Microblading Versus NanoBrows: Which One Is Better?

Microblading uses a handheld tool that can have up to fourteen tiny blades-- these blades gently open up skin to deposit pigment right under the surface.  NanoBrows uses a handheld machine with a single needle-- a finer incision is made to deposit pigment.  In well-trained and experienced hands, both techniques can deliver very natural-looking eyebrow results. 

In our experience, the machine used for NanoBrows takes more control on the part of the artist to create great results... treatment times can take up to three hours, versus 90 - 120 minutes for Microblading (because of this longer treatment time, we charge a little more for NanoBrows).  However the single fine needle is less invasive on the skin, with virtually no bleeding and little discomfort.  The healing period with NanoBrows is shorter, often with little to no scabbing. 

We've decided to offer both treatments, Microblading and NanoBrows, in our salons.  There are advantages to both, and clients should pick which one is right for them.  Both techniques create natural-looking results.  That being said, we do recommend NanoBrows specifically to clients who are prone to bleeding or have sensitive skin.

— Ramon Padilla

MRIs and Microblading

Will Microblading affect the results of my MRI? When you go in for an MRI, the last thing you want to worry about are your eyebrows skewing the results. Thankfully this is not something that should be a concern.

Our pigments are iron-oxide based, with ingredients that meet FDA requirements. Iron oxide is a widely-used permanent makeup ingredient as it is very stable, provides good opacity, and is available in a wide color range. It’s also found in a wide range of cosmetic products, from lipsticks to eye shadow to foundation, precisely because it is gentle and non-toxic.

The amount of pigment applied to your skin during Microblading is quite miniscule (even though the resulting visual effect can be quite big). It will not interfere with the results of your MRI.

That being said, it is always a good idea to alert your doctor or medical technician that you have permanent makeup, as part of their standard safety screening.

(By the way, the reliable properties of iron oxide is also good reason to avoid pigments that are “organic” or “natural”— they are unstable with color retention and can also cause allergic reactions. Microblading is probably one of the few treatments where “organic” does not mean better.)

— Ramon Padilla

When Will NYC Microblading Salons Open?

When will New York City Microblading Salons/ Permanent Make-up Clinics/ Tattoos Parlors Open?

UPDATED July 6: We re-opened our NYC salons today, thank-you for waiting for us and we are so happy to be back!

UPDATED June 11: Our NYC Microblading salons are part of "Phase 3" re-opening (together with other personal care services such as nail, tattoo, massage, cosmetology, tanning, and waxing). We will open once the city enters "Phase 3", which we hope will be sometime in July. We will be extending all Perfecting Sessions and 6 & 12 month touch-ups for the duration of our temporary closure. Thank-you for your patience, and we can't wait to get back to work and see you all again!

As of today June 9, the answer for New York City is “We don’t know yet”. Microblading and other “Permanent Makeup” treatments are classified under “Tattoo Parlors” with New York State, and we have not been given a Phase for re-opening. So as of now, Microblading Salons, Tattoo Parlors, Permanent Makeup clinics are still not part of “Phase 2” (which is the Phase where Hair Salons and Barbershops are allowed to re-open). Other businesses that have not received a Phase as of June 9: nail salons, facial spas, massage parlors, blow-dry salons, and other non-hair treatments.

We are 100% ready to re-open when New York State allows us to. Even before Covid-19, Microblading salons like ours already had very strict hygiene measures in place: usage of gloves and mask for every treatment, single-use tools, regular handwashing and medical-level sanitation of surfaces.

Our staff were highly trained on sanitation, even certified on Bloodborne Pathogen Training. To be honest, it’s not a huge jump for us to go from what we were doing to what’s now being required.

There is space in our NYC salons to spread out our treatment areas. And like most other Microblading salons, we’ve always been by-appointment-only with only a handful of clients per therapist per day, so there’s never a line of people waiting to get in.

So we are keeping out fingers crossed that we will be allowed to re-open soon. After almost three months of being closed, we are very much looking forward to going back to work (safely!) and seeing our clients again.

Thank-you for waiting for us, we can’t tell you how much your patience means for us!

— Ramon

Our Chicago Salon Is Now Open!

Wow it’s been a long 2.5 months, but we are so happy to be back! Our Chicago team (Jackie, Josefina, and Kim) are all safe and we are thrilled to be doing what we love to do— Microblading eyebrows!

We’ve CERTIFIED the salon with Chicago’s BE SAFE certification. In addition to our existing sanitary measures, we are kindly asking clients to keep the following in mind for their appointments:

— Please wear a mask inside the salon and during treatments. We will be happy to provide a disposable mask if you forgot to bring yours.

