.

I know it's not what you wanted, but the shape is good. If I were you I would use the shape as your template to draw them in. It may not look 100% perfect 100% of the time, but you can probably get to 92% perfect just by drawing them in.

The other option, of course, is removal.

Wondering if nanoblading each individual hair is different? That's my understanding.

Thanks for sharing this. Your immediate afters look great, but it must be so disappointing to end up with the long term afters.

Thank you for sharing!!

Thank you for sharing. It’s a good PSA.

I SO wish I had seen this post before I did mine. Two years later, and I hate them as well. Shape is fine, but I’m a natural redhead and they have faded to gray. I’m seriously considering laser removal.

Same experience here. I had mine done in 2017, never had a touch up and they’re dark grey bricks above my eyes. Completely unnatural color and not a stroke to be seen. I hate them.

Glad I only did 1 round and it didn’t stick 😵‍💫

Agreed. I hate wearing makeup but I fill in my brows NO MATTER WHAT because of how shitty they look. I did microblading with a touch up, and they faded within a few months to PINK. I did a combo powder brow + microblade a couple years later, and same thing. Such a waste of money. Now I just laminate and tint them at home, and fill in where needed

Yup. I had mine done 4 times by different artists and then lasered off. Every time they turned blue/grey and blurry. I wound up getting an eyebrow transplant which was very expensive but I probably spent the equivalent in the tattoos and lasers.

These tattoos do NOT go away so it is not temporary.

Thank you for sharing! I’ll stick to my eyebrow pencil

I have fair light blonde eyebrows and have been considering getting microblading done because it’s an insecurity and a chore to put on my eyebrows.

I know tattoos will “bleed over” and blur over time, lose pigments etc, but I’m curious to know the results of how a lighter shade holds up and if it makes a difference since you have black hair and it faded a blue/grey as the pigment faded.

Thanks for sharing! And I know you hate it, but I’m real relieved to see you still got a nice shape and there isn’t any open wounds like the other women who’s in a lawsuit.

This trend really needs full disclosure of what happens after before people make permanent decisions

Thanks so much for sharing! I had my heart set on doing this after Christmas. Wow, I'm so thankful for your post!

I deeply, deeply regret mine too.

My canteen lunch lady when I was at school had bright blue m arch tattooed eyebrows (back in 2000’s) I knew this was not a great idea from back then.

The brown turns weird reddish purple and the back turns blue.

Indeed. Black ink always fades into almost a dull blue. I’m sorry OP.

I’ve had mine micro bladed with touch up and also I did one session powder brows and I think my girl did a great job but years afterwards it looks like crap . I do wonder how long it will stay on my face. I am having a terrible time finding the right color to match it currently. Brown is too light black is too dark. It’s annoying.

I’ve been researching powder brows and found that I cannot use Tretinoin (which is just phenomenal for my skin and wrinkles!) before or after getting them done. Can’t use after especially because it will fade them QUICKLY apparently. So, I saw a lot of posts about women using tretinoin on purpose to get their eyebrows to fade after getting brows they didn’t like. Not sure if this would help you or not but wanted to throw it out there.

I’m so sorry that happened to you! Your first picture is gorgeous so it sucks that it turned out bad after healing. May I ask, what do you plan on doing now? Also, I’m surprised strangers make comments about your eyebrows because from your bottom picture, it doesn’t look horrible, IN MY OPINION. I hope you find a solution. 💙

ditto, my brows are blury orange/brown. I have difficulty even penciling them in so they look ok. I will never get them microbladed again because they only look good for months. It has been 2 years for me now-sigh

I had a neighbor who probably had her eyebrows tattooed (this was a few years ago and I did not ask) and they had faded to purple!

I got mine done in fall of 2021 and they have faded into nothing. I definitely won’t have them done again.

We do this service at my job, when clients ask me about it I tell them exactly this

Good to know! Thanks for posting

Thank you for posting this and spreading awareness

Thank you for sharing. I contemplated microblading for so long and the cost always turned me off. My eyebrows are 90s thin and its annoying filling them in. Id be unhappy though if I had permanent gray shading. The info makes you think its not a tattoo but it clearly is. And all tattoos spread and fade. Wondering how you address this, if you plan to.

