Cancer will NOT stop me from having fantastic eyebrows... Memoirs of a microblader.

It’s not often that I pick up my laptop to do MORE work when I get home from a day microblading. If any of my regular clients are reading this, you will know the way my days feel when I am in clinic, the work is undoubtedly rewarding, but of course, tiring in equal measure. Needless to say, today was similar in most respects bar one. I microbladed someone that moved me and compelled me to extend this working day further by putting pen to paper (sort of). 

We all know that the benefits of microblading can be far reaching. I often feel as though I sound like a totally brow obsessed idiot talking to clients about not underestimating the power of what these eyebrows can do, and I know that to some extent you all secretly laugh at me when we first meet. How can someone be so passionate about a silly pair of eyebrows, I can almost hear it when I am looking at you with those blank looks on your faces when we are going through our consultative process. But, as I always say, you will be back. And you will probably end up putting my number on speed dial. Not because I can guarantee how long your microblading will last you, how defined each stroke will be and promise that I get the cool/neutral tone just right once it has dealt with your entirely unique physiology and composition of skin. It is really down to something a lot more basic than that. My clients know that I care (sometimes beyond the limits of what can be deemed normal); that I am not just a yes person. That I will not just make you look like Spock because that’s the brow trend that is “in” right now (in Iran mainly but still)!

But today, when I met Emily, a 29 year old young lady who should have her whole life ahead of her, I felt even more deeply about creating the best pair of brows I can. She has a form of breast cancer, metastatic stage 3 to be exact, and she found out literally about 3 weeks ago. In the weeks since having found out, she has already sourced wigs, started the process of freezing her eggs and embryo’s, researched everything there is to know about the implications of the harshest and most severe forms of chemotherapy (which she will be undertaking in a matter of weeks) and also sought to find a microblader to provide her with a pair of brows that will last her through the process of losing her hair which she has been advised is essentially a forgone conclusion. In short, she is a fucking miracle. 

Now, I know that I make this sound so incredibly everyday. But genuinely, this is how she came in today. With her head held high and not a seed of doubt in her mind about her ability to get through what she is about to embark upon. I asked her a series of questions before we started in order to ascertain whether I felt she was sound of mind enough to undergo the procedure (I wanted to make sure she wasn’t pinning all her follicle related hopes on my brows) and by the end of a suitably inspiring chat we were ready to start her treatment.

What I can tell you people is this. This woman made an everlasting impression on me today. I felt like I needed to come on here and write it down, a memoir of how today’s encounter went, so that we can look back on this account over the years to come, and I have promised her that we will share it together; that I have every confidence that she will be here for a long while yet, and that I look forward to her knocking on my proverbial door for her brows for decades to come. 

Emily, this blog post is for you, thank you for giving me the permission to write it, your generosity knows no bounds. I salute you and your insurmountable courage and I look forward to seeing you again and again and again 

Galata

London Brow Clinic

Xxx 

Yes... I've started a blog about microblading and Semi Permanent Makeup

Hello friends,

So, as you can see, I have decided to start a blog. Before you yawn and navigate away thinking that this is just another means of monetising my business by throwing my two pence in about the aesthetic industry, let me shed a little light on why I have decided to put some of my thoughts down on proverbial 'paper'.

For a while now, I have had more and more concerns surrounding the ethical nature of the business that I am in, and following on from this, the legitimacy of it. I have come across so many instances of women begging for my help to 'correct' the bad microblading that they have had done, to then invite them into my clinic and hear that their microblading wasn’t the only sub standard, shady, aesthetic treatment that they have encountered. I am sad to say that it feels as though the explosion of women (and men) feeling as though they need to ‘look better’ as a result of the airbrushed, unrealistic images that we hold ourselves to every time we look on our social media platforms, this problem becomes bigger everyday. 

This is a dichotomy inducing problem for me, being in the industry myself and feeling these insecurities to greater or lesser degrees depending on the circumstances, but I feel as though it is time for me to do something to try and help.

It is no secret if you have met me that you know that I'm passionate about what I do, it is not simply microblading to me. The journey extends much further, and the conversations I have with my clients always go beyond some pigmentation beneath the skin. But there are times when my clients have expectations, or misguided facts about the practices that I am meant to be the professional in, that make me wonder who we are turning into as a people. Do we all want to look the same? Do we all believe that more is always better? Do we think that because we googled something we are now the expert? Does all skin take SPMU differently? In SPMU does one type/size fit all?

I pose these questions because the fact is that it is becoming more and more difficult to be a professional in this field and I have a feeling that I know why this is, but because it is an amalgamation of a few problems all converging, it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate my business away from it and so I have decided to tackle some of these issues head on by writing about them! The hope is that I can shed some much needed light on some of the techniques and practices within my area of this industry, and give you, as the client, better information on what you should be able to expect when you visit someone like me. As a follow on from this, and due to the increasing number of you who typically ask me for advice concerning other areas of beauty, and indeed business, I shall also be using this platform to talk about various other areas of the medical aesthetic industry, and of course, women in business.  

Let’s be friends (if we aren’t already!) feel free to comment down below and ask me anything you like...

Topics I will be covering in future blogs:

What type of SPMU is right for you?

Influencers influence on the medical aesthetic industry...

Does more expensive really mean better?

How much regulation is there in the Semi Permament Makeup industry?

All this and much more to come...

Galata x

LondonBrowClinic