My experience of permanent makeup with Lisa, by author Debby Elley

GET READY FOR SOME ‘HIGHBROW’ READING…

Before I begin this review of my experiences at the expert hands of Lisa Best from Permanent Makeup Hale, let me share with you one important insight. Before this treatment, I did not consider my eyebrows to be the most offensive part of my body, or indeed even my face. No way. 

No, all this happened quite by chance…

I was flicking through Facebook one evening instead of sleeping and I saw a post by a friend of mine who had just had permanent make-up on her eyebrows. She normally looks great, but this time she looked even more amazing, and I couldn’t tell she’d had a treatment - it looked so natural. 

Until now, my only knowledge of permanent make-up was limited to Michael Jackson’s eyeliner. Wasn’t it firmly the domain of movie and rock stars? Don’t mere mortals just have to put up with looking a bit…well…average?

But here was my friend, looking brilliant FIRST THING IN THE MORNING and making the bold claim that her eyebrows were ready for the day before she was. The idea that my face could be ready to get up before I was struck me as highly attractive.

Looking at my friend’s photograph, I raised one not-very-shapely eyebrow. Mine were not a disaster by any means, but they were fading fast in much the same way as my middle-aged waistline. I’d plucked my rather dominant brows to infinity during the days of the Manchester Scene, and 30 years on I wasn’t entirely sure what shape they should be. As long as they didn’t resemble an unkempt lawn I was reasonably satisfied. But every time I saw a photograph of myself, they looked too weedy. And when I drew or shadowed them in, the pencil faded or smudged, and it took extra time, and still it didn’t do me many favours. 

My lifestyle really doesn’t allow for long moments in front of the mirror wondering whether I look symmetrical. Whose does?

I spoke to my glamorous friend about her post, and she gave me a long list of reasons why Lisa was indeed ‘The Best’ by name AND nature.

I then looked up the website, promising myself that this slight obsession with Melissa’s eyebrows would go no further than studied curiosity. It turned out however that my friend’s results weren’t a one-off. Everyone’s eyebrows on the site looked this good. The ‘after’ photographs showed faces looking ‘pulled together’, primed and polished, smart and sophisticated, framing the eyes beautifully. The fear that I’d end up looking like Katie Price evaporated (sorry Katie but you don’t exactly rock the subtle look). 

I noted too that Lisa specialised in this kind of treatment. Hers wasn’t the sort of therapy centre that juggled 50 beauty treatments. This, and permanent eyeliner, were her specialties, and she was trained by a leader in the field.

Hmmmmm.

And then there was my husband. He was firmly against any ‘invasive’ beauty treatments and although this wasn’t exactly liposuction, getting permanent make-up past him might be harder than getting tickets for a Beatles reunion. Yes, I’m aware two of them are dead.

Then I pondered the fact that I’d spent 17 years raising autistic twins, not done a bad job of it and that great eyebrows were probably the very least I deserved.

After a bit more reading, I contacted Lisa and, feeling very daring, I booked in my consultation.

Because of my own schedule, there was about a month’s wait, during which I casually dropped the ‘having eyebrows done’ bomb into conversation without ceremony. That went better than expected. Whilst my husband couldn’t really see the point, he didn’t stand in my way. I didn’t mention any nerves, but as the weeks went by I admit I did wonder why I was about to spend good money on possibly the least significant part of my appearance. This was so ‘un-me’.

Outside Lisa’s house, a small part of me wanted to run (with images of Horizon programmes on plastic surgery disasters running through my head). But the moment she opened the door and greeted me with a warm and friendly air of calm professionalism, even from behind a Covid mask, I somehow knew I was doing the right thing.

The consultation was extremely thorough and covered everything I needed to know about the treatment itself and what would happen. I answered a medical questionnaire and she explained in detail how the follow-up process would unfold. She showed me the machinery and explained that there would be numbing cream beforehand (hurray!). I also underwent a patch test with the colourant and was told what to do if that produced any reaction. 

The part that I found most reassuring (apart from Lisa’s expert demeanour and sheer thoroughness in approach) was that she would draw on the brows before starting work; I would get the final veto. It was clear she took people’s faces extremely seriously, even erring on the side of caution rather than risking any sort of disappointment. “You can always have it topped up after six weeks,” she explained. Since hairdressers who err on the side of caution are my favourite sort, this was highly reassuring. 

And if I didn’t like it, I thought, there was always my fringe. She didn’t say that, by the way, I thought it…

A week later I rang the same doorbell feeling a lot more confident and ready for the treatment. The consultation took two hours, but much of it was down to Lisa’s careful measurements of my face, drawing the eyebrow shape, asking what I thought, choosing colour and discussing pigeons (the last bit wasn’t part of the consultation). 

By now I was really enjoying this novel experience, particularly as it was clear that Lisa knew what she was doing far more than I did. Plus, lying down for two hours is something that I haven’t done for a while. I looked at her pencilled version of my new brows. It was difficult to tell what I thought. It’s hard to be objective about your own face, which is why you need an expert who follows the natural pattern of your brow (‘nature gets it right,’ she explains) and knows what looks best. 

After I’d given the green light, the quiet machine gently whirred into action (so no, you don’t feel like a piece of curtain fabric underneath a sewing machine). The sensation felt like a gentle plucking, nothing more. 

Before very long, roughly 20 minutes, it was over and Lisa produced a mirror. 

Wow. I just looked so…neat and well groomed! But still very much me. Just me on a good day. And they would stay this way! Lisa had followed the natural line of my brows, but made them more shapely and I was surprised at the overall effect on my face, and how well they highlighted my eye colour.

Aftercare was explained in great detail and I’m following it to the letter. It’s not arduous but you do have to take a little care not to get your brows damp or dirty so that you don’t risk infection. I’m due back in six weeks for my final ‘top-up’ to complete the look.

‘Oh,’ said my husband as I breezed past him feeling all Hollywood glam. ‘You don’t look any different.’ Not to him maybe, which is good, as it means this doesn’t look fake. To me, I do think I look different. It’s especially clear when I see photographs of myself that somehow I just look well groomed. 

My friends – even those sceptics who would never have considered such a treatment – say it looks so natural and they love the powdered effect. 

For me, this has given me a little boost of confidence in my appearance and it’s inspired me to make more of an effort with the rest of myself. I’m even feeling better about losing a bit of weight, so that I can do these very lovely eyebrows some justice and finish them off with a body to match.

So, if you’re sceptical like I was, don’t be afraid. I’m never going to pretend that eyebrows will change your life, but a spring in your step is not to be sniffed at.

And… you’ll certainly be in the ‘Best’ hands.

By, Debby Elley