Written by Pia Velasco, Senior Beauty Editor in New York with over 10 years of experience in the industry. She executes InStyle's beauty coverage through a series of celebrity interviews, reported pieces, trend analyses, and more. Previously, she worked as a beauty editor for other national magazines.
There are a few things you need to know about me. For starters, I like to seem put-together. However, in reality, I’m incredibly lazy and low-maintenance, so any treatment that’ll help me roll out of bed looking fantastic is something I’m going to do. And considering that brows are the frame of the face, I always pay close attention to them.
As such, microblading was an obvious choice for me. The semi-permanent treatment involves tattooing hair-like strokes onto your skin with micro-thin blades to help step up your brow game. While it’s absolutely worth it, the aftercare can be quite uncomfortable.
Manhattan-based permanent makeup artist and founder of Delphine Eyebrow Couture, Delphine Breyne, shares that people will likely experience itchiness during their first stage of healing. Then, after about a week, scabs and flaky skin may start to appear. She urges people to keep their brows dry for a full week, as it's vital for aftercare.
This can feel almost impossible when your brows are itching, but thankfully, there’s a product that can help speed up recovery and reduce discomfort.
I’m talking about the Avène Cicalfate+ Hydrating Skin Recovery Emulsion.
It’s a true miracle cocktail, and Breyne agrees.
“I think it’s a great solution to help microblading and the initial aftercare — it is soft and delicate with a light texture that I like,” Breyne says. “Without a doubt, it helps the healing process be much smoother and easy.”
While Avene is widely celebrated for its super-sensitive formulas, this particular product takes the cake for use alongside any post-superficial dermatological procedures — like microblading and tattoos — thanks to the emulsion’s benefits that hydrate and restore the skin.
Because mircroblading recovery involves keeping your brows dry for the first seven days, this type of product is perfect for post-treatment care. To help moisturize the area and avoid itchiness, Breyne recommends using a special ointment, such as Avene's, once or twice a day on the brows to properly address this need.
Bonus tip: always use a Q-tip for sanitation reasons.
Following Delphine Breyne's instructions, I started applying Avene's Skin Recovery Emulsion to my skin during my first week of recovery and felt immediate relief. The formula goes on thick but blends into my pitch-black eyebrows seamlessly — it was completely invisible. This was the second round of microblading I've had done, and I can say with full confidence that this product helped relieve my discomfort and sped up my healing time tenfold. I’ll never get microblading again without it.