A week ago, I finally took the plunge and did what I've been contemplating for a solid year now: I got my eyebrows tattooed on semi-permanently (otherwise known as microblading).
I absolutely ADORE my new microbladed brows, but there was one part of the process that was far harder to bear than I thought. I'm not talking about the pain.
It turns out that I wasn't allowed to get my eyebrows wet for an entire week.
No, it's not because the tattoos will wash right off. Once that pigment is in the skin, it's there to stay for a while.
But water, steam, sweat, makeup, and excess sun exposure can all change the color of the pigment or contribute to fading in the week following the procedure.
So for seven days, it was no long, hot showers or eye makeup for me.
I went in knowing that this was part of the Terms & Conditions of microblading aftercare, but I completely underestimated how difficult it would be to keep one very specific and very large chunk of my face dry.
You never truly realize how often you get your face wet until you're no longer allowed to.
I realized this the very second I left the salon... because it started raining. It was the perfect start to what was about to be one of the most inconvenient weeks ever.
It was also perfect timing for New York City to decide to have one straight week of entirely inconsistent precipitation. I carried an umbrella EVERYWHERE, even if the forecast didn't call for rain. Girl had to be prepared for anything.
Thankfully, the temperature was just mild enough to keep sweat at bay. Had I done this in the summer, I would have been so screwed.
Skincare took FOREVER because I had to be incredibly careful not to smear cleanser or splash water anywhere near my brows.
After the first two or three attempts at washing my entire face, I ceased trying to wet my forehead altogether. I was scared to even moisturize too heavily around my eyes.
I basically cut my routine in half, and at the one week marker, my skin started to show it.
Exercise? Hell no.
Sweat's just as damaging to microbladed brows as water — and I am a certified Very Sweaty Person. I run a high risk of a sweat-glistened brow just by sitting, so being what you might call "active" was out of the question.
As someone who likes to hit the gym multiple times in a week, this was grueling. I became stressed without my usual outlet, and felt more and more bloated and tired as the week wore on.
Showering, on the other hand, was unavoidable. It became a technical adventure that I was not at all prepared for.
Jenny Lei, the specialist at Evertrue Microblading Salon who is responsible for my now-perfect eyebrows, thankfully gave me two pointers for keeping them as dry as possible.
They were both harder than they sounded.
The simplest trick was to pull a shower cap over my eyebrows. But this came with a catch.
In order to avoid the elastic putting severe pressure on my eyeballs, I had to pull the cap completely over my eyes and peer out the bottom of it. It gave me the grace of a blind, wet, newborn foal.
And it really only worked on the nights I didn't want to wet my hair.
The second trick, putting cling wrap over my brows, wasn't easy, either. But it made me look super hot.
So cling wrap doesn't stick to skin on its own. I had to call in a favor from my good friend Scotch Tape and hope and pray it wouldn't lose its stick mid-shower.
It worked, and it was more comfortable than my shower cap. I still had to avoid getting my face wet, though.
I also now have to live with the fact that I resembled Pee Wee Herman for a very short period of my life. And the fact that it is now documented here on the internet forever. You're welcome.
Stress, bloating, and breakouts be damned, it was all worth it. The week finally came to an end, my eyebrows remained flawless, and my everyday routines stopped feeling mundane and became little treats to myself.
Especially showering. God, how I'd missed carelessly showering and getting my entire face wet.
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