Woman issues cosmetic treatment warning after spending over £1,200 to undo botched eyebrow procedure

A woman has warned against rushing into cosmetic treatments after being forced to spend more than £1,200 to undo a procedure.

Katy Adams, 22, from Milton Keynes, underwent a semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo procedure which unfortunately went wrong.

The treatment, known as microblading, is a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing used to make eyebrows appear fuller, but still look completely natural.

The procedure involves using a blade-like tool consisting of multiple needles to make tiny cuts in the skin. Pigment is then inserted into the cuts to create the appearance of fine eyebrow hairs, and the colouring usually lasts for up to three years.

Ms Adams said she decided to book the procedure as a treat to herself for her 19th birthday after finding a practitioner on Instagram, the Milton Keynes Citizen reports.

She explained: “At the time, I was 19 and extremely impulsive - if I wanted to do something, I would try to do it as soon as possible. Microblading was one of those things that I wanted to try at the time, so once a friend of mine let me know their friend offered microblading services and would do it for me, I jumped at the chance.”

But sadly the 22-year-old was left devastated at the result after the ink used appeared much too dark compared to her natural fair hair. It left her with uneven outlines and spots of ink along the outside of one brow, she said.

The botched result meant Ms Adams had to spend more than £1,200 over the course of two years in an attempt to rectify the appearance of her brows. She underwent saline removal sessions two months after the initial procedure, which involves using a tattoo gun with salt and water to lift the ink.

The reverse procedure helped tone down the dark black shade slightly to a grey-ish colour, but the uneven lines of ink on the outside of her brows remained clearly visible.

Ms Adams then switched to home remedies in the early stages of the 2020 Covid lockdown, using lemon juice and salt to try and get her eyebrows to fade. Eventually, she underwent two sessions of laser removal treatment to get rid of the dark ink, but unfortunately it left her a red ink undertone.

She explained: “By 2022, I was so insecure about my eyebrows, so I found a specialist laser removal for semi-permanent makeup in Milton Keynes. I had in-depth consultation and eight additional sessions for laser tattoo removal.

“I was told that the tattooing had gone too deep into my left eyebrow, so would never go back to normal, however, after a range of frequencies and lasers, they were able to remove the red ink. Now I am left with a slight orange-yellow tinge in my left brow, but feel good about myself and confident again.”

Ms Adams’ experience inspired her to build her own eyebrow business which offers more natural and temporary brow treatments, as well as helping people who went through something similar to her by using henna to reshape and colour-correct botched brows.

A study by beauty retailer Justmylook says microblading was the tenth most complained about beauty treatment in the UK in 2022. Researchers found that 89% of people who filed complaints about an aesthetic treatment going wrong to accredited practitioner register Saveface found their practitioner on social media, and 84% were ignored by them when they tried to seek help.

The 22-year-old is now warning others not to rush into cosmetic treatments and to spend time doing research before booking any aesthetic procedures.

She added: “I advise anyone thinking about getting a semi-permanent treatment to do their research and make sure it is really what they want, not just a trend. There are some amazing semi-permanent brow artists out there, just be sure to do your research.”