Microblading by Galata, what it means to have a pair of “these brows”...

For me, the concept of beauty has always originated from the idea of it being present naturally, that it is already there when you wake up in the morning. This is not just a physical thing, beauty very much starts in the mind, and so, naturally, we look most beautiful when we “feel it”.

This also ties in closely to time. Feeling good about yourself from the moment you wake up gives you the luxury of time, because you haven’t spent any of it in order to achieve your beauty. In this way, a treatment like this gives you both, a naturally better version of yourself that is ever present, and the luxury of more time, a commodity that is becoming more and more elusive. 

This may seem as though it is too deep an idea or a conquest too great for a mere microblader to help somebody to attain. I concede here that at times I have felt like a failure, that I have not managed to fully explain how I feel when I meet a client for the first time. I come across as too intense sometimes, just for the sake of being it, or for the sake of wanting to seem professional. This, I like to think, is not the case. My personal entry into this profession was one fraught with difficulty. I had been through some very life questioning trauma and at times wondered whether there was any point in bothering to stay well groomed. I had spent too long trying to please those around me, my husband, my mother. Nothing was ever enough. I also didn’t feel as though I was enough for my children. I felt like trying to carve out my personal identity impinged on my being enough of a mother to them, like I wasn’t good enough because I didn’t dedicate every fibre of my being to them. 

I sought to find something to make me feel better, about who I was and also what I looked like. At the time I was training in a medical profession and my mentor (an oral surgeon) suggested that I try microblading. She thought I had the right cocktail of skills and pushed for me to take a leap of faith. Whilst working on my very first clients I started to feel a rush when helping someone to feel better about themselves, and funnily enough, this was in turn making me feel much better about myself too. It was a serendipitous awaking for me, I had stumbled across something that enabled me to do something I enjoyed, that required knowledge and real skill, coupled with experiencing what it felt like to make a positive change in someones life. The way clients responded to what I was offering felt nothing short of life changing for me, and at this point I realised what people meant when they spoke about their career being their calling. 

So, to conclude on a lighter note, one of the most important feelings that has come from this undertaking for me has been a better knowledge of who I am as a person. I will never be able to shed the need to feel gratification from making others happy, it is inherent within me and not something I should feel ashamed of. My career has now taught me to harness this quality, and the by-product is a feeling that I continuously want to be both keeping my clients happy, and also upping my game and refining my processes. I believe in the aggregation of small gains, in making the choices you make in order to make your life better bit by bit, small steps at a time; it is the framework of how I have come to be where I am. 

I am Galata, your microblader and friend. I am not perfect and I will not always get it right. But I promise you that I will always try, I will always help to deliver your vision, do everything I can to make you the best you can be, physically and mentally. This is my business and my life. 

I love you all x 

Galata 

LondonBrowClinic xx

How does the coronavirus affect Microblading and when will it be safe to resume being microbladed?

It has been a long slog for most of us, the coronavirus has taken over our lives and our livelihoods. London Brow Clinic has not been open since March 2020 due to the virus (mainly because the clinic is situated at The Royal Garden Hotel in High St Kensington which has been fully closed since the lockdown came into place), and I (the microblader and business owner) have had the opportunity to use this time to think about some aspects of this business that need attention and that have been affected by this pandemic. 

It is worth mentioning here that I have made various choices throughout my journey as a microblader that have affected the commercial aspect of my business. My business is not a machine that depends on a hierarchy of cogs; those at the bottom doing the work with those at the top skimming the rewards. The sinister side of many of the large microblading businesses and academies across London and indeed the world, work in this way. This is not to say that I have not attempted to scale my business by recruiting fantastic microbladers, I have absolutely tried to do this. The condensed reality of the aforementioned statement is that I simply have not managed to find or train, someone in whom I am confident can carry my brand name, and the weight of what that means for my business. I suppose the difference is whether the objective is to provide a consistent level of quality, or whether the only thing that matters is churning customers through in order to make as much money as possible.

