I have been very stupid: permanent makeup

[maggiethemagpie]

I can't believe I have let this happen... I have always had a bit of a complex about my brows as I was injured as a child so one is scarred and they are thinning and quite wide apart. I am getting married in April and was a bit paranoid about wedding pics...

My beautician, who waxes my eyebrows, said she could tattoo over the scar, so I agreed to go and have this done. She then talked me in to having both eyebrows done for a little extra.

She hasn't done an absolutely terrible job but I don't like it. It is thicker than I would like. Also the gap between my brows is still too large and they look slightly uneven.

There was barely any consultation, and she didn't show me exactly what she was going to do before she did it. She is not a permanent makeup specialist, just a beautician with some extra training. I'll admit it, she was charging a low price so I thought I was getting a bargain. I now realise I have made a mistake and should NOT have skimped on this.

On the way home from the salon it struck me: This is PERMANENT. WTF have I done. The gap between my brows is similar to before, as I did not want her to tattoo there but now looks a lot more noticeable as the brows are thicker and darker.

I just feel like an absolute idiot. How could I have let someone tattoo my face without fully checking them out, or knowing exactly what they were doing? I don't know what I was thinking.

The only good thing is, at least the bit I most want to correct, the gap between my brows, can be filled in if I go to someone reputable at the top end of the market. I mean better that it's too big a gap than too small, right? I know I will have to pay a lot but will dip into my savings to try and correct this as it's worth it not to feel like a fool every time I see my face in the mirror. Such a false economy to go the cheap option as now I'll pay the full price for a proper professional to do them, on top of the price I paid.

Has anyone been through anything similar or can offer any advice?Actually, I'm probably the only person foolish enough on mumsnet to do this. I'm getting married in a few months time and just wanted to look good and hide the scar in my eyebrow. Now I'm worried I will look worse.

Anyway hope someone can learn from my mistake please never go to anyone cheap for permanent makeup it's not worth it! It sounds so obvious writing it down, I can't believe I have done this, feel sick....

My hairdresser hated hers when she had them done and spent the first 24 hours dabbing at them with a wet tissue - which she'd been told would take some of the darkness away.

I had eye liner tattooed in last year, I was horrified with the dusty Springfield look straight away. But 2 weeks later it was lovely, nice and subtle.

Have you put mascara, shadow and liner on? Might look great if you darken the rest of your eyes ?

After trying to convince myself that they weren't that bad, I have faced the awful truth... they are not what I like or what I wanted so whilst they may not scream 'horror story', I do need to get both brows completely reshaped which will involve pigment removal. Otherwise they do not feel like 'my' brows IYKWIM. I do think the beautician has gone above the natural brow line a little, and it will just annoy me every time I look in the mirror.

Luckily there are a couple of procedures available that can do this, without laser (Google has been my friend today) I have a consultation booked. Receptionist assured me that I'm not the only one going through this by far. Saline treatment looks like the least invasive, they wash the tattoo die out with saline as far as I can tell.

Whilst I accept responsibility for undergoing the procedure I do feel the beautician was negligent eg no skin test, not telling me what she was doing before doing it, no consent form etc. So I have reported her to Safety in Beauty who can investigate, and may also check with trading standards that the salon is licensed.

Framey - I have just been moping around the house today, so haven't worn makeup. But your idea to make up the rest of my eyes is a good one.

I just hope anyone who has stumbled across this can learn from my mistake, still can't believe I let this happen but I'll have to stop beating myself up at some point. Ah well. May cost me some money to fix but at least it's fixable.

I had mine done with good results. The first 2 weeks they are shockingly dark but that changes. Vaseline is to stop them drying and flaking. I'm sure you can get them rectified. In the meantime use brow pencil to extend them to the centre and powder over to keep pencil in place. Don't worry - find the money to go to a good salon with experienced staff - you deserve to feel good about yourself. I can recommend a place in Chiswick, London, but know that is far from you.
Xx

God I'm glad I'm old & not affected by trends like this!
Op are you sure your natural brows can't be just filled in a bit every day? I'd stay well away from tattooing, experienced or not. When is the wedding? You're going to be looking at those photos for years so I wouldn't do anything that's glaringly obviously different or a trend of the moment that really sticks out iyswim

Inspector I am old and not affected by trends either, I just wanted to cover a scar and overplucking. You could say I'm lazy, but not trendy!

I do think I need the job to be finished by a pro - there are a few experts around who specialise in correcting botch jobs. Otherwise it seems very half done and I just don't want to wake up like that anymore. I have seen good results with eyebrow tatts done at the top end of the market - obviously that's where I'm looking now. I think having a proper consultation where I explain what I want is a vital part of acheiving a good result.

