Written in partnership with sabella Pierri
As permanent makeup (PMU) is becoming more popular, many women are facing the reality of getting tattoos on their faces. But the idea of needles and related issues scares off some who would love to give up the daily grind of applying makeup in the morning and removing it at night. Brows by Shelly can help alleviate those fears.
“Brows are very, very low maintenance when it comes to the healing afterwards,” founder Shelly Nguyen says. “Depending on whether the client’s brows are super sensitive. Then they might have a little bit of redness afterward, which goes away within 24 hours.”
Shelly says that it’s not a stressful procedure at all, and most of her clients are very relaxed. Some even more than others.
“I think it’s more of a trust thing as well,” Nguyen says. “After we start the tattooing process, we sit there and we talk. The whole time is just talking and then it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m done already,’ or with some clients, they’ll come in tired from a hard day. And they’ll just go to sleep.”
The foremost goal for Brows by Shelly artists is to ensure that clients leave the studio feeling more confident and beautiful. Nguyen and the others provide them with a perfectly shaped pair of brows that complement and enhance their facial features. They always work hard to understand the clients’ needs and preferences.
The salon has different kinds of numbing agents, as well as a special plastic tattoo wrap. This helps hold the anesthetic up against the skin to work best. But Shelly doesn’t like to numb the face first, because that disrupts the precise pattern that the artists have hand drawn. This extra care is done to avoid using templates that make everyone’s brows look alike.
“I shape the brows based on their face, so I don’t use stencils. I work based on bone structure, nose, eye shape, and temple form,” Shelly says. “If you go on my Instagram page and look at all my work, you’ll never see the same shape on any client. I spend a lot of time mapping out their features. That way I can find a shape within their face and hair flow.”
They do use a tattoo machine, but it’s a gentler version than what is used in tattoo parlors.
“Yes, it’s a tattoo gun, but what actually deposits the pigment is the needle so we use a single needle. The single needle is more precise,” Nguyen says. “We don’t do the numbing beforehand, since the drawing that we created is already on the face. And our numbing agent is a cream, which would swell up the area. Instead I do post-numbing. First pass on the outline, there’s no numbing, but it literally feels like getting threaded. Some clients just fall asleep during that part.”
During the numbing process, a special plastic tattoo wrap is applied over the area that has been treated with numbing cream or gel. The wrap helps to create a tight seal that holds in moisture, effectively trapping the numbing agent on the skin to enhance its effectiveness. It also prevents the anesthetic from being wiped away or rubbed off accidentally. It’s available on Brows by Shelly’s website for clients to use at home during the healing process if necessary.
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