An Insider Look at Permanent Makeup Treatment, by Sophie, aged 36

Helen says:

As we settle into 2016, I’ve been asking myself what my clients and online audience would really like from my blog. I think that giving details about my services and answering common questions about permanent makeup procedures are extremely valuable.

I also considered how, when it comes to choosing a technician for your long-term beauty treatments, nothing is as important as trust.

That’s why I enlisted the help of one of my clients who said that as she had had such a great experience, she would like to share it with others. Here’s her story…

My name is Sophie, I’m 36 and I was toying with the idea of permanent makeup treatments for a long time before I finally approached Helen, as choosing a technician and taking the plunge can be a bit of a minefield!

I love glossy magazines, and I first came across Helen’s website after reading her blog post about A-listers and permanent cosmetics. As a self-confessed celeb gossip lover, this really caught my eye and I started to look more into which services Helen offered.

I wanted to have my eyebrows done as I’ve always struggled with them being too ‘scraggly’ and felt really self-conscious about how they look. After a bad plucking job in my early teens, I lost shape and definition in my brows, and was in desperate need of something more permanent to help fix the problem. I had gaps where the brows hadn’t grown back properly, which I felt self-conscious about. I felt that penciling them in every day was a hassle I didn’t have time for, and also I sometimes go swimming and I wanted them to look better without makeup too.

I had a look on Helen’s Facebook page as well as her website and immediately saw that many of her previous clients had offered glowing testimonials on her eyebrow treatments. One post particularly stood out to me.

“I’d always had rubbish eyebrows with no shape to them, and had always wanted them done properly so when a friend recommended Helen to me I looked at her photos online and booked an appointment. And I’m SO glad I did! My eyebrows look amazing now- they’ve got a proper arched shape and they’ve really opened up my face. I can’t recommend Helen highly enough!”

I was also very attracted to the fact that Helen talked about enhancing natural beauty, as I really didn’t want to look fake! After a brief chat with Helen on the phone, I booked an appointment for the following week. Helen was very friendly and I could tell how experienced she was straight away.

She explained that some of her clients have the initial consultation as part of their first treatment if they are sure of what they want. I explained that I really could do with some more advice before going ahead with any treatment, so she recommended that we have a separate initial consultation with no obligations. Having felt rather nervous about the whole thing, I appreciated not being pushed into anything.

When I arrived at the salon for my consultation, Helen immediately put me at ease. I was happy to see that she was just as friendly in real life as on the phone! We had a good chat first about why I had to come to see her in the first place, and what I wanted out of the procedure. She was very careful to really listen to what I was saying instead of telling me what I wanted.

After I had explained about what I was looking for, Helen asked me some questions to work out the specifics of what I was looking for. She analysed my face shape (heart shape, apparently!) and talked about how my hair colour (dark brown), eye colour (hazel) and skin colouring (olive) would work best with the style, shape, pigment and tone of brow that I was looking for.

In the course of our conversation, we worked out that, due to my face shape, I would suit a more delicate brow with a soft, rounded arch as opposed to the bold, high arch I had always gone for.

Once we had had a really thorough chat, Helen drew on the brows with a makeup pencil. It really helped to have a physical image after our chat and I was surprised that even the ‘pretend’ brows made my face look better!

While I was really happy with how the ‘brows’ looked, Helen made sure that I was not just saying that to please her by giving me another few minutes to discuss any concerns I had. I was nervous about changing my look too much and too permanently, but I could see that the brows we had come up with would just define the best features of my face, as opposed to altering my look.

As my appointment came to an end, I filled out a medical and consent form with the standard questions about allergies/pregnancy/breastfeeding and so on, to make sure that you are suitable for the treatment. I also had a patch test, which turned out fine!

I booked my first eyebrow treatment for the following week and I absolutely adored the results! I feel more groomed and confident, plus I save hours every morning not having to try to sort out the mess that is my natural brows!

I’m going back in a month for my top-up appointment and also to discuss having lip fillers, as this is something I’ve dreamed of for years. I’m confident Helen can give me the subtle improvement I’m after. There’s no trout pouts on her Facebook page!

I’ve never had an issue with my lips as such, but I dream of a full, sexy pout and, having read Helen’s testimonials and had such a great experience with her so far, I’m very keen to make my dreams come true!”

Sophie. xx