I feel like I need to either get it finished by a pro or else get the whole thing professionally removed... which would still leave me the problem of the scar and the width between brows which lead me to seek this in the first place, it was never about having a trendy brow I'm not even a fan of that trend.

Every time I look in the mirror I think 'How the fuck have I ended up with a scouse brow'?

Honestly you have even let them heal! They won't look anything like that!!

Then they are usually topped up to darken even more / add more.

I'm surprised anyone would look at correction work until they are actually healed- unless they wanted to make money too.

I'm only going for the consultation, not to have any work done yet ! They said it would need to heal first. There's three months til the wedding.
Glad to hear my scouse brow will go. I actually really hate scouse brows, they look so unnatural. That's why I've been so freaked out by all this!

I can only add to what others have said in that they fade dramatically in the first 2 weeks. Mine looked ridiculous for the first couple of days. The woman who did this did warn me though.

You're being hysterical. They'll fade, and you'll get used to them. And the biggest fuckwit is the one who allows a non-specialist beautician to wield a tattoo gun around their face without first insisting on a proper consultation and a look at their credentials and disclaimers.

Take proper photos of what she's done and send the beautician the bill for whatever you do now. She can either pay or you could take her to the small claims court.

They do look very dark. If you left your eyebrows totally alone for a few months would the middle but fill in?

I've been undecided about having my eyebrows done, will now stay with my tedious routine with brow powder.

They should fade, mine did, dramatically, after the first week. Hopefully she used proper SPMU equipment and pigment and not serious tattoo artist permanent stuff.

No decent SPMU technician is going to touch them for at least 4-6 weeks.

Thanks Mrs Smith - I believe by titling my thread 'I've been very stupid' I have already admitted to being a fuckwit, there is no need to rub it in. Don't you think I have been kicking myself ever since this happened? Doesn't mean the beautician didn't do wrong too though.

Coco, I did ask for a refund, the beautician then went silent on me. I threatened to go to small claims so her husband just phoned asking if I would accept a refund, and he's going to meet me this evening to give me my money back, so that's good news.

Glad to hear it will fade, but the shape will remain and that's the bit I am not happy with or feel was done without my consent. I think I can probably get used to them, if not there are optoins.

Wips, the middle bit has always been a problem for me - I was looking back at photos of me as a child before I'd ever heard of tweezers and ny brows never matched, the hairs on the side of one eyebrow grew in a different direction to the others, and looked out of place, that is something I was born with. With the scar as well, it's never going to grow back naturally in an even way there. So this is not about vanity, it's about correcting a flaw in how my brows always were plus a scar on top from an accident. Going to town if your brows look ok I'd leave well alone!

You sound like a bit of a pain to be honest.

Without your consent?? She didn't pin you down, tie you to the bed and tattoo you?

You could have any point asked to see them or put some input into them.

And threatening her with small claims court!?

Before they've even healed!

You seem to think you know better than her so I'm sure you could have been vocal enough to intervene.

Well the threat must have worked unimaginative as I now have my money back!

You know your natural brow space is it quite wide?

The space in between your brows are beyond wide.

The actual tattoo will fade. How about getting brow extentions to make them a a normal size and shorten the space between your brows.

You probably scared her so her husband had to deal with you.

If she had professional confidence she should have suggested you actually wait until they have healed then discuss what you don't like.

Hi Maggie the shape doesn't look bad to be honest but the gap is too large. I think you should get brow extensions if you can. The inside of your eyebrow should be at the same level of the inside corner of your eye if that makes sense?

Thanks Bumwad, I will have a think about my options and go for a consultation but no further work until I'm sure..... Eyebrow pencil will be my best friend until then!

I should think they gave you your money back because you're a nightmare OP and they wanted shot of you.
The shape looks fine. Don't bother getting them 'fixed' anywhere. Someone like you who can't even wait for them to heal will never be happy

No, I do believe they gave me my money back because they didn't want to risk a claim when they hadn't even complied with their own procedures by getting me to sign a consent form, ie they would have invalidated their own insurance.

Happy to be seen as a nightmare if I get my money back..... I will need it for any further work done by the correction expert.

Anyway life's too short to be arguing with strangers on the internet, so I am outta here. Thank you to all those who were supportive and kind to me when I was upset, it's funny how people who started off blaming the beautician are now defending her, I have never admitted anything other than full responsibility for letting this happen but that doesn't mean the beautician did not have responsibilities too. Anyway as the saying goes, don't feed the trolls!

Thank you and good night.

Blimey op, not sure why people are being so unkind. Faces are really important; I get upset about obvious spots so semi perm black brows would really distress me.
See what your options are but don't rush into anything.