First of all, why am I writing about my eyebrows? The short answer is that I don’t always feel I’m the best qualified to write about brainy health topics or offer quasi medical advice, although occasionally I still might! There are oodles of highly-educated health professionals who know a lot more than I do that have those bases covered.
What I can share with complete authenticity is what I’ve learned from navigating my own health challenges and how I’ve created habits to support my wellness, which includes dealing with many topics around healthy aging and feeling great both mentally and physically.
Because this topic is so fresh for me, I’m excited to share about my microblading experience and how I arrived at this decision.
This seems like a good time to share the back story.
As a kid in the 1970s, I had full dark eyebrows that didn’t quite resemble Bert from Sesame Street, but were full enough in the center that I thought they made me look angry.
Without parental support or supervision, I naturally took matters into my own hands. I’m not sure which came first, the tweezers or the razor, but I got to work and made those babies cooperate!
Thankfully, fuller eyebrows were in style in the 1980s so I didn’t give mine much more thought until college. However, the 1990s were soon to follow! It’s crazy how societal norms can infiltrate a person’s thinking, even without conscious awareness. Apparently, that’s what happened to me with my eyebrows. I don’t remember tweezing the living daylights out of them, but that’s obviously what happened!
Little did I know that if you pluck them enough, eventually some of the hairs will cease to grow back.
By the late 1990s I had become a mom and had more important things to worry about than my eyebrows. As long as they were neat and tidy, I was happy with them. As the years went by, I did start using an eyebrow wand to enhance the color, but that was it. No drama and no concerns.
Fast forward to today.
After making the big decision a couple years ago to stop coloring my hair, I’ve noticed that my tiny eyebrows are also turning grey! That, coupled with years of over-tweezing means that I’ve literally been spending five minutes each morning fiddling with my eyebrows so I don’t look completely washed out and colorless. Yes, five minutes…just on the eyebrows!
Do you want to know my recurring thought as I’ve cajoled, coaxed and colored my little eyebrows into submission?
“Einstein didn’t take the time to wear socks!” I had heard a myth that Einstein calculated the time it took to wear socks and decided it was wasteful. Sheesh, that’s some extreme dedication to time management! (When I researched this recently, I learned that he actually had an issue with his big toe and that was the real reason he gave up socks.)
However, I think it’s safe to say that Einstein didn’t give two hoots about his eyebrows either!
So why did I make the microblading decision now?
Without completely delving into the topic of autoimmune dry eyes, which I will address in another post, suffice it to say that I’m at the point where I need to stop wearing contact lenses all day every day. My eye doctor told me years ago that I would know when it was time to give up the contacts and he was right.
I’m sure there are many people who would think, “so…what’s the big deal, just wear glasses.”
If you’re still reading this, I have a feeling you understand where I’m coming from. I don’t hate glasses, per se, I just hate that they feel heavy, require constant cleaning (if you don’t want to look like an unkempt six-year-old) and are decidedly incompatible with Crossfit workouts and heavy rain!
Even though I knew minimizing time spent wearing contact lenses was the right decision for my eye health, it most certainly required a mental shift.
The question I needed to answer for myself was, “how I can embrace this new season of taking extra good care of my eyes by wearing glasses rather than contacts?”
One of the answers was to finally take the leap and get my eyebrows microbladed!
Here’s the back story on that!
Last fall I mentioned to one of my Crossfit friends that I liked her eyebrows. She had recently had them microbladed and was happy to share her experience. I made an appointment for a consultation with the same technician, but knew the timing would need to be right to bite the bullet and actually do it.
I waited eight months because I thought my schedule was too full to accommodate ten days of eyebrow healing as well as avoiding makeup, sweating or getting my face wet for that long.
With the shift to wearing glasses AND the coincidence of having to clear my schedule to report for Federal Jury Duty, I thought, “Why not now?”
Sitting for jury duty seemed like the perfect place to let my eyebrows heal. Boom, done!
