Browmance (Part 1)

Back when they were still “virgin brows,” they were neither thick nor sparse. They were in fact just right. But when I started to pluck them 10 or 12 years ago, and do them every day with eyebrow pencils, that’s when the hairs started to become thin.

And yes, I have to do my brows every single day. Except for gel brow liners, I have tried a lot of brow liner and powder brands. So far, my favorite is L’Oreal’s Brow Artist Designer Pro in dark brown. It’s a 3-in-1 tool – you have a retractable pencil, powder, and brush. I don’t buy expensive tools though. I am contented with a Nichido brow brush. I also have brow stencil kits. I can go out without face powder or lipstick, but not without my brows. Without them, I look older, and I look like there’s something missing from my face. Doing them every day is ok, I don’t mind, but sometimes they would smudge, and when I have to wash my face, I have to do them all over again. Minor lang naman but what if you go swimming, or running, pag nabasa na face mo, or you get sweaty, baka kumalat. Unless you wear the waterproof kind.

Tools of the trade

Every time a make-up artist would do my face, I would have to explain what happened to my brows.

“Bakit manipis?”

“Ewan ko ba, paggising ko, ganyan na eh.”

Sometimes I like what they’ve done to my brows, sometimes not really. My favorite so far is Raymond Isais’ soft take on my brows (my look last December 2015 Christmas Party, please refer to my blog profile pic). Follow him at IG @raymondisais

That is why when I heard of eyebrow embroidery, my curiosity was piqued. In one of the groupon sites, I saw a promo in a salon in Makati. I thought, what if I try it? When I was in Bangkok last year, there was a stall inside a mall that offers 3D brows, and I think one or two of my agent-companions tried the service. True enough, the following day, they had eyebrows like forever, as if they have been there all along. They were lovely but they looked so made up.

I have also read of horror stories, wherein clients didn’t like the finished product. The brows look dark on them, masakit, hindi maganda ang shape, etc.  I would also remember some celebrities who had them, and the brows looked so unnatural. Halatang ginawa. I heard of Pretty Looks, but I thought it was too expensive. Think of Ellen Adarna. Lakas maka-ganda. Watching the video, I said to myself, mukhang kaya ko naman. Mukhang hindi naman masakit. Paano kaya ang after-care nito? Every day, I would type “eyebrows” in the Facebook search bar, hoping to see other people who are offering the same service, and I would check out their pages, the “after” photos look so good, and I would be inspired all the more. I-push ko ba ito? There are rates as low as 3k. But the price is too good to be true.

Finally, my choices were narrowed down into two. One Sunday, I sent personal messages to Strokes by Momoi Supe, and to Eyebrow Embroidery Manila. The rates were from Php10,000 to 14,000. Pwede na. Medyo affordable na compared to the Php20-25k+ rates of other artists/salons. But you would have to schedule an appointment as the slots are limited, especially for me who could only go during weekends. I also inquired about the downtime. I couldn’t imagine going to the office looking like someone who had a cosmetic surgery. Yung warts removal nga, ayokong patulan, because of the tuldok-tuldok marks after.

So these are the eyebrow embroidery details I got from them:

https://www.facebook.com/strokesbymomoisupe/

• It is a semi-permanent tattoo that can last up to 2 years. The procedure costs 14,000 - Master ES (Momoi Supe) and 10,000 - Senior ES (Keighty Wong).
• They only accept cash payments for now. It is inclusive of retouch after 6 weeks. It will take 1.5 hours to do the procedure.
• 15mins. - Eyebrow Shaping, 30mins. - Topical Anesthesia Curing and 45mins. - EE Procedure
• A topical anesthesia is applied before and during the procedure to lessen or totally eliminate pain.
• They have only 1 branch and strictly by appointment only.
• There is peeling afterwards 1-2 weeks, darkening 2-3 days before scabs/peel off then lighten.

https://www.facebook.com/eyebrowembroiderymanila/?pnref=story

• They have an ongoing 30% discount on eyebrows. The original rate for 3HD is 12k,  this is the strand type, very natural. After discount, it will be 8,400 only.
• 6HD is 15k, it’s the more bushy look with varying hair length and shades. Shading is 8k, similar to old tattoo style but more natural in color. They also have 30% discount on 6HD & shading eyebrow services for April.
• Lip tint is 6k and eyeliner is 4k.
• Kristine Lucas is a Singapore & U.S. certified girl makeup artist for 8 years.
• The eyebrows will look dark for about 3 days and then it will peel for another 4 days, so total of 1 week downtime

Php8,400 to 10k – not bad, I thought. I would just have to make a choice as to when and where. I asked my husband to accompany me if and when I do decide to undergo this thing called eyebrow embroidery.

Stay tuned for BrowJob (Part 2).

~TheGoodGirl