Review: Eyebrow Embroidery by MK The Brow Expert Keighty Wong

I've always believed that having beautiful brows could do so much in changing once appearance, face or confidence. It's like when you have the perfect brows, you feel like you could conquer the world. Just to put it out there, I am one of those people who were not blessed with perfectly shaped or nice looking brows. Mine are super thin and uneven. My lack of talent in applying make-up also didn't help me solve my dilemma. I can't shape or fix my brows to save my life. I've always used my favorite Etude House brow gel (that looks like a mascara) to at least add some thickness to it. But, it's never enough. I have never used a pencil, brow kit or whatever it is normal people use. No matter how many times I watch Youtube tutorials, I can't seem to get it right. Haha. So, when my make-up artist friend Keighty Wong asked me if I wanted to try Eyebrow Embroidery, her new venture, I thought about it muna for 2 days before I finally said yes. I thought, my brows could not get any better than this, so what else do I have to lose? 

My before & after

Besides, I trust Keighty because I have worked with her a few times (prenup shoots!) and she's one of the best make-up artists I have ever known. She could truly transform people. She also studied eyebrow embroidery or 3D embroidery in Singapore. A professional make-up artist & trained in SG? This girl really knows what's she's doing! 

My brows last January before the procedure. Not so full noh?

But before I show you the whole procedure, as well as the end result, let me give you a brief background about Eyebrow Embroidery. Ano nga ba yon? How is it different from tattoo? 

Well, let me just show you by using a photo of one of Keighty's client. 

Before was tattooed (one sraight line) & After was when Keighty restored it through 3D embroidery (hair stranding). Looks real now!

What is Eyebrow Tattooing?

Eyebrow Tattooing involves the use of a machine operated single needle moving at high speed, where ink is deposited deep in the dermis layer. It's like regular tattoo. You draw and then you put ink or shade over the drawing. Just like normal tattoos, it patches & fades overtime and may turn green-ish or blue-ish. Tattooed brows looks unnatural, crayoned and harsher. You wouldn't want that, do you? Hehe. I have tattoos but I won't do it sa brows. 

Now, what is Eyebrow Embroidery?

Eyebrow Embroidery is also called 3D embroidery, hair stranding or microblading. It also involves ink but instead of the dermis, it's deposited only on the first level of your skin. Very shallow, very light. That's why it only lasts for 1-2 years depending on maintenance. Process involves pushing semi-permanent pigment into the into the skin surface using a fine blade (it looks like a thin ballpen), which mimics the growth of your existing hair strands, creating more natural looking brows.  Embroidered eyebrows fades overtime so you could change your brow shape or just stick with your natural hair when you don't want it anymore.

Okay, now that you have an idea, let me share with you my own experience!

 1. Trimming of hair & measurement of brows 

 Keighty cleaned up my brows and then prepped it for shaping:) Grabe sa nipis my brows db???

 That explains the lines! She measured it with a ruler and some tool used for angles. Haha. 

 2. Brow shaping

 She enclosed my brows in this box to make sure they're even and as a marker for the ink.

NOTE: If you already know what shape you want, you may tell her. In my case, I just left my brows in her mercy. Don't worry, Keighty is trained to map out your brows according to the Golden Ratio (which I know nothing about haha) and she'll give you brows which brings balance & proportion to your face. 

3. Application of topical or cream anesthesia

 Actually, it was the shaping & the waiting for the anesthesia to settle that really took much time.

 She had to put strips of cling wrap over it. 

We waited for 40 minutes for the local anesthesia to take effect. After 40 minutes, my brows felt heavy & numb. Time for the procedure! Do take note that the cream will wear off during the procedure. You could however have it re-applied (which could take another hour) or just suck it up until it's over. I decided to suck it up because it only meant a few minutes of pain. The level of pain is tolerable though. It's like being shaved at first when the anesthesia was still there and then when it wore off the feeling was similar to threading. :) 

 4. Application of ink through hair stranding technique

 The whole procedure lasted for less than 30 minutes only!

