How does microblading differ from permanent makeup, and how can it be removed?

The microblading craze began in Europe in 2014 and has since spread like wildfire across the globe. Today, this ancient Asian tattooing technique is offered in hair salons, nail salons, and, of course, private beauty studios.

The sudden popularity of this type of permanent makeup (yes, it is nothing other than a form of permanent makeup or tattooing) has a reason, which is also its biggest problem. Namely, the eyebrows look incredibly good immediately after the treatment.

Posted on May 14, 2022

Maria Prieb

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The microblading craze began in Europe in 2014 and has since spread like wildfire across the globe. Today, this ancient Asian tattooing method is offered in hair salons, nail salons, and, of course, private beauty studios. The “training” for this and the purchase of necessary tools are relatively inexpensive and thus affordable for everyone.

The sudden popularity of this type of permanent makeup (yes, it is nothing other than a form of permanent makeup or tattooing) has a reason, which is also its biggest problem. Namely, the eyebrows look incredibly good immediately after the treatment. The hair-like strokes etched into the skin are initially very thin (often even thinner than your own eyebrow hairs) and also form a beautiful pattern.

Why so?

Microblading is performed using blades or scalpels. The skin is cut during the process. This creates a micro-incision in the skin tissue into which the tattoo pigments are inserted. The skin’s natural defensive reaction to a cut is to immediately close or contract. This is the reason for the visibly thin line immediately after the procedure.

Permanent Makeup:
During the procedure,
the skin is punctured.

Microblading:
During the procedure,
the skin is cut.

Here’s what happens next:

The skin reacts to any injury by immediately attempting to heal itself, using every means at its disposal. And the first step is the formation of connective tissue to seal the skin barrier as quickly as possible. The microblading incision is, so to speak, filled with a cement-like substance to restore the protective barrier to the outside. Since this cement-like substance consists of connective tissue, a scar forms at the injured site. This happens every time the injury has penetrated into the middle to deep dermal layer of the skin.

After healing, the skin is left with tiny scars at the injured sites, which is consistent with a completely normal physiological healing process. You can compare this very well to a broken vase that has been repaired with superglue. From a distance, the vase looks fine, but up close, you can see and feel the glued-together spots. Superficial microblading in the skin after 2–3 months.

Microblading incision after treatment. Pigments have mixed with blood (see purple dots)

Conjunctival stroma in cross-section
(→ scars); blood and pigments are also
embedded in the scars

Just like with a repaired vase,
the glue marks (scars) remain forever.

In the worst cases (and we’re seeing these more and more often, as the number of microblading practitioners in Germany continues to grow), the incisions were made so deep that the pigments migrated significantly within the skin and turned blue-gray due to mixing with blood.

Unfortunately, we’re seeing more and more clients like this. The good news is that people are becoming increasingly aware of the consequences of microblading. Word is spreading about how the results look after healing or over time, and more and more women and men are no longer being blinded by the marketing images of freshly done work.

It’s sad that so many people still fall for the beautiful pictures and end up living with disfigured faces.

The problem is that even today, it’s not at all easy to remove or correct microblading. Let me explain why.

Superficial microblading in the skin immediately after treatment

Superficial microblading in the skin after about 1 month

Superficial microblading in the skin after 2–3 months

If the microblading was performed relatively superficially, it will fade on its own after a few skin regeneration cycles. This is because the upper layers of the skin are constantly renewing themselves; every 28–30 days, the epidermis is almost completely replaced by a new layer.

The problem arises when pigments have settled into the resulting micro-scars.

In this case, the tattoo (and it is nothing other than a manually performed tattoo!) will NOT fade. Not after a month, nor after a year. Not even after 2–3–4 years. Because the pigments are firmly embedded in the skin and cannot leave it.

Many “victims” immediately think of laser removal. Sometimes it works out well. More often than not, however, these attempts fail and only make the situation worse.

If the pigments are acrylic-based, they melt under the laser beam, causing internal skin burns and resulting in further scarring.

If the pigments are synthetic, the laser often cannot detect them at all. The worst part, however, is that the tiny incisions reopen under the laser beam, which is accompanied by massive bleeding and further scarring.

Even attempts at correction (so-called “cover-ups”) fail in most cases. First, it’s impossible to correct the grayish-blue, blurred lines in a way that looks natural and attractive. It will just look “messy,” and the old pigmentation will always “show through.” And second, the incisions/scars open up during correction attempts just as they do with laser treatment, which can further traumatize the skin.

Can microblading be corrected?

We have been observing these unfortunate developments at our institute for many years and know how difficult it is to gently remove botched microblading. Our observations, experience, and research have led us to the following conclusions and recommendations:

You should not attempt to remove scarred microblading with a laser. The risk of internal burns, discoloration, and further scarring is far too high.
Correction is only advisable if the microblading is very faint and not accompanied by scarring. If it is too dark or too deep, it should first be removed or lightened.
The most effective and safest method currently available for removing microblading is the removal of pigments from the skin’s surface without causing significant trauma to the incisions or scars.

At our BeautyCase Academy, we have developed a specialized method for removing botched microblading. A special removal technique using the innovative PigmentOff Remover gently brings the pigments that have settled in the skin to the skin’s surface without reopening the incisions. The special home care products support the subsequent healing process and promote skin regeneration.

And the best news: the scarred skin tissue becomes smoother, more even, and softer, so that after an appropriate recovery period, only minimal to no microblading traces are visible - which is very important to so many clients.

How does the PigmentOff removal method work?

Scars from microblading laser treatment:
deep burns and severe skin inflammation

Results after 4 treatments with PigmentOff Remover: Pigments have been removed, and scars have flattened and are barely visible.

With the removal method, pigments are removed from the skin in a similar way to how they were originally implanted. In other words, they are brought to the skin’s surface and do not remain in the body. When performed by a professional, this method is quick, scar-free, and highly effective, as pigments of any type and color can be removed.