The “before” photo from procedure day.
The “after” photo from procedure day.
Both my technician and my Crossfit friend warned me that my eyebrows would get very dark over the first few days.
Here you can see what they looked like on day 3.
After this initial phase, the eyebrows continued to heal, scabs formed and the top layer of pigment sloughed off. It’s important to follow your technician’s instructions and treat the eyebrows gently to ensure proper healing. The itchiness that occurred during healing was the worst for me on days 11-14. The final bits of scabs also sloughed off on day 14.
You can see here that the pigment is sloughing off…lazy pigment!
Here is a photo taken 2 weeks afterwards, or day 15.
This is also considered the “ghosting phase” because the remaining pigment has yet to rise to the outer surface of the skin to reveal the final results. Personally, I’m finding the “ghosting phase” is still an improvement over my pre-microbladed eyebrows.
I’ll make sure to share pictures in another post after the full healing process, which takes six weeks, as well as the final results after the touch-up appointment in seven weeks.
What did I learn?
- Eyebrows make a huge difference. They really are little frames for your face and eyes! My technician simply followed my natural brow line and restored their natural shape and fullness. I was surprised to see how restoring my eyebrows altered the appearance my eyes. It helps me feel better about wearing glasses.
- If you’re contemplating microblading, make sure to do your research, ask questions and find a technician you trust. Word of mouth and seeing others’ eyebrows is the best! (I had my eyebrows done by Marissa Jackson at MJ’s Brow Studio and she is fabulous!)
- Commit to following instructions and honoring the healing process. What I learned when I did this, which involved avoiding makeup for ten full days, is that I don’t need all the makeup and skincare products I thought I did. My skin actually looked better after having several days to breathe. I did use an SPF powder (avoiding eyebrows and wearing a large-brimmed hat when I went out for walks, however.) Sun protection is important, especially after microblading.
What would I do differently?
- I would not have waited eight months!
- I would have been more prepared for washing my hair, as this was a bit of an ordeal during the first two weeks. I washed my hair as little as possible. I also cut non-stick wound pads a little bigger than my eyebrows and adhered them with paper tape before getting in the shower. After my touch-up appointment, I’ll make sure to have clear adhesive shower visors on hand. Although I’ll likely use my makeshift eyebrow protectors, too, as they made me feel rather clever!
- I would have bought an Uncle Leo t-shirt! Remember Uncle Leo from Seinfeld? My husband and I had some good laughs about my eyebrows throughout the first few days and if I had had an Uncle Leo t-shirt, I would have worn it. (I tried to order one through Zazzle and they cancelled the order. Apparently, their licensing doesn’t cover it.) I also can’t share a photo here for the same reason. Anyhoo…
What does any of this have to do with your health?
Surprisingly, eyebrows can give you valuable information about your health.
It’s worth mentioning that thinning eyebrows can be a normal part of the aging process and don’t in and of themselves suggest a problem.
That said, thinning eyebrows could also indicate:
- A thyroid issue (typically involves losing the outer third of the eyebrows)
- Underlying autoimmune conditions. People often have other ongoing symptoms in addition to eyebrow thinning that indicate a problem.
- Nutritional deficiencies. People are not consuming the proper nutrients or are unable to absorb them due to intestinal inflammation or cellular toxicity.
- Chronic stress – (Just think high-strung cat going to the veterinarian…the fur is literally flying. Same thing happens with people, just in a more subtle and prolonged way…and hopefully they’re not going to the veterinarian.)
- Medications – several classes of drugs can cause eyebrow thinning.
- Consult your doctor with any questions or concerns regarding the possible causes of eyebrow thinning.
Thanks for hanging with me!
It was really fun to share my microblading experience. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my newsletter below. I have a some exciting new offerings in the works, including:
a free online book club event scheduled for August 1, 2025 where we will discuss “The Gap and The Gain” by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy.
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Thanks again and much love!