 Keighty uses a pen-like tool that has a small blade on one end. Later on during the re-touch session, you'd see her new tattoo pen which is smaller and cuter. Haha. I wasn't able to take a close-up photo of the one she used for the first session sayang. She also has different pots of ink, in different shades. She used dark brown for me. You could request for a lighter ink color or darker. 

She worked on my left brow first and then the right. The process involves dipping the pen into the pot of ink and directly depositing it into my skin. She poked it in and drew a line as she mimicked my hair, one strand at a time. This will be done over and over depending on the number of hair strands to make your brows look full and complete. She will show you her progress and the result in between. She'll also ask you if it's okay or if you like it. It was not painful at first, during the first 15 minutes, but later on you'd be able to feel the blade na as she rubs off the ink and the anesthesia with it. It's tolerable but might be slightly uncomfortable.   Don't worry, no blood! Haha. As I said, it only involves the first layer of the skin and it's just for a few minutes.  

5. Application of healing oil

 Tada!!! My new & improved brows!

Keighty applied oil over my newly embroidered brows and gave me a small bottle to take home for maintenance. She instructed me to apply healing oil over my brows 3-5x a day. THIS IS A MUST! Learned the hard way. Haha. I did not apply religiously during the first week, especially during the days it was scabbing, so it did not heal nicely & properly. Huhu. Small chunks of skin with ink fell off so my brows had bare areas. Keighty fixed my errors during the re-touch session and I religiously followed her instructions na after. 

 Right angle

 And left

I was slightly weirded out at first because I thought it was not even. I learned later on that our brows are not even pala talaga. Hehe. I was also slightly weirded out by its thickness because it was the first time my brows looked this full. It's normal guys. Haha. It will look super full 1-2 days after the procedure, but some skin and ink will fall off as the days go by making it thinner.  I eventually got used to it and fell in love with it! 

  Uniqlo event, 1 day after the procedure. I love my brows!!! No need to apply make-up. 

I immediately went out the day after the procedure. My brows looked super thick but it was okay. I liked it better nga that way! Hihi. On days 3-7 your brows would look botchy because it's the healing stage. Flakes of skin will be visible and scabbing will take place. Don't ever forget to apply healing oil! And DO NOT peel the skin off or the ink will come off too. Just leave it alone. It was hard for me the first time (which resulted to not so nice brows) but disciplined myself na after the re-touch. 

 My brows after the 4th day! Keighty consistently asked me for updates and told me not to worry when I sent her this photo. Haha.

The photo above is the result of me being hard-headed & not taking Keighty's advice. Haha. She told me to apply healing oil consistently for 1 week, which I did not do. She also told me not to wash my face with water and soap, which I did the first night huhu. She told me not to take a bath for 48 hours so it won't get wet and the ink won't come off because it's still settling, which I did not follow. She also told me not to scratch it and to just let the skin fall and not peel it off, which I did. In other words, leave it the F alone. Which I did not do. Ayan tuloy. Haha! Don't worry, there's still another session after a week or two to fix everything! :)

 Fellow blogger Say Alonzo had hers done! So nice!!! She's still raving about her new brows til now:)

My girl Bea Benedicto had hers done too! So pretty!:)

Was supposed to go back to Keighty's shop to have my brows retouched after 2 weeks but I got swamped with work and she also flew to Hongkong for another eyebrow embroidery training and to buy ink and supplies. After almost a month, I finally had it re-touched!

 This time, it was shaped by Keighty's partner, Fen Valentino! She's also an amazing make-up artist :)

 Took us about 15-20 minutes to perfectly shape my brows! Thanks, girls! Super love it. :)

 It's basically the same process as the first time.

 My brows were lined and anesthesia was applied...

Brows were covered by cling wrap...

 Waited for 30-40 minutes for the cream anesthesia to take effect & numb my skin.

 Keighty working on another client:)

 The pen is now smaller and cuter! 

 Ang arte arte ko. Haha. This time, perfect na sha!

It is important to have your brows retouched weeks after the initial session because it is to redo or fill in areas where the ink fell off or where it did not adhere properly or evenly. During this time, you could slightly alter the shape or the thickness according to your preference. The touch-up session is to fix the brows for that final look. In my case, I asked them to fill in my right brows more. Achieve naman! I love it so much!

