Achieving 'Brushed up Brows' with Permanent Makeup
The eyes of the conventional makeup up world are focused on beautiful brows, and the biggest brow trend of 2020…? Brushed-up brows. Maybe the surge in popularity is due to our increased Instagram usage over the last 6 months with influencer after influencer sporting fuller, fluffier brows. Or maybe it’s down to lockdown laziness, letting our eyebrows grow out and embracing a more natural brow. Whatever the reason, we think fluffy brushed-up brows are here to stay and as Permanent Makeup and Microblading Artists we now need to master the techniques and skills needed to create beautiful brushed-up brows for our clients.
We have some of the best Permanent Makeup & Microblading Artists in the world working at the Tracie Giles London clinic and they have shared some of their best tips and insights to help you become a brushed-up brow expert.
First things first, which tool to use?
For brushed-up brows we are looking to create wispy, visible hairstrokes that are brushed upwards at the front of the brow, smoothing out over the arch and towards the eyebrow tail - almost a ‘laminated’ brow effect. This can be achieved using either microblading or digital tattooing as both methods can be used to create clear, crisp hairstrokes. If your preferred technique is microblading we recommend using a ‘U’ blade to help you achieve a more natural curve in the hairstroke and for digital tattooing pick your preferred needle for precision work – we would recommend a nano needle.
When practicing this technique on your latex practice mats or angie microblading practice pads it is important to remember that for this style of brows hairstrokes should follow the same upwards direction and pattern. Starting at the eyebrow bulb, each individual hairstroke should point upwards, with the curve of each hairstroke increasing from the arch to the tail. Whilst we want the brows to look natural, they should look naturally brushed-up and fluffy, rather than untamed. It is not necessary to change the direction of the hairstrokes for this technique, they should all follow the same pattern. The hairstroke pattern obviously does vary from person to person and the exact results your client wants – some will want a more ‘groomed’ finish with all hairstrokes following the same pattern, whereas others will want a slightly messier look where a few hairstrokes in a different direction can work beautifully.
Comparing Techniques ...
If we compare this practice sheet of the ‘brushed-up’ look with a more traditional hairstroke brow technique, you can really see the difference in the placement, and direction of the hair strokes and how it effects the final result.
When you transition to working on a client, we recommend brushing the natural eyebrow hairs upwards before you start your brow mapping and pre-drawing. This will give you a clear idea of the final result and also give you a clearer template to work from, showing where hairstrokes are required to achieve the desired final result. Our ID Liner PMU Pencils are then perfect for your pre-drawing – colour-rich and sharpening to a super precise point so that you can draw defined, clear hairstrokes to tattoo. We use our black or brown pencil for the hairstrokes, and then use our white pencil to highlight and create a clear border around the work area.
Obviously it is important to communicate with your customer that eyebrow tattooing will not have the same effect as brow lamination and will not change the direction of their natural eyebrow hairs. Immediately after treatment apply our Crème Rescue Aftercare Serum and use an eyebrow brush or clean mascara wand to gently comb the eyebrow hairs into position to show your client the results (your client can then do this themselves during the 2 week healing period). After the brows have healed they can use a simple brow gel or a bar of soap to hold the natural eyebrow hairs in position in line with the tattooed hairstrokes.
Who is this treatment suited to?
This brow style is a great option for clients with very sparce brows as the hairstrokes can be made to look incredibly realistic, however it also works well on clients with thicker brows that simply want to make their brows look even more striking! Importantly, this technique does not rely on any shading effects, as we want to see the gaps in between the hairstrokes and to see the upwards direction of the hairs!
This is one of our most requested brow styles at the Tracie Giles London clinic and is definitely a technique you need to learn to stay ahead of the competition. REMEMBER – practice makes perfect and you should never try a technique on a client or model that you aren’t confident in. Perfect the technique on your practice sheets first, just ask us if you have any questions, and don’t rush – this brow trend is definitely here to stay.