2.5 Year Update 6/28/21- Getting my eyebrows microbladed was the best beauty decision ever. My eyebrows still look fantastic and so natural. Keep reading for the best microblading in NYC.
Scroll down if you’d rather read my experience on microblading in NYC instead of watching my video!
In my early 20s, I barely wore makeup. Heck, I barely even brushed my hair. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve needed a bit more of maintenance in my life, which included doing my eyebrows everyday— what a pain!
To cut out the daily painstaking process of perfectly putting on my brows and weekly challenge of shaping my eyebrows into somewhat matching each other, I got the best microblading in NYC at SIX+AIT Studio.
To learn about my awesome microblading experience as well as prep work and aftercare process, keep reading and see if this is something you need in your life. Spoiler alert: it is.
What is microblading?
Before 
Immediately After Session #1
Before + After by SIX+AIT Microblading in NYC
Microblading is basically a semi-permanent tattoo on your eyebrows made by tiny, precise incisions on your skin with a blade full of several tiny needles. The semi-permanent pigment that’s deposited into your skin will last to one to two years if done right.
Yep, that’s one to two years of NEVER having to put your brows on by yourself!
Mine has lasted over two years.
Why go for microblading in NYC?
Microblading is serious business! You are getting a semi-permanent tattoo on your face that’ll last for one to two years (hopefully two).
If you go to someone who’s good but not great, or even worse, someone who’s awful or new, then you might have to live with eyebrows you’re not happy with for a long time or eyebrows that shape your face completely the wrong way.
That’s why I flew to SIX+AIT to get my microblading in New York City to get brows done by Peaches (@brow.muva). I’ve been following both SIX+AIT’s and Peaches’ Instagram since they opened up their studio, and the rapid growth in Peaches’ skill amazed me.
Also, I noticed that her clients have similar taste as me in eyebrows so knowing that Peaches is a highly skilled microblader with super happy clients (based on my research of her reviews) who can give me the style of brows I’m looking for is what pushed me to go to New York.
How do I find a good microblading artist near me?
If you don’t live in New York or are not up to flying to this bustling city to work with my microblading artist, I highly recommend doing as much research as possible to find a good one near you.
Above anything, do not pick one based on price.
Here’s how to choose one instead:
See how much experience a microblading artist has. Check their website or Instagram for photos of their past work.
When looking for photos, you’ll want to see how peoples’ brows look right after the work has been done and when the brows have healed.
If you don’t see photos of peoples’ brows right after the work was done or when they’ve healed, ask the microblading artist for some! These are important.
SIX+AIT has a healed brows Instagram stories highlights reel on their Instagram!
As always, check for reviews; not only on their site but see what people are commenting on their Facebook and Instagram as well as Yelp and whatever review sites there are.
How do I prep for microblading?
Besides researching for your expert microblading artist, you’ll want to keep an eye out for eyebrow designs you like ‘cause there’s so much you can do. Save these photos on your phone, and bring in these reference pictures to your microblading artist the day of your first session.
As for physical preparation, you’ll want to avoid alcohol, painkillers, blood thinners, and even caffeine for 48 hours before.
You also don’t want to use retinol products 72 hours before or shape your eyebrows yourself beforehand. Let it grow out for at least a week before.
“Doing any of the above may cause bleeding, which will affect how well your body retains pigment.”
SIX+AIT
Is microblading painful?
No, not really!* It’s more uncomfortable than painful because you’re essentially getting tiny little incisions in form of scratches on your brow. If anything, it’s just weird because you can hear the blades going into your skin, but it sounds worse than it actually is.
The worst “pain” that I experienced was the first layer of shallow incisions that Peaches made, but like I said, it was more uncomfortable than painful. She applied numbing cream before this first layer and again the 2nd and 3rd time.
The 2nd and 3rd time of the actual blading process were actually the least painful because the numbing cream had time to work underneath the skin after the first layer of incisions were made.
After my session, my eyebrows just felt like I had a bad sunburn, which is exactly how Peaches told me it would feel. She was really great at letting me know at every step of the way what it would feel like so I was super prepared for any pain or discomfort, which were all minimal.
*Important Note: Each microblading artist uses a different type of numbing cream. Also everyone’s pain tolerance is different. With those two factors combined, microblading may hurt you more than it did for me.
What’s the microblading aftercare process like?
Peaches said, “Microblading is 50% me and 50% you.” This means that having perfect brows meant that I had to put in effort too so I took the aftercare process quite seriously. After all, it’s a lengthy and costly procedure that shows on your face for a couple of years so it seemed like a must.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t bad. You have to wash your brows with a gentle, unscented cleanser three times a day for seven days and apply a very thin layer of ointment that she gives you.
Also, (very important), you can’t go to the gym, in the sauna, or do anything that’s going to open up your pores or cause you to sweat. You’ll also want to avoid getting your brows wet in the shower, rain, etc.
Whenever I washed my hair in the shower, I tried as much as possible to avoid getting my face in the water. I kept a towel hanging over the shower rod and dabbed my face with it gently anytime water did get on my face.
Peaches said that my eyebrows healed amazingly so following her instructions to a T really paid off!
What’s the worse thing I can do after my microblading procedure?
Because there’s so many tips about what to do before and after for microblading, I asked Peaches, my microblading artist at SIX+AIT Studio, what the worst thing I could possibly do for my newly “painted” brows.