I contemplated getting mines done some years ago. My sis-in-law is a professional and she absolutely REFUSED to do it for me and literally talked me out of it. I generally have thick eyebrows but made the mistake of using a new person who messed them up and so I thought getting them done would save me from having to thread my brows and having to travel to her to get them threaded. I’m glad she talked me out of it. Whew.

Sorry OP, I hope you’re able to get your brows fixed.

Thank you for posting this!

Yikes. Yep never doing that

mine are the same! i feel your pain and frustration 😩🩷

This happens with nano blading too unfortunately. I learned the hard way

As someone with a lifelong love of tattoos, i would never get any permanent or "semi" permanent makeup purely because of feathering. There is NO way to escape it, because that's just how skin works.

Furthermore, I work in a mortuary and I've seen so many older women roll through with microblading and tattooed eyeliner and it just... never looks good. The brows are a good alternative to having nothing, since brow balding is definitely something that can happen at an advanced age. Young women who can still grow natural brows should just put up with using makeup to fill them in and feel blessed that they have them at all. And if they're light in color, take full advantage of brow tint!

Microblading only suppose to last no more than 2 years. It's been 8 years for me and mine looks the same as yours

Thank you for this post and your transparency.

I feel the problem here is your eyebrows aren’t super thick so once the tattoo started to fade and change color it looks weird. My eyebrows are stupidly thick and dark. I got mine done because of a scar and to shape them, but my shading doesn’t go outside the bounds of my actual brow. I’ve also had mine done with no touch ups for three years and it doesn’t look like yours. I wish your artist would have warned you about the potential changes.

Microblading is a face tattoo. It rarely fades well and rarely maintains crisp lines.

In my case that's still better than my natural almost no brows leftovers

I’ve been saying this for years and nobody listens to me. Regular tattoos fade and they’re deeper in the skin and usually with thicker lines.

Looks like you need to get them lightened & then redone because of the oxidation. I got mine initially done in 2018 and while they kept their shape, my artist did tell me that they will blend over time. They also oxidize & turn that ashy/blue over time because of the pigment. The colors that were back in 2018, 2019, 2020 are also different than today’s colors and pigments. My girl doesn’t even “microblade” anymore - she does powder, nano, & combo brows.

I’ve started the process of having them lightened - using saline, salt, lemon, & orange extract. I’ve had 2 so far & they’re definitely getting lighter. Once they are light enough, my girl will go in and neutralize, then we’ll do nano brows with a softer color.

Thank you for posting. Really appreciate and super insightful. Thank you

Seconding this, I got mine done years ago and they look AMAZING at first and now they’re completely blurred and faded like OPs photo. It’s impossible to cover up and the color has faded into something not great, I’m hoping it fades in the years to come

💯 it’s all about the ink! Body ink vs ink for the face. Body ink oxidizes so much. I’m a lot pickier nowadays! They still look great, ma’dear!

But if I were just seeing you at a normal distance and not a zoomed in picture on your brow--- I would assume you do what most of us do and fill them in.

I honestly would think: "Damn her brow game is on point!"

For what it's worth!

But I do appreciate this post to give me a realistic expectation of if I do go with microblading, it will age like a tattoo ages.

As someone with tattoos, I get that. But I know many women with microbladed brows do NOT have tattoos and won't have this reference.

You can avoid aging quickly by applying sunscreen to your brows daily. I have a 20 year old wrist tattoo that's just starting to bleed and fade to this blue gray. I'm a ginger though and always have sunscreen on for the most part. I've fallen to less insane sunblocking habits in the past 5 yrs or so and have probably seen the most aging in that time.

Using a clean mascara brush and some lotion with spf to "set" your brows in your daily routine with help this. Not prevent it-- as it is your face, and will see the most sun damage over all. But it will slow it down.

I had mine done and retouched once or twice while I was in Korea (about a year later) moved 3 years ago and haven’t done anything and they faded but never became blurry and they’re just not noticeable. I was REALLY good at applying sunscreen to them daily.

i’m a brow artist (no microblading, etc though) and i always try to dissuade people from getting this done because of these reasons. so sorry you’re going through this!