— Only clients in salon at this time, no guests please.

— We will ask you to disinfect your hands upon entry.

Thank-you for waiting for us, and we are so excited to see you again in our Chicago Oak Street location!

— Ramon

What We're Doing To Keep Our Clients & Ourselves Safe

I just wanted to share with you all some of the hygiene measures we have in place in our three Microblading salons (NYC Flatiron, NYC Soho, Chicago Oak Street):

— Hand washing with antiseptic soap and hot water throughout the day, between clients, and continued use of nitrile gloves, face masks, and barrier film during treatments. Most of the items we use (blades, pigment rings, mascara wands) are discarded after each treatment. For items that are re-used (eg hand held mirrors, iPads) they are disinfected between treatments with a medical-grade solution.
— Each of workstations thoroughly disinfected between clients. We only see a maximum of four clients at a time in each location, and stations have been placed as least one meter apart. A paper barrier is also kept between clients and treatment chair.
— We spray all high-touch surfaces (eg doorknobs) with 94% alcohol solution every hour, and each salon is professionally cleaned and disinfected top to bottom every week.
— We insist on hand washing for our team, but also keep hand sanitizer liberally available for everyone.
— Therapists, managers, front desk are all required to stay home if they feel sick.

Please do not be offended if we greet you warmly but without touching, and if you see us disinfecting our hands after touching your personal items (eg credit cards).

We also request clients to please reschedule your appointments if you feel sick. If you are visibly sick (cough, cold) when you come for your appointment, please do not take offense if we respectfully decline to do the treatment and reschedule you for another date/time.

Like you, we also have families that we care for and want to keep healthy. At the same time, we want to keep practicing our profession, and make a living doing what we do best: Microblading brows. We will take all precautions, but will not let fear run our lives. We look forward to seeing you soon!

— Ramon

Obsessed With Cleanliness

We are obsessed! It goes without saying that the blades and needles we use for treatments are all single-use. They are packaged in individual, sterile pouches (which we show to and rip open in front of clients), and disposed of in Sharps containers. We wear hospital-grade masks and single-use latex-free/ powder-free gloves. Pigments are placed in single-use vessels for each treatment, and all tools we use are arranged on medical trays lined with a surgical plastic barrier.

That’s not all. We wipe down all client surfaces (beds, mirrors, iPads) with medical-grade wipes between treatments. We spray all our salon doorknobs lightly with 95% alcohol every hour on the hour (we try not to make a big deal of it, so perhaps you might have missed that part). And our sinks are always running with hot water as we wash our hands constantly.

Once a week, on Sundays when we are closed, our salons are professionally cleaned from top to bottom.

I wish I could take a magnifying glass to all my salons and pick out the last remaining germs. Is there a tool for that?

— Ramon Padilla

A New Chapter: Areola & Nipple Tattoos

This month we are introducing a new treatment: Areola & Nipple Tattoo. I am dedicating this to my dearest friend A., a breast cancer survivor who inspires with her tenacity and joie de vivre.

The treatment is done in a single 2-hour session in our NYC Flatiron salon. Results are permanent. Our realistic, 3D tattoos can be done unilateral or bilateral at least three months after surgery. Please take a moment to look at the photos in the page on this site— they are so realistic.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to go through breast cancer, but my team and I hope we can contribute to post-operative recovery, in a way we know how.

— Ramon Padilla

Botched Microblading Ugh!

I think by now we’ve all seen that picture of the poor client in Missouri who ended up with four eyebrows. It made national and international news, and maybe even put some people off to trying microblading. I truly feel bad for her, but in a way I’m glad that this news was spread far and wide. Because really, microblading results are only as good as the person who does the treatment!

Go to a reputable salon, ask for samples of work (before/ after, unfiltered). There are some therapists of course who are just starting out and might not have a deep book, and that’s ok. But request for a consultation and ask them to draw on your brows stroke-by-stroke. If they can’t draw a balanced and well-placed brow with a brow pencil, they certainly won’t be able to do it with the microblading tool!

Unfortunately we’ve been seeing more clients with botched work come to us to have their brows “fixed”. But wouldn’t it be better to have it done right the first time?

— Ramon Padilla

Hello GuyBrows!

It’s about time!

It took us a while to perfect this— the big question was how to make the brow appear “untouched”, even with a starting point that could be almost-bare. It turns out that it takes even more technique to place Microbladed hair strokes so that they appear full and almost unruly. And no, we don’t just randomly add strokes to a brow, or else the result would be a hot mess.