She said that the worst thing to do after microblading is to workout! This is because your pores open up and enlarge, which decreases the chances of the pigment in your skin retaining as much.
When’s the best time of year to do microblading?
This is my personal opinion of when the best time of year to do microblading is, but I really enjoyed getting my brows done in January to March for a few reasons.
One is that the holidays and vacation time of November to December is over so even though there’s not much downtime since Peaches does such an awesome job, January is a month where I don’t have to be picture ready and can fix up my face how I please.
Also, you cannot get your brows wet after your sessions for a whole week to week and a half, which includes sweat! I can’t imagine getting my brows done in the summertime when it’s super muggy and hot in the Northeast and beads of sweat might drip onto my precious new brows.
Lastly, hotter weather also means more open pores, and because open pores means less pigment retention , it seems safer to get microblading done in the winter when my super cold skin likes to keep its pores shut as tight as possible. There’s one benefit of the cold!
How much does microblading in NYC cost?
Microblading isn’t cheap if you go to the right person, and paying for a great microblading artist will make all the different.
First off, you are getting a semi-permanent tattoo on your face!
Your eyebrows completely frame your face and getting it done wrong can completely alter the way you like, hopefully for the better, but possibly for the worst.
Second, a skilled microblading artist will know exactly how to map the perfect eyebrows for YOUR face, minimize pain during the procedure because they’ll know how appropriately deep to make the incisions, and create your brows in a way to minimize the healing process. At least, that’s what Peaches did for me.
I’ve seen microblading prices as low as $300 for two sessions (sketchy…) and as high as $2,000 for two sessions (probably not necessary…).
Peaches’ two microblading sessions appropriately cost $1,000 (excluding gratuity) with each sessions lasting about two to three hours and tons of love before and after each session.
What do your eyebrows look like while healing from microblading?
I wanted to keep track of how my eyebrows did every day after getting the microbladed so I took a picture daily! Here’s what they looked like and the “emotional rollercoaster” (Peaches) that I went on.
Before Microblading in NYC
Before microblading in NYC, my eyebrows had a pretty decent shape but always needed to be filled in and generally didn’t match.
Right After Microblading in NYC
Right after microblading, my eyebrows were a bit red but look freshly stenciled. They looked great and I was very happy with the process and results!
One to Three Days After Microblading
As Peaches told me, I went on an emotional rollercoaster after I got my eyebrows microbloaded. The color gets darker a day or two after microblading, which is exactly what it did for me. It made me look like Eddie Munster!
I started having regrets– “OMG why did I ask for it so thick?” “Is it really going to look like this for two years?”
At the same time though, I trusted Peaches that they would look more natural at the end of the healing process. It was a waiting game at this point.
Four to Five Days After Microblading
About four to five days after microblading, my eyebrows started to scab, and those scabs started to fall out naturally. I did not scratch my eyebrows or touch them at all whenever they got a bit itchy, which, warning, they will!
I was getting happier and happier as each day passed with how my eyebrows were looking because they were getting more natural. Also, I was impressed at the healing process.
I had looked up photos of healing eyebrows from microblading beforehand and some girls had some GROSS scabs. They looked like little bugs all over their brows. I could barely tell that mine were scabbing since they were so tiny.
I asked Peaches about this at our second session, and she said besides her technique, she uses a high-quality healing ointment, which helps the healing process go smoothly so you don’t have to hide away from people for the week of healing.
Six to Seven Days After Microblading in NYC
My eyebrows were basically looking healed at this point, and almost all the scabs had fallen off. I couldn’t believe how quick the healing process was!
You can sort of tell a few spots where Peaches would be touching it up from where the pigment didn’t stick, but didn’t it look amazing just one week after?
14 Days After Microblading
Ok so this is when I started really getting amazed. One– I didn’t have to do my brows at all since getting them microbladed. Two– I kept expecting them to wash off when I washed my face, but every time I’d look in the mirror, they were still there– LOL.
I even went to a spa/sauna in Los Angeles and was wondering if any women were wondering how my eyebrows looked so damn good despite all the sweating, scrubbing, and hot tubbing.
Don’t they look so natural?
30 Days After Microblading Session #1: Touch-up Time
After my first microblading session, I went back to Peaches to get a touch-up, and it’s now day two after microblading session #2, and you bet I’m going through another emotional rollercoaster. But having been through it before, I know how it’s going to look in the end and am super excited about.
Now if only Mike would chill out every time he looked at me. He keeps raising his eyebrows whenever he looks at me–LOL. The initial Eddie Munster brows are majorly throwing him off. He doesn’t know how to interact with me.
I hope this post on microblading in NYC helps you with your microblading decisions.
I’d love to know if you made it down this far, say hello by sending me a DM on my Instagram @sarchetrit.
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Like this post? Share:
Martin
Wednesday 9th of March 2022
Loves it.
ABQ Eyebrow
Thursday 24th of October 2019
Your experience regarding microblading is actually great and worth appreciation. There are a lot of people who are unknown to the facts and benefits regarding microblading. Surely, this will update them and help them to make their choices about whether to get microblading or not. Thanks. ABQ Microblading
Lucy
Monday 23rd of September 2019
Thank you for the great post. Excellent information and yes your eyebrows look awesome.
Paul
Wednesday 22nd of May 2019
Thanks for this awesome post