In the makeup world, many people have delved into the permanent makeup trends in an attempt to get perfect eyebrows that don’t require so much stress to get done.
There are different forms of permanent makeup, most of which are semi-permanent, with some having nothing to do with eyebrows.
From Microblading to Microshading to lip blushing to permanent lip liner to freckle tattoos, all are done with an expiry date hanging over them. Despite the several options for getting semi-permanent eyebrows done, some people still prefer permanently tattooing their eyebrows.
While doing this solves the problem of constantly trying to draw well-shaped eyebrows, it is a procedure that is difficult, practically impossible to erase. This article is all you need to know about Eyebrow tattoos and Micro shading.
What is Eyebrow Tattoo?
Eyebrow tattoo, like every other tattoo, is a procedure where a tattoo artist uses an inked needle hooked to a power source to repeatedly penetrate the skin with quick tapping motions, applying ink to the inner layer of the skin. Even though the colors may fade, an eyebrow tattoo is permanent and almost impossible to remove once done.
Pros and Cons of Eyebrow Tattoo
Benefits
Eyebrow tattoo is permanent and can’t be cleaned off; even the color can change over time. It removes the stress of worrying about drawing brows, which saves time and energy, having to draw perfect or even ‘manageable’ eyebrows.
Eyebrow tattoos can look unbelievably natural; until a closer look is taken at it before anyone can tell tattooed eyebrows from natural ones.
Eyebrow tattoo saves you the stress of drawing your eyebrows, giving you the time to focus on other aspects of your makeup when getting it done.
Eyebrow tattoos can be a good cover for people with one hair loss issue or the other; for example, people who go through chemotherapy can opt to tattoo their eyebrows, which helps boost their confidence.
Risk Factors
The healing process can be torturous.
Eyebrow tattoos, though permanent, can change color over time. The edges and lines start to appear greenish. It doesn’t help that they are permanent and can’t be cleaned.
Eyebrow tattoos look more like made-up brows than natural ones. It is a disadvantage for the days when you intend to wear a natural look.
What is Microshading?
Microshading also called ‘powder brows,’ is a cosmetic procedure in which an electric or manual pen creates dots on the brows with pigment. This process is semi-permanent. The more dots that are made and the closer they are, the darker and fuller the eyebrows come out. Microshading, though similar to Microblading, is more suitable for sensitive and oily skin types.
Pros and Cons of Microshading
Benefits
Microshading is less painful than tattoos. Tattoos are made by piercing deep into the skin’s inner layer, while micro shading involves depositing pigment just beneath the dermis layer of the skin. The damage made to the skin is not a grave one.
Microshading doesn’t change color, and it fades over time. It allows room for touch-ups to be finely done without making it look tacky.
The micro shading recovery process is quick and not very painful.
Risk Factors
Microshading is quite an expensive procedure to go through, and it is a procedure that requires a little shaking in your budget. Therefore, our planning and preparation for micro-shaded brows also include serious budgeting.
Microshading needs to be touched up now and then. The pierces made into the skin aren’t as deep as in the case of tattoos. Hence, the need for constant touch-ups.
Microshading can gradually clean off if exposed to too much physical exertion. Too much physical exertion will bring about a lot of sweating, slowly wearing off the colors of your micro-shaded brows.
Eyebrow Tattoo Vs. Microshading – Differences
Eyebrow Tattoo is Permanent, While Microshading is Not
Eyebrow tattoos last forever unless you go through tattoo removal treatments. Tattoos never clear out; they only fade into an undesirable blue-green hue.
Microshading, however, wears off with time. Microshaded eyebrows can last somewhere between 6-18 months. The punctures made into the skin aren’t so deep, and the pigment deposited into the skin fades off as your skin cells change naturally. It is particularly advantageous, as the client can change the appearance of their brows with time into whatever they prefer. All they need to do is keep going for touch-ups to maintain the look of their brows.
Eyebrow Tattoo Is Achieved By Needling, While Microshading Is Achieved By Shading
Tattooing is achieved with a machine that goes deep into the skin, making tattoos more painful than micro shading. The ink tends to ‘bleed’ into other areas because the more it is used, the deeper the cuts into the skin are made. Eventually, the skin will need a lot of time to heal from all the deep cuts that have been made.
Microshading, on the other hand, is done with a hand tool that only pierces into the uppermost layer of the skin, which is way less painful than tattooing. Interestingly, not much pigment is needed in microshading, so there is no fear of the color running off and entering into other skin parts.
Eyebrow Tattoo Uses Ink, While Microshading Uses Pigment
In tattooing, inks are used, while pigments are used to achieve micro shading. Both of them differ in how they wear off over time. As tattoo ink starts to fade off, it turns blue-green, especially at the edges, and this is most common with black tattoo ink. It leaves the client’s brow looking oddly colored and unnatural-looking.
Microshading pigments can be organic or inorganic and come in different colors. When the ink starts to fade, it gets lighter even though the tone remains the same. Microshading pigment is designed to fade into a lighter version of the used color so the client can still have natural-looking brows. Hence, the brows remain looking natural until the whole thing fades away.
Eyebrow Tattoo Fills The Brows While Microshading ‘Powders’ The Brows
No matter how skilled tattoo artists are, they usually need help to achieve perfection, as can be done with micro shading. A tattooed eyebrow will look like filled brows against naturally drawn ones.
But a professional micro-shading artist can easily make fine points into the skin and bring them close enough to achieve perfect powdered brows.
Eyebrow Tattoo Vs. Microshading – Similarities
Both of them can be painful procedures.
The face is a sensitive area; hence getting something like a tattoo or anything that punctures the skin in that part of the body can be painful. Getting an eyebrow tattoo or micro-shading your brows can be relatively painful. ‘Relative’ because the pain threshold of individuals differs from one to the other. However, Microshading can be less uncomfortable because of numbing creams applied to the area before the procedure is commenced.
Both of them imitate natural-looking brows.
Eyebrow tattoos create brows that look perfectly drawn and flat, and there is little to no hair to interfere with what has been created.
Microshading also creates natural brows that look powdered by making tiny dots on the skin and adding pigment to these dots. The closer the dots, the fuller the eyebrows look; while one lasts longer than the other, they both look natural. The choice is yours to make!
Conclusion
Having read through this article, you would agree that microshading is more generally accepted than eyebrow tattooing. Many persons opt for microshading because it’s less painful and looks more natural.