Jenna: Hello, this is Jenna, and welcome to the Elevate Yourself podcast where we can talk about beauty and self-care without judgment.

Hey guys, it's Jenna. Thanks so much for joining me on another episode of Elevate Yourself podcast. So you guys might have noticed that I'm kind of like watching these episode topics based on what I think is most valuable information to my clients and what can help you guys or in general what is of most interest that I could possibly be helpful with in relation to self care. Whether that's an enrollment of mentorship for people who are looking to get into the self care business or beauty professionals or to help support clients in their services or their decisions to get services or to make the services even better for them.

I've just been kind of going with what I think is going to be the most valuable for you guys. So right now if brow season brushes in it totally hit us in the Kootenays. We love, skiing we are super active, and right now is prime time because we are in between everything awesome. We are going to have a lot of rainy weather, ski season, ski hills are closing down so that's gone. You don't really want to be out hiking in the rain very often. So right now is like the special time right between it gets really nice in summer when we want to be out doing stuff and ski season where we have this perfect climate in the Kootenays to get the brow healing, really nail that, and get the most value out of our appointments. So this is why I am really stressing all the information right now about brows and kind of get it out there just to prepare clients for the best experience they could have and just educate on a bunch of different topics that will provide the most value I think right now.

So today I have asked two clients to come on and share their unique experiences we have kind of polar opposite experiences. And the reason why I think this is so important and valuable is that as an brow artist, I am doing everything I possibly can to make sure that your appointment goes the best way possible so that I have as much information out there that I can possibly give you to prepare you to come in prepared for your appointment to educate yourself to feel comfortable so that you're fully ready to go through the process and you know how to make the most out of it from things that you can do and so but I also go through tons of things like I'm constantly practicing behind the scenes equipment setup, there's a lot of consideration towards color theory and working with someone's skin tone and skin type tons and tons of continuous training as well as like updating my studio policies to prevent things from going wrong.

So one thing that I've done recently is completely banned brow tattooing in the summer in the Kootenays and I know that there are lots of places in the city that can successfully be doing this and it's okay but we live such a different lifestyle here. You're very active. We're not the kind of people who are like going into our parking going straight to our air-conditioned work in our air-conditioned car and then going back home and like repeat all the time.

Oftentimes, we live a lot more of a rural active lifestyle and are very lifestyle based people we want to be down at Lakeside Park or take the beach after work or on our lunch break or something like that. And we do not want to sacrifice these benefits to our lifestyle in order to have some brow seal. So I have had clients before who were very confident that they could follow these aftercare instructions but it was simply put if you're walking from my studio to your car uphill, you already started sweating. With your appointment there when it's like 40 We had some epically hot days last summer like I think even 45 degrees. It's just it's a recipe for disaster. So I'm missing enough also I do not want to be doing services for people that are they're set up for failure. It is not in my best interest. I have a million other things I can be doing and busy within the summer. And so for me I have just made it a nonissue for myself because as an artist, I really want to be set up for success as well. I don't want to be doing something that is not going to be in my best interest. I don't want to be setting someone up for either sacrifice like a couple of weeks of their life during the summer or having a shitty result from their brow tattoo that they've saved their harder money from.

So this is also part of why I'm creating these episodes and trying to just really connect with you guys before because the more we connect before and the more understanding we have in the world we're on the same page with aftercare and prepping your body, and your mind for the cosmetic tattooing procedure results we get and that's what I'm all about. about helping people technically it's more money in my pocket. You have a million bucks, but honestly, that is not my game. And I don't want to be about that. Not make me feel good.

And so I would much rather have a client who's prepared and is working together to get the best results than to have a client who really struggling in that way.

So one client was before we weren't doing any brow tattooing in the summer we went over the aftercare, the pre care, so I know myself that sometimes it's really hard to take so many things. Seriously. Maybe you might think this is doesn't apply to me is just a cautionary tale and or someone will know that when dealing with a facial tattoo and especially when you're trying to go from very natural, like following the pigment there and to do like a really really, really bold to that's not going anywhere ever play and like the scary route and really nail that gets that's like an easier thing but like subtle results, that's going to appear very which is like what I'm all about. I'm not really about that to super fake. I call them city brows. It's just a different preference lately. It's just not what I for myself as I like to do. It's just not my cup of work. It's not that I personally like to wear my eyebrows either.

