And to be fair, I am not expecting that my kindergarten students will be paying any attention to the shape, color or thickness of my brows. Partly because they will be just learning the concepts of shape, color and thickness. However, my "moonlighting" work puts me on video and in photography quite often, and while I am naturally a very dark brunette, for some reasons my eyebrows seem to disappear on camera. Sure, I could keep filling them in for every special occasion, but when I started to see the great results women were having with the microblading technique, I was intrigued.
Enter Kalyna Cabral, who runs Permanent Beauty by Kalyna in Peterborough. I started checking out her Instagram account, and was super impressed by the before-and-afters I saw, so I took the plunge and made an appointment...which was today!
Since I was slightly nervous about the pain, I took two extra-strength Tylenol before leaving the house (that is NOT a professional recommendation, and please note that you're definitely not supposed to use alcohol or any drugs that are blood thinners before your procedure).
After filling out the standard paperwork (and realizing that I went to high school with the receptionist, and in fact knew her first when we were kids and our brothers played lacrosse together), Kalyna led me into the room where the magic happens. She and I also established that it's a small world (our significant others once worked together, someone she knows is engaged to someone I know) and we got down to business.
Kalyna asked me if I had any pictures or specific requests, and I just told her that I wanted my brows to follow my natural shape, but to be darker and fuller so they would stand out. She took some before photos (they're coming, be patient!), took some measurements, and then pencilled in the outline of the shape that she recommended, which I totally loved. She then cleaned up any hairs that were outside that shape (which you can tell when looking at the photos).
She numbed my skin before beginning, and then started the microblading process, which involves a micro machine, needle and organic pigments. (Random piece of info: I can't donate blood for six months now, because it counts as a tattooing procdure). Kalyna uses a feather stroke technique which really looks like individual brow hairs, and creates a 3D effect (it's not like a flat coloured tattoo on your eyebrow, there's actual texture there).
As far as pain goes, I would describe the sensation like someone scratching at my brows with a toothpick. I could feel something, and I could always tell where she was working, but it never actually hurt (though it did make me sneeze a couple of times, and luckily I was able to warn Kalyna so she wasn't mid-stroke!)
When it comes to colour, I've heard from a couple of people not to be afraid to go dark, and one girl regretted going lighter because the brows do fade over the first few weeks. In fact, Kalyna told me that the color would lighten by 20%, so I went a bit darker than what I would want for my end results. The whole thing took less than an hour.
And...here are the results! (Photos are from the Permanent Beauty By Kalyna Instagram account - and if you're reading this post so far thinking I'm vain, please take note that I am voluntarily showing photos where I have absolutely no makeup and there are no filters used).
An extra highlight of the process was when we were all finished and Kalyna turned to me and said, "You know who you look like? Prince William's wife!" (My regular readers should already be laughing. My response: "Funny you should say that! Here's a picture...")
When I left, I was provided with a little bag holding the cream I would need to apply (antibiotic ointment for tonight and after care ointment for the next 7 to 10 days) as well as a cute themed cookie. (My girls don't know that I got a cookie, since I wolfed it down as soon as I got in the door, before they even made it up the stairs to check out the transformation. No one needs to tell them.)
I am booked to go back in December for a touch up, when Kalyna can darken or enhance the shape, as I wish.
For prices and more info about microblading and all of Kalyna's services, visit her website. Her Instagram account also has a ton of helpful before and afters to check out as well. While Peterborough might not appear (to the untrained eye) to be the most cutting-edge city, Kalyna is renowned far and wide for her work (and trains others in Canada and the U.S. on these procedures too) and there's a fairly lengthy waiting time so book as soon as you're ready!
In case you're wondering, this procedure wasn't a blog freebie - I'm a satisfied paying customer! However, Permanent Beauty by Kalyna does have a referral program, so if you end up there for an appointment, I'd love if you could put my name on the "Referred by..." line! (It's Kate Winn. You knew that, right?) And of course please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!
