Bye-bye, bald brows!
3-D hair strokes first gained traction in 2013, when the “shaded” look of traditional eyebrow tattoos started to lose their appeal. The new technique, which tattoos individual “hairs,” appears more natural — even for people with no eyebrow hair whatsoever.
Whereas other brow tattooing penetrates deep into the skin for a permanent brow shape, 3-D strokes only go to the first layer, making the ink semipermanent. In other words, it requires a touch-up after six to nine months, and if you want a different shape, you can wait for it to fade completely (typically after a year) and get it redone.
For one New York City cancer survivor with no hair, 3-D hair strokes completely changed her face. “My lovely client came in February 22 in NYC and said she had lost her hair due to her undergoing treatments [for cancer]. She wanted to wake up every day and have eyebrows again,” Praneet Kaur, the founder of Threaded Beauty and a 3-D stroke trainer, told Us Weekly exclusively.
For the survivor, having eyebrows would make her “feel like herself again,” she told Kaur, who began 3-D stroke tattooing three years ago.
Kaur, who also shapes arches with threading, shared a video of the client’s entire process on her Instagram page. “She was so happy. She had her mom with her and they kept looking in the mirror, not being able to understand how realistic the hair strokes looked,” the Las Vegas– and L.A.-based aesthetician explained. “They said, ‘Wow, this is crazy — it looks like hair!'”
While some might shy away from the process, remembering the ghosts of latter-day eyebrow tattoos, Kaur told Us it’s nothing like that. “This is done with a manual hand tool and not a tattoo machine. It’s much better than the traditional eyebrow tattoo because you are not stuck with the same shape — you can change it up after a year,” Kaur, who had to become certified as a tattoo artist, noted. “Also, 3-D strokes allow you to create more of a natural brow than the typical shaded-in look. The whole technique is done in [tiny strokes] so it cannot look drawn in.”
The entire process costs around $550, lasts about an hour and 15 minutes and starts with numbing cream. “Everyone’s pain tolerance is so different, but the level can be from a 3 to 6 on a scale of 10,” she told Us, noting that some blood is normal too. “Everyone bleeds during this procedure, just some more than others,” Kaur said.
To find an artist near you, Kaur suggested searching Instagram (hashtag your city name with the word brows, à la “#vegasbrows”). “Make sure their pictures have consistent results,” she elaborated. Also be sure to check their licensing to verify that they’re up to date.
Would you try 3-D hair stroke brows?
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