And I feel like in our community we tend to air for natural style. And then also my tattooing career is I don't like to trends because trends change over time. So if you're naturally enhancing someone's eyebrows, you are doing something that is going to basically shift with the client and it's going to be timeless but if you're doing a very makeup you look with following the trends and going for a very bold look, then it's definitely going to have more of a chance that it's going to be looking trendy, you know, like eyebrow trends change, so maybe you will be on the good side of that trend, but maybe you will be feeling like that was so 10 years ago in 10 years.

So I like to air on the side of caution do natural style brush so that definitely means that we are dealing with a much more delicate threshold of pigment retention and less is more we always want to test out how the skin is going to heal. So it is so much more important to really lock down the routine of aftercare and like prepping for your appointment and being prepared to accept the pigment in the perfect way so that we don't have to risk doing something like a scary brow or you don't have as much chance of having brows completely fade afterwards. So this is of course always a risk even if you follow the exact protocol for aftercare and pre care, especially if you have different things like maybe you're taking a medication that's going to interact with it.

Smoking can also make it harder for you to retain pigment things like thyroid conditions or other different conditions in the body. If you have anything hormonal that's happening, those kind of things can definitely affect or like nutritional deficiencies so all these things and you might not even know that you have them like lots of clients come in with scarring in their brow and they have no clue or they've completely forgotten about it. They were like three years old, one client I had, she was like, Oh yeah, I got run over by a car and road rash all over my face and she just had totally forgotten that that would be a factor in her brow and she had healed so well. You can't even tell but there's still scarring underneath in her brown hair tissue underneath her hair. So there's little things like that. That you will find in the initial session. And that's why we do the touch up because we can really nail it. If a client is having a really hard time with retention as an artist. I will always work with them as long as I know that they are working with me because it's irresponsible for me to keep doing sessions with someone who is not following the aftercare because also they're wasting their money but they are increasing the chance of having long term damage or like scarring buildup in their tissue because when you don't follow aftercare, there's a lot of different bad things that can happen. Not just the pigment not sticking, it's more like scarring or a whole bunch of other different possibilities infection even so, so there is the possibility you do everything correctly and it doesn't stick and that's why that touch up is super, super important because you have that chance to alter your approach and do something much more drastic but we wouldn't want to do that on the first appointment because if we do that on the first appointment, you can.

There's people who have done their brows and you can do the exact same technique and they can have the same skin type and all the different things and their pigment is even almost sometimes better than 60% 40 to 60% is regular retention but so you don't want to be oversaturating that person's browse if they are going to be retaining everything. You don't really know until you do that for a session. That's fine the touch up super important to come back for that time perfecting and we have a lot more knowledge of what's happening in your skin. Also, if you do have scarring underneath there, is actually by the fact of actually tattooing and breaking up that skin a little bit for scar tissue. It does help it to rebuild it. So

the next question is easier for the pigment to go in there. There's just so much to it. So I definitely think this is getting a little long guys. I'm sorry, but it's so important. And I'm so passionate about it.

So I'm hoping these interviews are gonna really help you because it's two polar opposite sides of the spectrum. And I just wanted to really stress the importance of this what you can do to prepare for your appointment and during the appointment and also after the appointment, which is the previous many episodes we just launched. Everyone who gets brow tattoo I believe should be researching those things at the studio that they're going to and especially at Elevate you should be listening to those all those podcasts for sure before you I tattoo your face.

So those are really important but then also just hearing someone's experience of their personal experience of how it goes. I think that that's invaluable. And so I really did think that reaching out to these clients and trying to capture their personal experience would be really beneficial to just drive this home and provide insight into what to expect from your appointment, the level of research that you should do before and the level of commitment that you should take to make sure that you're not wasting your money to make sure that you are not wasting your time and to make sure that you end up with the results that you want. There's a lot of different insight into both appointments. And I'm curious to see what you guys think the main takeaway is so just take a listen. Let me know what you think. And if you have any questions, please please please like take note of them through the podcast so that you can ask.

