Microblading done right is a gift that keeps on giving. When your artist does a good job and your brows look great not only when they’re brand new, but also 6 months later, and they even look decent when they’re halfway faded, it’s a true life-saver. You don’t have to worry about your brows, all you need is an annual touch up.
However, there are cases when microblading doesn’t really work out. Either you’re not 100% satisfied with how your brows turned out, or things go downhill a year or 2 later, when they start fading and you notice their color has turned or the strokes blurred.
Or, your microblading isn’t fading!
If these scenarios sound familiar and you’re dealing with bad microblading, it’s a bummer, but don’t panic. Here’s how to handle bad microblading.
What Do We Mean by Bad Microblading?
There are several ways in which your microblading can go wrong:
- You just don’t like it and you’re questioning your decision.
- Your brows look very asymmetric.
- Your brows turned a bad microblading color. Once they started fading, the color changed.
- The strokes blurred together after a while.
- Pigments migrated outside of the desired shape.
- It’s been over 2 years without touch ups and your microblading hasn’t disappeared.
Let’s go through each of the scenarios and see how you can fix your bad microblading.
Before We Start…
Just a quick note – don’t judge your microblading until it’s healed! You need to go through the entire healing process before your brows take their final form. The shape changes slightly throughout healing – they sometimes shrink – and the color first looks too dark, then too light, and it only settles after about a month. Lighter spots also emerge for some clients.
At that point, you need to get the mandatory touch up. Imperfections that emerge during healing aren’t considered bad microblading – they’re expected and they’re fixed at the touch up.
Image source: Instagram @toucheesthetique
Okay, now that we’ve reassured you to trust the process, if you’re still not happy, here’s how to handle each bad microblading scenario.
Problem 1 – You Don’t Like Your Microblading
You thought you’d love enhancing your brows with microblading and thickening the arches, but once you actually did it, you’re not thrilled. The shape isn’t what you imagined, and you regret the decision.
Solution 1 – Emergency Removal
If you decide you hate your brows so much you can’t live a day wearing them right after the procedure, you can get emergency saline or glycolic acid removal, but only within 48 hours after the treatment.
Solution 2 – Wait
It’s not uncommon to have a negative first reaction to a brow tattoo. Brows are a very prominent feature, and changing them can reflect on the entire face. Seeing your brows more prominent than usual causes a brow shock – it looks like a huge change. Give yourself time to get over the initial brow shock. Try to get used to your new brows, and reconsider them after a couple of weeks.
Solution 3 – Removal
If you tried to get used to them but it’s just not working out, you can get microblading removal.
Problem 2 – Asymmetric Brows
You’ve waited out the healing period and your brows healed asymmetric. One of them may have shrunk more, or they were a bit off to begin with.
Solution – Correction
Book a touch up and get your artist to even out the arches. They can modify the shape of one or both brows by adding some more strokes here and there.
Problem 3 – Your Brows Turned a Bad Microblading Color
Your brows healed into a color different from what you wanted, or they turned once fading started.
Solution – Correction
Find an artist knowledgeable in PMU color theory and skilled in color correction and get the color refreshed. Find out more about microblading color correction in this article.
Image source: Instagram @covetbeautystudio
Problem 4 – The Strokes Blurred and Merged
After a few months, or after several years of refreshing your microblading, the strokes don’t look crisp and defined anymore. They merged together into a shade and look more like your brows have a powdery effect.
Solution 1 – Cover Up Through Correction
If the strokes are very faded and the shadow is very light, you might be able to get fresh PMU over them. The bad news is that you probably can’t get new strokes alone because they won’t look good over the shadow. The good news is that you can get combo brows, microshading, or powder brows.
Image source: Instagram @brows.by_nushaba
Solution 2 – Lightening or Total Removal
If the shadow is dark and looks like a solid block of color, you can’t get fresh PMU over it. Your skin is probably oversaturated in pigment, and at least some of it needs to be removed before you can get correction.
Problem 5 – Pigments Have Migrated
This can sometimes happen if your artist’s technique wasn’t exactly top-notch, or if your skin is particularly oily. Pigments bleed out of the initial outline, and your brows look messy.
Solution – Partial Removal
If your brows predominantly look good and the only problem is the spot where pigment has migrated a bit, you can get removal only from the problematic areas.
Problem 6 – Your Microblading Should Have Faded by Now, but It Hasn’t
Microblading not fading can happen due to bad microblading technique, if the pigments were implanted too deep into the skin. Or, if it was done with tattoo ink (a big no-no). The issue here is that when microblading doesn’t fade the way it’s supposed to, it turns unattractive. Instead of gradually losing intensity until they disappear, the pigments turn color, the strokes blur together, and it probably doesn’t look too attractive.
Solution 1 – Cover Up Through Correction
If the bad microblading is faded enough, it can be covered up with shading. You won’t get the look of microblading, but rather the look of wearing brow makeup.
Solution 2 – Lightening or Removal
If the pigment residues are dark and very obvious, your skin is probably oversaturated in pigment and at least some of it needs to be extracted before you can get fresh PMU.
Image source: Instagram @phiremovalmaster_evebragge
Final Word
If you’re not sure whether your bad microblading is faded enough for cover up, it’s best to book consults with an artist (it doesn’t have to be the same one who did your initial treatment) and let them assess the pigment saturation. They’ll tell you which option is best for you.
Cover image source: Pexels