Well... There has been one massive benefit to the above. I haven’t had to lay anyone off or furlough anyone other than a booking assistant. It also means of course, that the customer who books with London Brow Clinic, knows who will be treating them on the day and doesn’t need to worry about booking with a clinic whose master blader has fantastic reviews, but ends up being bladed by “god know’s who” who hasn’t even qualified yet and has very little experience. I could name many microblading establishements in London that operate in this way but I will not as I am not in the business of defaming other institutions without knowing all of the facts. I speak from the stance that I have trained with three separate academies and have seen with my own eyes what the internal politics looks like within these operations, and have been approached by some of these larger insitutions with the view of becoming one of their “cogs”. If I were only interested in money I may have even been more profitable by doing this. But in the end I wanted to stay true to the original reason why I started this business, to facilitate in making people feel more confident in the most natural and honest way possible. 

The moral of this story is that London Brow Clinic will absolutely be one of the businesses that comes through this pandemic unscathed. It will continue to put the needs of the customer first, making sure to take the time to fully assess the objectives of the individual customer and not prioritise making money over customer satisfaction. I am keeping abreast of the political and scientific stance this country has over when businesses like this can re open and shall be keeping people informed via social media of when we are opening again. In times like these it is important to remember what matters most, and for me, one of the things that I miss terribly is speaking to my many customers in whom I have found many friends. I miss you all and look forward to making you look beautiful for many years to come. And for any new customers who have fallen upon this blog whilst researching for a microblader who cares about each and every one of their customers’ individual needs, rest assured that you are in the right place. All you need do is read the messages on the website and Instagram to see the sentiment of the people who choose LondonBrowClinic as their microblading clinic. 

I wish you all the best, thanks for reading. 

Galata xx 

LondonBrowClinic

Brow Lamination ... next big thing or waste of money?

I’m afraid busy clinic means I haven’t posted in a while but the ever growing craze concerning brow lamination has spurred me to create a post to give some customers a little insight into this new trend.

Soooo, brow lamination is a treatment which essentially relaxes/perms the eyebrow hair, essentially “setting” it in much the same way as one might experience when chemically straightening or curling their hair. The reason that I feel compelled to create this post is because, in much the same way that people often enquire about microblading to understand the finer details of what it entails, I think people are not entirely aware of what this new treatment really is. And honestly, seeing the myriad of Instagram posts relating to brow lamination I can see why.

I am seeing an incredible volume of posts boasting that brow lamination offers a fantastic natural full looking brow that don’t really relay the facts surrounding the method used and how long this lasts relative to the price. Anyone who ever used to have HD brows done will know how frustrating it was to walk out of a brow salon having spent £40 for wonderful brows that are going to last about 3 minutes.

Now, after having undergone a training course in this treatment, I’m afraid I will not be rolling this one out to my customers. For ethical reasons I cannot push that this a more natural treatment, because almost all of the treatments I see online do not disclose that it is both a chemical AND tinting treatment. The residue from the tint leaves some colour behind that will be gone incredibly quickly, meaning the result you see really doesn’t last very long at all. Coupled with the fact that the chemical perm lasts only a few weeks (in much the same way as it does on a lash lift) means that this treatment is not offering much bang for its buck given that the average price by a reputably trained practitioner is roughly £40.

I have also seen a number of beauticians coin this treatment as being more “safe” as the skin isn’t broken, but all you need to do is speak to a hairdresser and ask them how often it is safe to perm the hair on your head. Sufficed to say, the chemicals used to straighten the brow hair are strong and cannot be underestimated.

All in all, in all honesty I do really like some of the brow lamination results I am seeing out there. I have even rolled this treatment out on some friends and family with pleasing results. But I have caveated this to all of them on the basis that it is likely to cost them about £40 a month if they want to keep it up, which unsurprisingly results in looks of dismay.

If you ask me, soap brows provides the same affect which can be achieved at home, and costs about 10p! Let’s keep the exaggeration in check people 😉

Keep safe and lots of love

Galata x