Despite being a relatively new trend in North America, microblading has been around for a while. Decades, in fact. Though it was not referred to as "microblading" at the time, the technique of etching in small, shallow tattoos to make eyebrows appear fuller and more ideally shaped actually developed about 25 years ago in Asia. But who invented this creative form of semi-permanent makeup, and is it poised to stay trendy long into the future?
Human tattooing of the face and, more specifically the eyebrow region, actually began thousands of years ago (notably gaining prominence among the Ancient Eyptians). It's disputed exactly when and where in Asia the modern procedure first began, and it underwent many different names in its early years: "eyebrow tattooing", "microstroking", "microfeatering", "eyebrow feathering", "eyebrow embroidery", and many, many more. Some people believe the method to have originated in Japan, as another name for it is simply the "Japanese method". As the years have gone by, the method has been gradually made safer, less painful and more precise.
Now, it is widely popular in North America, particularly the United States where it is referred to almost exclusively as "microblading" (a term widely believed to have been coined by Dr. Linda Dixon, a beauty professional who has been in the industry since 1979). As social stigma and misconceptions about permanent and semi-permanent forms of makeup in general have fallen to the wayside, treatments like general eyebrow tattooing microblading have steadily been on the rise.
Today's microbladed eyebrows are beautiful (when done by a professional, that is), and the real appeal is that they are virtually indistinguishable from a full, natural set of eyebrows. Long gone are the days of thickly-lined, fake-looking eyebrow tattoos! Modern microblading is done in short, shallow strokes in the upper layer of the skin, emulating natural eyebrow hairs.
But seeing as makeup and beauty trends fade in and out of style, what does the future hold for microblading? The good news is that it is still very much in its early stages of popularity. Only in the past few years has microblading truly gained traction in the United States, with an increasing amount of celebrities and social media influencers telling the public about their happy results. The other good news is that natural-looking full, neat eyebrows have been the norm for most of human history, despite some short-lived years here and there of other trends (most notably the long and thin dramatic eyebrows of the 1920s and the short, skinny eyebrows of the 1990s).
That said, even if microblading does not maintain its popularity forever, the truth is that its results are not fully permanent. In fact, most people need a touch-up within one to three years in order to maintain their fuller-looking eyebrows. So in the off-chance that thinner, non-sculpted eyebrows become the norm one day in the future, those who get microblading done now will not be stuck with their results forever. Even so, the actual procedure of microblading can be easily adapted to achieve a wide variety of eyebrow shapes and styles.
So, it goes without saying that the future of microblading appears to be fairly solid and with low-risk. Interested in learning more or have some questions? Contact Washington Microblading Services today!