Our GuyBrows are full, strong, and very, very natural-looking. We still create a shape, but avoid arches and tails. I’ve seen the results, and it’s always striking when put side-by-side with the “before” picture, but when you see the “after” on it’s own, you wonder— Was anything done?

Brows look stronger, eyes more alert, for our more mature male client, years just drop away. They just look… better!

We have a new GuyBrows IG too: @evertrue.guybrows Take a look and see what I mean.

— Ramon Padilla

Best Of New York 2019! From New York Magazine!

I opened my copy of New York Magazine this morning and… EverTrue is on their Best Of New York list! Best Microblading for Asian brows.

We are over the moon, to be recognized by them. I’m especially thrilled since New York Magazine is such a cultural touch-stone for many New Yorkers, including me— I get all my information on what to do in this city from them!

Thank-you New York Magazine!

— Ramon Padilla

Lucky Brows?

The Lunar New Year is right around the corner— February 5 to be exact— and we’ve had a rush of people coming in to get their brows done the new year starts. Many clients have told me, It’s for good luck! Well, is there such a thing as “Lucky Brows”?

We have a good friend who is a Feng Shui expert, and she says Yes! Brows that are full, with no gaps, are lucky. Brows that are “watery” and sparse are not lucky. Evenly balanced brows are lucky. Brows that have visible scars are not lucky. The luckiest brows for the Year of the Pig? Straight brows that look like the Chinese symbol for “one” (“—-”).

Do you believe it? I just think that anyone with beautiful brows (natural or via Microblading) is lucky!

— Ramon Padilla

Why We Don't Use Stencils/ Rulers

I think using stencils or rulers to create brows are acceptable for beginners, but then quickly become a crutch.  Very few faces are symmetrical, and measuring out equal distances from a middle area will most certainly result in brows that do not look quite right for the face.  If a therapist new to Microblading needs some confidence in the initial treatments, by all means get it from rulers,  But with experience they should be able to draw perfectly balanced, proportioned brows that are right for the individual's face structure... freehand!

I don't think it's a lot to ask.  When did you ever see a top makeup artist use a stencil or ruler when drawing brows on their models?  It's not one-size-fits-all.

When we train we allow our newbies to draw brows in boxes for a few days, to help with their brow balance and proportion.  But when we move to real (3D) faces, we push them to use only their eyes.  If they can't create perfect brows each time, it's not up to our EverTrue standard.

-- Ramon Padilla

Microblading For Summer? Yes Of Course!

Summer is a great time to do Microblading-- imagine keeping your perfect brows in the pool (not sitting by the pool, but IN the pool, swimming!) or at the beach.  Water or perspiration won't interfere with the perfection!

Let's just time your treatment around your vacation.  You will have to avoid strong direct sunlight for a week after the treatment-- note this doesn't apply to walking around Manhattan in the middle of the day, you will be fine with limited sun exposure!  But after the week is done... sun bathe!  Go sailing!  Spend the summer outdoors in the Hamptons/ the Islands/ the South Pacific!  Your brows will be there with you.

-- Ramon Padilla

CORRECTING MICROBLADING GONE WRONG

There seems to be a downside to the exploding popularity of Microblading over the past few years: some bad Microblading work.  We are seeing more clients come in with brows that need help after less than professional service from other places: uneven brow shapes, too-thick strokes, pigment that has changed color.

Don't despair, often these situations can be fixed!  We cannot remove what's already there, but can work around it.  We add strokes to balance out brows, or move an arch, or just improve the overall esthetics.  We can mask too-thick strokes with finer ones.  We can add individual strokes to brows whose pigment has spread (the effect is like having brow powder on).

What we can't help with: very, very dark strokes that have spread, the dreaded "marker brows".  For these we have to wait until they have faded.

Wherever you decide to get your Microblading, please do the research on the Specialist.  And ask them to draw on both brows, stroke-by-stroke with a brow pencil.  If they can't do this with a brow pencil, chances are they won't be able to do it with the Microblading tool.

And... please don't let this dissuade you from having the treatment done!  The results, when done right, are spectacular.

-- Ramon Padilla

HOW TO FIT YOUR MICROBLADING APPOINTMENT INTO YOUR BEAUTY REGIMENT

NYC and Chicago are amongst the most beauty-advanced cities in the USA-- especially NYC!   We (and yes I include myself in this haha) can have beauty/ grooming regimens that in other cities may elicit gasps, but here it's just basic maintenance!

So how to fit in your EverTrue treatments with: facials, tanning, hair color, brow threading, laser treatments, chemical peels...  Botox covered in a previous post.

Facials: AVOID two weeks Before AND After Microblading.  Intensive facial treatments can make your skin thinner and more sensitive, resulting in more bleeding which in turn affects color retention.

