How to get beautiful eyebrows and keep them during Hong Kong’s long, hot summer

One way to look fresh and wide awake is having defined eyebrows but in Hong Kong’s summer humidity, even the heaviest-duty brow products can fail us. There is a solution: microblading. Here’s what you need to know before you take the plunge.

Eighteen months ago, I microbladed my eyebrows because I couldn’t be bothered to fill them in before I went to the gym (where I would sweat them off anyway), and after my post-workout shower. Unlike traditional permanent eyebrow tattoos, when pigment is injected deep into the skin, microblading and microshading – two popular forms of semi-permanent eyebrow microtattoo – deposit pigment manually into the upper dermal layer. As our bodies slowly metabolise the pigment, it starts to fade.

“It’s difficult to alter permanently tattooed eyebrows to fit facial features as they change with age, but we can redo semi-permanent brows so they best complement our facial features,” says make-up artist and microblading specialist Emilee Lee.

The difference between microblading and microshading is in how pigment is applied. Microblading, which is said to create the most natural effect, mimics strands of eyebrow hair. Emilee, one of the four co-founders of Tsim Sha Tsui-based beauty centre Fomegä Studio, says the procedure is suitable for brows of all shapes and sizes.

“We use sharp, flexible blades that are 0.018mm thick to give the most natural looking result with minimal impact on the skin. When microblading, we analyse the direction and density of hair growth to make sure our clients end up with even looking brows.”

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Emilee recommends microshading as an option for clients who have relatively full brows, but want to fill in sparse areas. The blade used for microshading is shaped so that the resulting eyebrows look like they’ve been filled in with brow powder. The results of both procedures can last up to two years, depending on your metabolism.