First we have the interview with Pasha and I'm so happy with the brows now. She lives in Kamloops now so we are not able to get after photo until she's back in Nelson but she's been coming back for her touch up and so she just sent me the fresh pictures of her healed brows from Kamloops. And so next time she comes in she'll come in for another touch up Pasha has been a long term client of mine we've done lashes we've done brows a bunch of times and she's had some up and down journey with her with the guys so that we can prevent some of these things happening to you in the future.

Jenna: So Pasha, why don't you start by explaining to us what we have done with your brows?

Pasha: Well, we've had to do four times in the past like eight months a year maybe.

Jenna: I think it's been about a year. Yeah.

Pasha: And basically I just did not listen to the aftercare instructions the first two times and so my brows basically almost nothing twice, and I just didn't listen to her like Jenna had told me at all. I was out in the sun. I was sweating. I didn't I was drinking like all the above. So they ended up feeling horribly they flaked off big chunks. And then the third timeI told myself, I'm going to listen to the aftercare instructions. I'm just going to do exactly what she says and they finally healed and like the pigment stayed and it was actually looked good.

Jenna: Yeah, so this fourth time we just did like a little touch-up there.

Pasha: Yeah, it looks really good. I think it's gonna hold really well.

Jenna: Yeah. So what were the things that you did do that you think made the biggest difference the third time?

Pasha: Well, I wasn't drinking. Before and after. I was not in any sun. I didn't get any. I wasn't exercising. I wasn't sweating. I did exactly what you told me with the appointment. And taking off the scabs. Yeah, not taking the scabs.

Jenna: Like taking off the lymph so it doesn't fall off.

Pasha: Like so I took off the lymph. So didn't form a scab and they didn't do it like off in big chunks. But it was in water and it was doing any of that stuff. So it's literally listened to the aftercare instructions step by step and do exactly what she told me to do. And they feel way better.

Jenna: And so like the first time we did that, it was summer, right?

Pasha: It was summer. I was going out in the sun, I wear hat but you know, I was sweating and it didn't do much and massive chunks and all the pigment came out with them. So it was not good.

Jenna: Yeah. So what advice would you give someone if they are getting their brows for the first time or maybe they have had their brows done and it hasn't been working out for them?

Pasha: My advice would be to do exactly what Jenna tells you what the aftercare listen to the instructions to a tea and your arrow should heal amazing.

Jenna: Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. Back and we will talk to you again soon.

And now we're on to the second interview with Elysia. Elysia is another awesome client of mine with Elevate for a couple years now and we've done a bunch of different services. So we've been able to talk a lot over time. But also her mom is an Aesthetician so she has been getting her brows done for quite a long time with tinting. And thanks so much for joining us today, Elysia. You've been a longtime client and Elevate and you've had a bunch of different services but today I wanted to reach out to you, especially about your brows. Can you explain what you with your brows and your brow journey with Elevate?

Elysia: Alright, so the powder brows which I was very nervous about and you helped me through it. I think you did like a fade in.

Jenna: Yeah, like kind of like Ombreish to me.

Elysia: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Then really well with the color I was very worried that was too dark. Literally the perfect I couldn't be happier.

Jenna: That's awesome. And so we've just done one session so far, right?

Elysia: Yes.

Jenna: And so what was the scary part when you were thinking about it?

Elysia: The scariest part is definitely the permanent-ness of it. I've never had a tattoo at all in my life. So these are my first tattoos, on my face.

Jenna: Yes. It's a big decision.

Elysia: Yeah. But I literally couldn't be happier. It was like one of the best things ever.

Jenna: That's awesome. And so you must have done a bunch of research and like I think we did we do henna brows. I think we definitely did had a brow consultation before right?

Elysia: We did the consultation before the tattoos, but I was pretty sure I wanted them by then. So we didn't end up putting henna on. But I dyed my eyebrows my whole life. So I kind of had an idea what they would look like.

Jenna: That's right. Yeah, yes, your mom was an aesthetician and so yeah, a lot of experience with that.