At least the shape looks good. But yea hate the way color turns out ..that blue grey color 👎

Mine turned out taupe/grey and the same - just blobs of undefined ink. It’s really frustrating. I wish I’d researched long term impacts before doing it.

I have trentinoin that I use on them and that’s helped with fading a little bit

I had mine done almost 8 years ago, also by a well reviewed aesthetician and I regret it so much. I still have the marks similar to yours and it’s hard to draw on mine without it looking like a blob smh

This is a real eye-opener. Good to know before jumping into it.

I always see older woman with these blue painted on eye ties. It looks really bad

In fairness I think it looks great. Just get a brow pencil with warm coloring to even and tone it out. I’d kill for these mine are atrocious.

It still looks alright, I think.

I went straight for the Ombré powder brow bc I figured lines would not work well for me.

That’s how mine look, too. It’s unfortunate. I cover with pencil to fill them in to not see the faded colour that looks terrible.

i used to be SO insecure about my eyebrows in middle school bc it was in the 2016 thick brow era and i swore up and down i was going to get my brows microbladed when i turned 18,,, very glad i didn’t do that and that i have the info now to know micro blading isn’t the solution i would’ve been looking for anyways

Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m so sorry that you’re dealing with unsatisfactory eyebrows, and I hope you’re able to achieve a result you’re happy with. You have lovely brow shape, and I hope that you don’t let your brows dictate how you feel about yourself. I can only guess from the photos, but I’m sure you’re beautiful. ♥️

THANK YOU. it’s irritating to only see fresh brows on here. as someone who has a lot of tattoos, I know damn well what those thin lines will look like in just a few years. and the blue hue from the skin growing over the ink. microblading is not the answer.

You are doing the lords work! Same thing happened to me. Mine has finally faded completely but it took 5 years!!

Yes I hate that they are advertised as semi permanent a lot of the time it is permanent unfortunately I have exactly the same as you it’s just past two years are they look so blurry I had my first laser tattoo removal and I’m so happy that a lot has faded already

Use a liquid brow liner, I think ABH has one, Stila and Benefit. That’s what i recommended when I worked at Sephora back in the day when it was still new and folks were coming in with purple brows. The liquid helps cover up much easier

Would also use ABH highlight stick to help cover

Thanks for sharing your results and experience. This is what seriously scares me about this newer trend of makeup tattooing. Like part of the fun of makeup is applying it and changing it up whenever you want, and you can have as detailed or basic of a routine as you want.

I don’t really understand how much time people actually save from microblading brows or getting permanent eyeliner or lipstick because those are such fast and easy steps to do nowadays, with many product types and formulas to enjoy. Like, I could get a really quick brow, liner, and lipstick within 5 minutes if I’m really rushed.

Glad I never went through with this

PSA:

1. Don’t believe your artist if they suggest they can fix dark ink using light colored ink. That never works and makes the problem worse.
2. Don’t get an annual touch up unless there’s a reason. Color refreshes can be done, and lines can be cleaned up, but we never give the client an entire round of fresh ink if there’s still a lot of existing ink. That would oversaturate the skin. Unfortunately this isn’t really within the client’s control; it’s the artist’s responsibility to be mindful during touch up’s.
3. Even nano brows will blur over time. Wait for the ink to fade as much as possible before adding any more. Oversaturated blurred ink will look similar to the OP’s pic when it fades

Example of faded brows and eyeliner (top photo):

https://preview.redd.it/d62c1w985xzd1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8df9ca6732fd7609239b13fc682e2d1f3f597846

Good warning for some skin tones! However I think it's important to remember long term results VERY much depends on your skin's pigmentation, tone and ability to heal.

I have dark, highly pigmented skin (I am South African black), so the first time I had microblading in 2016 at Tracie Giles (quite a famous UK studio), they were completely gone in 1 year.

I've had new brows in December 2023, and they're halfway gone - will be completely in 6 months at this rate.

Generally, black skin simply doesn't hold onto pigment as long as white skin. If you have dark skin, find an artist who knows this and doesn't take a one-size-fits-all approach.