Would you consider microblading for chemo eyebrow hair loss?

Stepping off the cancer treatment conveyor belt, and attempting to remember where you were on your life journey before diagnosis is tough! People tell you how well you look, I’m sure it’s because they struggle for something to say and mean well.

I have come through bilateral breast cancer, chemo, bilateral mastectomies, radiotherapy, reconstruction and a total hysterectomy due to a suspicion of a BRCA gene mutation. I lost my hair, eyebrows, lashes, boobs and ovaries… I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror as I felt I still looked like a cancer patient.

I’ve never been high maintenance in terms of make up, but whilst attending a Look Good Feel Better day, I learnt how to use make up properly. Wow…eyebrows, I felt lovely leaving that class, but I was never confident drawing my eyebrows on myself. I heard about microblading through a friend, so started my research.

I found a technician locally and began to read her reviews on her Facebook page, I could also see her work as her pictures were watermarked. I made an enquiry and an appointment so I could fully understand the treatment. For my first appointment we drew on my brows with pencil, experimented with colour and did a patch test, to ensure I wasn’t allergic to the ink!

I was quite nervous on the day, but to be honest it was easy compared to cancer treatment, I’m completely over the moon with the results. That day I went home, my husband said he’d got his wife back, he saw how happy I was, I wanted to keep looking in the mirror. My confidence about how I look has returned and I feel pretty again. Here is how it works written by the lovely Hayley, the specialist technician I found at www.kiwibeauty.co.uk.

Microblading is a form of tattooing, creating eyebrows with a handtool which has a small row of needles attached to the end of the handtool; this is then dipped into specialised pigment and hairstrokes are drawn onto the skin to simulate hairs in place of where they should be. This method of tattooing is the most natural and realistic way of recreating eyebrows that were once there.

Having Microblading done will increase your self esteem and confidence again; it’s amazing just how much having a ‘face frame’ can enhance your features and make you feel like ‘you’ again. It will not prevent your hairs growing, and if you have blonde/fair hairs they will still need tinting as the colour stays on the skin, not the hair.

Hairstrokes are tattooed on in the direction of the natural hairs that remain, so there is no need to remove any hairs remaining – for the most natural look, your hairs that remain will naturally determine the curvature of the eyebrow style. Everything is measured to give you the closest result for your eyebrows – however they will never be perfect as our faces are not symmetrical.

You need two appointments, spaced six weeks apart. The touch up is to correct any hairstrokes that may not have taken well, you may want to go darker with the colour, add to the thickness of the shape – the second treatment is essential to give you the best result you can get.

Aftercare should be explained thoroughly to you and you should expect to keep them dry for 7-10 days after the treatment to allow healing, and to achieve the best result possible. This treatment can last anywhere between nine months and two years, depending on lifestyle, skin type, sun exposure etc.

Colour Boosts can be carried out any time from six months to maintain the shape and colour for you. This will normally be around half the cost of the original price as you should only need one treatment. Some people are not suitable candidates for Microblading so check with your technician if you are able to proceed with the treatment. Your technician may also require a note from your specialist to confirm that your radio/chemo therapy treatments have finished, and your immune system has recovered from the treatments.

To find a reputable technician you should look/ask for their qualifications, look at their photos they have published advertising their work (check for their trademarks on them to make sure it is their work), look/ask for ‘healed results’, look at their website/Facebook page/Instagram/Twitter pages, read reviews written by clients and check their star ratings.

Finding a deal on Groupon/Wowcher or similar would be a red flag – this is a specialised treatment so finding it for less than £150 would be worrying. To have someone carry out this treatment on you, particularly if you lost most/all of your brow hair, you would be best to find an experienced technician (at least 2 years) to carry out your treatment.

These photos of Amanda show the before and after treatment results, she is also wearing the long tying turban scarf that can be found at Suburban Turban. The Microblading treatment was carried out by Kiwi Beauty & Permanent Cosmetics, based in Reading.