Chemical Peels/ Laser Treatments: AVOID four weeks Before AND After Microblading.  Same reason as Facials.

Hair Color: do BEFORE Microblading.  We will match your brow to your hair color.  But let us know your real hair color as it helps us analyze your skin Fitzpatrick level.

Tanning: do anytime, but let us know your original/ true skin color (show us a picture or patch of skin that is not tanned), which will help us mix the brow color that will look good even after the tan fades.

Brow Threading/ Shaping: This is part of our treatment, so no need to groom your brows!  And when you return to your regular brow threader, ask them to follow the shape we created.

Any specific scenarios, other more esoteric treatments, etc., please feel free to call and ask us!

-- Ramon Padilla

HAIRLINE RESCUE! IT'S REVOLUTIONARY!

We just finished training four additional Specialists on our Hairline Rescue treatment.  It's our second most visited section in our website, after Bespoke Brow Microblading, which is not a surprise to me as 1 our of 4 women in the USA experience some sort of hair loss (as for the men, well it's probably 4 out of 4 for us!).  

The results are amazing-- we re-create the hairline, stroke-by-stroke, replicating hair.  Transparency disappears.  Check out some before/ after photos in our IG: @evertruesalon and @hairline.rescue.

If you don't need the entire hairline reconstructed, we can focus on areas like temples and hairline part.  Yes, there is a solution!

-- Ramon Padilla

BOTOX BEFORE OR AFTER?

Don't worry, your secret is safe with us!  But please wait until after Microblading until you do your Botox treatment.  Here's why: if you Botox before Microblading, we will create your brow based on your Botoxed features, but once the effects of Botox wear off, then the brow placement may not settle where you want it.

So, Microblade first.  Your doctor will be able to determine where to place the Botox injections without altering the brow position.  And should you decide to cease Botox treatments, brows will settle at their original balanced position.

-- Ramon Padilla

BUT DOES IT HURT?

Short answer, no!  On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of "discomfort" (ok, ok, in terms of "pain"), brow microblading is a 1 or a 2 when done with an experienced specialist.  I stress the experienced part, because topical numbing creams only last for a certain period of time, e.g. 90 - 120 minutes, and if your Specialist takes longer than that to microblade your brows, the numbing starts to wear off and then... well, you start to feel things.

Also, topical numbing doesn't penetrate very deep into the skin, so a Specialist with a light hand will keep the strokes right at the surface.

The biggest distraction, at least for me?  The sound of the tool doing its work, which is a odd scratching sound.  That is, until I fall asleep, or put my earbuds on.

Post-treatment there might be a little soreness for a few hours as the brow swelling decreases.  But keep the brow moisturized (at EverTrue we provide a soothing Healing Cream) and it won't bother you at all.

So, really nothing to be scared about!

-- Ramon Padilla

CHICAGO MUSINGS

I just spent a week working out of our Chicago salon-- it's always so amazing to be there!  Don't get me wrong, I love New York, and this is where EverTrue was born.  But in Chicago stress just seems to melt away (granted there's a high level to begin with, for everyone who lives in NYC)-- the streets are clean, people are super-friendly, food portions are plentiful...

And there's a LOT of interest around Microblading.  I can't tell you the number of times I've heard Chicago people say, I've been wanting to do Microblading but I don't know where to go!  What they are really saying is, I don't know anyone personally who has done it yet...

It's our mission to make Microblading part of every person's beauty / grooming regimen.  I know that anything new takes a little time to take hold, and sometimes it's the one brave soul who tries something new, loves it, then friends/ family/ co-workers follow (that's certainly how we got to doing 80+ Bespoke Brow treatments in NYC a week!).  I hope the beautiful people of Chicago will give us a try!

-- Ramon Padilla

ALAS PLAGIARISTS!

I like to see what other Microblading specialists are doing across the USA and around the world. The category is growing so rapidly as more people discover the amazing-ness of Microblading.  Amongst the specialty salons and practitioners, we are all supportive of each other-- it's less about competition and more about spreading the word of this fantastic treatment that so few (comparatively) have heard about.

But then occasionally I stumble across websites that read eerily familiar.  And then it hits me: their copy is lifted VERBATIM from the EverTrue website!  Alas this has happened more than once, in fact just this week I found three websites (two in LA and one right here in NYC) that contained entire paragraphs lifted directly from ours.

What to do?  I email the owners directly and ask them to revise.  Sometimes they realize their mistake (did they not know plagiarism is not ok?) and comply, other times they just ignore.  It's such a shame that this happens.  But I guess when you do something very well, copycats come out of the woodwork!

-- Ramon Padilla