the ULTIMATE guide to retouching EYEBROW TATTOOS

June 18, 2017 2 Comments

we've had a lot of requests for more videos about permanent makeup so this week we’re doing just that. jessica is our resident permanent makeup technician and she’s going to walk through the process of retouching EYEBROW TATTOOS.

EYEBROW TATTOOS are a great way for ladies who love dramatic brows but want to leave the liner in their makeup bag.  results typically last 1-2 YEARs, but can vary based on your body’s individual healing process, skin type, and skin regimen.  thinking about giving it a try?  watch the video, read the blog, and share your thoughts in the comments :)

NOTE: do NOT try this at home. there is no online guide or at-home tattoo machine that can deliver safe, clean, and effective results. ALWAYS contact a professional.

veronica has already had her eyebrows tattooed before, so technically this is just a touch-up.  if this were her first time, we’d need to draw out guidelines to ensure that our work ends up symmetrical.  this time, we’ll just be retouching the color so all we need to do is go over her brow.

here’s a quick recap of everything we need for the process:

• tattoo machine
• 5 round needle
• sanitary gloves
• topical anesthetic (for ‘freezing’)
• tattoo ink
• swabs for wiping
• antibacterial ointment

prepping the BROWS

as you may have guessed, the process starts with sanitation.  in addition to making sure the brows are clean before your client lays on the table, you’ll want to apply a topical anesthetic to reduce pain, burning, and itching throughout the process.

we use alera skincare.

make sure to put on gloves BEFORE you apply the topical agent.  this will ensure that your workstation stays sanitary.  toss them afterward and grab a new pair before you pick up your tattoo machine.

(in the video, we applied the topical anesthetic with gloves before filming).

MIXING the COLOR

to attain the perfect brow color for veronica, we’re MIXING 3 different colors from biotouch.

• ⅓ gray
• ⅔ as chocolate brown
• +2 drops of olive

we’ve found that biotouch browns tend to have a lot of red pigment behind them, so to neutralize that we added a few drops of olive. (HINT: remember the law of color blog? same concept.)

TATTOOING the BROWS

we’ve chosen a 5 round needle for this job. all we have to do is go over her brow.  we’re going to be focussing on SHADING.  the tattoo pen is set to a medium speed.

we’re going to create lines that are about half a centimeter long. you want to make sure that you’re overlapping the lines and going back and forth a few times.  then we’ll move the needle over about half a millimeter and repeat the process, making sure to overlap just a little.  this will ensure that she doesn’t have any gaps once her eyebrows heal.

remember: you shouldn’t be afraid to touch your client's face and move their head around during the process. you need to make sure that you have a firm grip on what you’re doing and can see the skin as clearly as possible.

will ensure that you can deposit even color as well as see exactly where you’re putting the needle.  as you tattoo the client, you want to make sure that you’re moving slowly in order to ensure the color deposits entirely.  (you’ll probably feel like you’re moving too slow- but trust us! you aren’t.)

PROTIP: remember to hold the tattoo pen in a perpendicular angle. (90 degrees). your needle should only be protruding about a millimeter so that it doesn’t penetrate the client’s skin too deep.

if your client feels any pain, you want to stop and take the time to freeze them. at the end of the day, you want to make sure that what your client has a good experience.  if it’s incredibly painful, that’s what they’re going to tell their friends about the experience.

repeat the process on both brows.  

OUTLINING the BROWS

after we were done shading, veronica’s eyebrows looked like this:

as you can see, they are very symmetrical.  the next step is to outline each brow to make sure they’re nice and crisp.  finally, we’re going to soften the brows.  as you can see, they look very defined and we want them to have a nice natural look.

if you need to check the opacity, use your fingers to pinch the skin and stretch the area to make sure that your color is depositing evenly.

before we begin, we’re going to put another layer of freezing anesthetic.  at this point, we’ve been tattooing for about 2 hours.

in order to see where we need to create the lines, you want to pinch the brows between your fingers. 

outline right along the edge and remember to move slowly. as you move across the brow, be careful as you approach the tail.  move outwards so that your stroke finishes naturally.

PROTIP: if the person you’re working on is bleeding too much, you may be scratching their skin or the needle is protruding too far from the tip.  take the time to get a new needle and slow down.

SOFTENING the brows

now we’re going to make sure that her brows look nice and natural.  to do so, we’ll be employing a technique we call DOTTING. as you may have guessed, this achieved by adding little dots to the outline to help break up the solid line.  make sure to wipe consistently, because you don’t want to end up with a solid line all over again.

another technique you can use is to draw a couple of hair strokes towards the front of the brows.  it really depends on how your client likes to wear their eyebrows.

and now for the final RESULT:

before we let her get off the operating table, we’re going to add a drop of aloe to alleviate the swelling.  now we’re going to put on a little antibacterial ointment. make sure you send your client to the store to buy an organic chapstick to moisturize the brows. like any other tattoo, they will scab and itch during the healing process but you DO NOT want to touch them during the healing process.

as you can see, they look a little dark and blocky but that's simply because of the new ink. we like to call it the sharpie brow phase.  over the course of the healing process, about 30% of the color will be lost and they’ll look PERFECT.

curious about the healing process? here's a quick breakdown:

1. DAY 1: right after you complete the brows, you’ll have the antibiotic on and your eyebrows will be very shiny.  you’ll apply another coat later that evening and move onto an organic chapstick.
2. DAY 2: at this point, they have completely scabbed over and will begin looking less and less like sharpie brows.
3. DAY 3: the scab has begun to heal and as the swelling begins to lesson, the brows will ‘shrink’ a little.
4. DAY 4: they’re starting to crack and lift a bit.  resist the urge to touch them!
5. DAY 5: the peeling and cracking is beginning to progress and we can see the lighter color peeking through.
6. DAY 6: by this point, the brows are really starting to crack and skin is beginning to peal off. this is arguably the most uncomfortable day, but it signifies the end is near!
7. DAY 7: for the most part, the scabbing is all the way peeled off. in about a day, the remaining scab will fall off and you’ll be ready to rock your brows.
8. DAY 8: the process is complete! check it out

 if you want to wake up with your makeup, this is the PERFECT solution.  for a week of discomfort, you can wake up with your brows on fleek for nearly two years :)

2 Responses

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Also in Hair Tutorial Blog