Ellen Cummings: Tried & Tested Microblading with Nez

Microblading is a form of semi-permanent makeup (SPMU) that uses hair-like strokes to enhance the shone and fullness of evebrows. It's more suitable for clients with lighter skin tones, non-oily skin types and clients who still have a reasonable amount of brow hair.

My eyebrows have always been a problem for me; when I was younger I naturally had very full brows, which I hated, so when I reached my teens my mum and I got a bit overzealous with the tweezers and I was left with weirdly shaped, mismatched brows. I'd become very adept at disguising my brows shortcomings with gels and pencils, but it was something that would take up a lot of time in my makeup routine and To awavs be worried about them looking uneven or smudging.

I'd been considering getting my brows microbladed for a while but was too scared to take the plunge until I came across Nez Hasan - an SPMU artist renowned for creating natural-looking results. While she started off as a microblading artist in 2016, Hasan now offers a range of treatments including powder brows, pigment wiper, areola tattoos, lash liner and lip blush, as well as her Hairgredients treatments.

I visited Hasan at her salon in Kensington, where she assessed which brow treatment would be most suitable for me. We settled on microblading, and Hasan explained the whole process including the need for retouching to keep the SPMU in good condition. Hasan started the treatment by carrying out a series of measurements to work out where to draw my brows so that they were level and equally full - although her aim is always for brows to look natural, rather than perfectly symmetrical and blocky. After checking I was happy with the outline, Hasan used a disposable U-blade with 18 microneedles to place the pigment (Brown 2 from Phibrows) in soft strokes, completing two passes and leaving some on my skin for a pigment bath for a few minutes. Hasan finished off by giving me aftercare instructions and a wipe to use on my brows later on.

I visited Hasan again a few weeks later to top up the pigment; luckily my skin takes pigment really well, so she only had to go over a few areas. As with any SPMU treatment. will need further touch-ups later down the line - most likely in 12 to 18 months.

I've had a lot of different beauty and aesthetics treatments but microblading has to be one of my absolute favourites. Thanks to Hasan's expert hands, the end result is so natural looking that most people can't even tell my brows have been microbladed. I get loads of compliments on my brows and having them microbladed saves me so much time in the morning - l used to draw on brows before leaving the house as mv bare minimum makeup look, but now don't need to!

By Ellen Cummings, Professional Beauty Magazine