10 Surefire Ways To Make Your Semi Permanent Eyebrows Last

The success of your semi-permanent eyebrows largely depends on the preparation you do before your treatment and the aftercare you take.

How Long Should Semi-Permanent Eyebrows Last?

Semi permanent eyebrows do fade eventually, but this should be over a period of 12 months, at which point it’s time to book in for a colour boost and adjustment. If you’ve gone through this process before and you found that your brows were fading after just a couple of months, it’s worth checking the tips and tricks below.

Semi-Permanent Eyebrow Do’s and Don’ts

Following these steps will help guarantee that the semi permanent pigment takes to your skin, and that your fabulous new semi permanent eyebrows last for as long as possible.

Don’t Shape or Tweeze Your Brows Before Your Session

I’ll be shaping your eyebrows during the procedure and the end result is to give you a defined, captivating shape. Any kind of eyebrow plucking or tweezering beforehand agitates the skin around your eyebrows. I need the skin to be relaxed and calm so that I can create beautiful hair strokes on it!

This also applies to after the treatment – there should be no shaping required anyway, but any kind of interference with tweezers can jeopardise the healing process.

No Intense Exercise (Or Saunas!)

Please, no mega-intense HIIT workouts or using your gym’s swanky new sauna, as the sweat you produce can compromise the semi permanent pigment.

This is an essential point particularly post treatment.

Sweat contains salt – sodium chloride. A common procedure in the industry to remove semi permanent (which are effectively semi-permanent tattoos) makeup using something called the Salt and Saline (Osmosis) method.

It can be tempting to show off your new eyebrows at the gym, but stay strong – sweating will cause your semi permanent eyebrows to fade prematurely or not take at all. For the health-bunnies reading this – try to stick to gentle cardio (such as walking) 48 hours after your new brows have been completed.

Avoid Blood Thinning Medication

Semi-permanent eyebrow makeup involves making tiny incisions on the epidermis. It is normal for a little bleeding to occur on some of these. You can see in the cross section below that the blood vessels in the skin are arranged like little curved waves. A good SPMU artist should only touch the top of these waves, which is why the blood will look like tiny pin pricks on the skin. 

If you take blood thinning medication up to 48 hours prior to your treatment, chances are that you’ll bleed excessively. This can push out the pigment and prevent it from settling in the epidermis. The new eyebrow strokes will either not take, or will fade prematurely.

The semi permanent eyebrows can fade quickly if you take blood thinning medication after the procedure as well. The pigment can be pushed out while the area heals more slowly than normal, due to blood not clotting effectively.

Some example medicines and supplements that may result in this effect:

• Aspirin
• Ibuprofen
• Fish Oil
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin A

No Retinol Products 3-Days Prior and 7-Days After

Retinol products or acids can make your skin more sensitive or thinner, which causes a similar effect to blood thinning as described above. The skin can tear during your treatment and this affects how well the pigment is retained (and how well your skin can recover).

48 Hour Ban on Alcohol!

Yep, another blood thinner! For this reason, avoid anything alcoholic for the 48 hours prior and 48 hours after your treatment. If you think a ‘cheeky glass’ or a low alcohol option is OK, think again – it really can make a difference.

48 hours is a good guideline and is there to ensure you get the best possible result. It is really worth threatening your time and money for the sake of one drink? (Especially when – hot take – there are some really good zeo-alcohol options out there now!)

24 Hour Ban on Caffeine!

I confess, this is a tough one for me. I start the day with a glass of water and then a coffee. However I’ve also witnessed first-hand what breaking this rule does.

My client fell asleep during her microblading session and it was going great. She’d a coffee 3 hours before her top up session and began to bleed, and not ‘sweet spot’ style. I couldn’t understand why the sudden change. When she admitted to the coffee, I realised I had totally underestimated the power of caffeine! 

Although not as drastically as alcohol and certain medications, caffeine still thins the blood, making it a substance to avoid before and after your treatment. Especially when it’s hard to know just how much effect it has on each individual. Definitely better safe than sorry!

Do Keep Your Eyebrows Dry

There are two main reasons for this. Firstly after your semi-permanent eyebrow session, your skin will begin to heal. Small scabs containing pigment will form during this process. If you get those wet then they can fall off, taking away the pigment and causing premature eyebrow fade.

Secondly, your skin may still be open. Activities such as swimming and saunas will expose your skin to bacteria that could cause unnecessary complications.

Keep Hair and Makeup Away From Your Eyebrows

As per the previous point, your shallow cuts must remain bacteria free. Keep your hair away from your brow line and avoid makeup. This will keep the area clean and will allow the pigments to settle into the skin.

Do Not Pick At Scabs

It is crucial that you do not pick, tug, or scratch the brow area. Scabs must be allowed to fall off by themselves during the healing process. Picking them will encourage them to fall off prematurely, taking vital pigment with them.

Botox

If you have undergone a Botox (or Collagen Induction Therapy/Microneedling) treatment, please wait for 2 weeks before having an SPMU session. Your Botox needs to settle before we can begin the eyebrow mapping process.

Wrapping Up