 Love love love

 My brows never looked this good in my 32 years of existence

 Day after my touch-up session:) Sana ganito nalang forever haha.

As scars or tattoos normally do, my brows scabbed and peeled 3-7 days after the procedure. This time, I religiously applied healing oil especially when it felt super itchy. I also did everything not to get it wet. Whenever I bathe, I put a headband on my forehead to block the water. A few drops still reach my brows but I pat it right away. I also adjusted my sleeping position (always facing upwards) so it won't rub sa pillow. And I had to keep myself from touching it, which I was able to do successfully. In the end, after a few days of scabbing & shedding, my brows looked nice na! 

Here's how it looks like now...

I fill the small areas without hair with brown eyeshadow lang. I do it to make it look full or thicker. :)

This is how it looks like without make-up or fillers. Still looks full or plakado to me!:)

What I love about Eyebrow Embroidery:

1. It's a life-saver for people who can't fix their brows. Like me! It's in its best shape now and I just follow the shape whenever I use eyeshadow to make it look fuller. Or you can just leave it be. Plakado, all day everyday. No need for threading every month too! I want to have mine threaded soon though because the hair is now long. 

2. Less time fixing your brows, more time for other things! If you are one of those people who are obsessed with your brows and spends half an hour fixing it, then this is for you. This is perfect for girls who are always on the go! 

3. It's semi-permanent! It fades overtime (1-2 years depending on mainetenance) so you could always alter your brows or have it re-shaped. Or you could always go back to it being au naturel. 

4. Whole procedure only takes 1 1/2 hours! 1 hour for shaping & settling of anesthesia & 30 minutes for the embroidery. 

5. I feel more confident and younger with my new brows! Brows can do wonders for your face and your attitude. Promise. I've always had thin brows, so this is just wonderful.

6. I love how it looks natural and looks like my own hair. Someone praised my new brows and told me she's glad I can now shape it on my own. She got surprised when I told her it's embroidered. She can't tell the difference daw coz it looks so real!:)

Important Reminders!!!

1. Only have yours done by the experts. I recommend Keighty Wong or MK the Brow Expert because she's a seasoned make-up artist and she trained in Singapore. Plus, her services are affordable! 

2. Hygiene is important. Make sure they use new blades (just like Keighty).

3. Don't touch, don't scratch, don't wet your newly embroidered brows for a week so it could heal and the ink could settle properly. It will feel super itchy and it will scab. Just leave it alone.

4. The actual microblading procedure could hurt a bit, so expect a little pain. 

5.  A retouch session is important because it is when they correct the errors and work on the areas that you scratched where the ink fell haha. It is the correcting stage. 

6. It is normal for your brows to look super thick the day after, so don't panic. After a few days the skin will shed and the natural shape will appear. :)

7. Healing oil is very important!!! Do not lose this and religiously apply. This will help your brows heal properly and for the ink not to fall.

8. Do not apply eyebrow make-up for a week! This might hinder the healing process or the make-up could enter the skin coz of the slight scarring. Tiis ganda muna. 

So, how much is it???

I know this is what you really want to know. Haha. Eyebrow embroidery is more expensive than tattoo because the technique used is more modern and it's more complicated too. Price ranges from P10,000 - P30,000. Keighty's regular rate is P15,000 but she has an ongoing promo now, so message her for the discounted rate!:)

Would I recommend this procedure?

 YES YES YES. And it's not because I was sponsored. Even if I was not, I would gladly pay for my brows to get fixed by the experts like Keighty. But, that's just me. If you already have perfect brows, full & thick brows or if you're someone who actually enjoy spending time fixing them-- then this might not be for you. If you're like me who knows nothing like Jon Snow, who does not have much time, who always run late, who's a make-up noob, who has sparse brows--- then this is perfect for you!!! Go for iiiit. ;)

For more infos abour eyebrow embroidery & to set an appointment, details below:

https://www.facebook.com/mkthebrowexpert

Contact: 0917-8854651 or 09298688228

Email: mkbrowexpert@yahoo.com and mkbrowexpert@gmail.com

Address: 1 Samuel Street Barangay Bungad Project 7, 1105 Quezon City, Philippines