Elysia: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And a lot of my friends had it and I just love it on everybody else's face. Kind of, you know, what's your face? I was worried about it.

Jenna: 100% Yeah. Especially in the acting industry.

Elysia: So my face is what a lot of people see. That's very different went badly would not be the best thing but it went really really well.

Jenna: So that's great. Yeah, can’t be joining up with scary angry looking brows. So what was your healing experience like?

Elysia: It was really it was gonna be a lot harder, like, from the way he explained it, but it didn't flake off too much. There wasn't as many flaking scabs as I thought there was going to be but I was like super careful, like, did exactly what you said follow the instructions to the tee just because I didn't want to wreck anything. They faded pretty well. Yeah. We start to do a second session, but um, the healing process was pretty easy. I just won't do a drink ski season next time, which is why by touchups a little bit later.

Jenna: Yes, totally because it sucks to miss out on all that good ski.

Elysia: Yeah, and I didn't even didn't even think of that.

Jenna: You went through with the sacrifice and it shows with your results for sure. So totally. I do appreciate you following your aftercare in that way. For sure. Gotta follow the aftercare. Totally. And so how long did you feel uncomfortable after you got your ever feel like you didn't want to be seen afterwards? Or?

Elysia: Oh, no, I went right out. I still thought they look great when they're really dark. They didn't get too crazy. Like I actually liked them that dark and then but I also like to exactly how they went out anyways.

Jenna: Perfect. So some people have like more of a swelling also too that can be uncomfortable and it's usually only 24 hours before that's gone too. But I'm glad that you were pretty comfortable from the get go.

Elysia: Yeah, I lucked out. And I like that you had that little numbing stuff that helped it to during the process.

Jenna: And so did you do any things before your appointment to prepare?

Elysia: Yeah, I didn't drink at all for a couple of weeks before and then I think that was pretty much all I did to prepare there and that just looked at it over and over again on phase two and saw

Jenna: Yeah, just to make sure that you're ready for the change. And then after your appointment, what kind of aftercare did you follow?

Elysia: So I started using the saline solution that you gave me right away on the drive home every 30 minutes, wiping it. And then I made sure I slept on my back when I was sleeping just like when I get my lashes done so that it wouldn't be sleeping on my face or touching it straight away from my sauna and the hot tub. Didn't go skiing or exercise or anything like that. There's no sweat on my face or anything touching it. When I did shower, I don't know if this is one of the steps but I put plastic wrap.

Jenna: Perfect! Well whatever you did really worked out. Now usually I include in the aftercare kit, a little shower guard, so pretty similar to what you did almost exactly. It's like a little plastic shield.

Elysia: Excellent.

Jenna: Yes. And so I'm wondering what advice would you give to a client who's thinking about getting eyebrows tattooed?

Elysia: My advice would probably be, definitely look it up online and check out what it is exactly. But to not be as scared as you would be actually really awesome. And just double-check maybe who you're doing it with like, I trust you because I've been doing different things for like years. So maybe just make sure you're with someone you trust that they're not gonna tattoo something weird on your face.

Jenna: Yeah. When when you first put on the patch, it's not gonna be that dark. It's usually like heals to be a lot more natural than it looks in the beginning. What are the things that you mostly want to see touched up in your touch up appointment?

Elysia: Honestly, I just want basically exactly what you did. It might make it slightly darker but it's pretty perfect. Nobody's there anything to perfect. Maybe and going and see if there's anything. Exactly. And like you're like, your eyes are better. You probably see things that I don't even notice. And then yeah, maybe I might just go shade slightly darker.

Jenna: For sure. We always want to test the skin lessons more in the first because some people retain the pigments so well and then other people will have a much harder time retaining. So it's better for us to like really be cautious in the beginning so that we don't end up with something bolder because you can't it's much harder to take something back then to add more.

Jenna: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience I think it's gonna be really beneficial for so many people to hear firsthand what the experience is like from the perspective of their client. Thank you so much for having me on here and anybody thinking about it, do it. It's worth it. Well, thanks so much, Elysia and I look forward to seeing you.