Combining Brow Lamination with Microblading: Dos and Don’ts

The benchmark for beautiful eyebrows in Los Angeles is arch, fullness, and an effortless appearance. Lots of clients find that the look they desire can be achieved with two very different but very effective treatments: microblading, which Los Angeles artists use to create a permanent structure, and brow lamination, which addresses texture and manageability. 

Microblading improves the thickness and shape versus lamination, intending to create semi-permanent hair-like strokes that give you the structure. Lamination enhances what you have with your natural brow hairs to give them a thicker, fluffier, styled, and shinier look. 

The outcome of this strategic combination brow treatment is a three-dimensional, striking brow that a pencil or gel could never achieve. It’s the highest level of brow enhancement LA clients demand.

But combining these two distinct services requires careful timing and professional expertise. Doing it incorrectly can compromise your microblading results or irritate your skin. This guide from Belris outlines the precise 'Dos and Don’ts' for safely achieving this advanced brow transformation.

Why Both Treatments Are Better Together

Why are so many clients choosing to combine permanent makeup with a chemical texture treatment? Simply put, they offer complementary results that solve different problems:

1. Microblading: The Permanent Foundation

Microblading utilizes processes to create hair-like strokes of pigment underneath the skin's surface. This allows for filling in areas that are sparse, the shape of arch, and the tail and overall shape of the brow. Once healed, this structure is smudge-proof and water-proof. It solves issues of patchiness and poor shape, giving you the perfect blueprint.

If you’re wondering how microblading performs on different skin types, explore our detailed guide:
Microblading for Different Skin Types: What LA Clients Should Know

2. Lamination: Adding Texture and Volume

Brow lamination works on the surface of your natural hairs. It applies a softening chemical solution to the brow hairs to be brushed and set in an upward, uniform direction. Instantly adding visible volume, taming unruly brow hair growth and creating that trending, brushed-up, fluffy look. Lamination solves issues of thin or downward-growing hairs that microblading cannot fix alone.

When you bring these two together, the combination brow treatment provides the depth and density of permanent pigment (microblading) layered with the lift and fluffiness of perfectly styled hairs (lamination). It’s a dynamic, fully realized brow.

Want to know how brow lamination helps when brows are sparse or thin? Don’t miss:
Brow Lamination for Thinning Brows: Tips for a Fuller Look

Essential Rules for Timing and Healing

The most common client inquiry is: Is it permitted to laminate brows following microblading? The answer is absolutely yes; however, the timing of the treatment is instrumental. Microblading work breaks the skin barrier, and lamination deals with the use of strong chemical solutions. You always want to allow the skin sufficient time to heal 100%.

1. The Healing Rule: Wait Until Full Settlement

Never get lamination done on fresh or partially healed microblading. The chemicals used during lamination soften the hair bonds and may irritate the fresh pigment, cause swelling, or worst case scenario: pull the color out unevenly.

• Healing Time: Please allow a minimum of 6-8 weeks after your last touch-up time to promote full pigment settling, skin healing, and deeper layers healing and settling so the skin does not react to the lamination solution.

2. The Smart Schedule: Lamination First?

A more straightforward approach, especially for those new to both services, is to get your brow lamination done before your microblading session.

• Lamination First: Laminating the brows first allows your natural hairs to be styled into their final, lifted position. Your microblading artist can then use this newly defined, fuller shape as the precise template for placing the permanent hair strokes. This ensures the pigment seamlessly blends with your lifted natural hairs, optimizing the final shape.

• Wait After Lamination: If you choose this order, you only need to wait two weeks after lamination before proceeding with microblading.

Curious which brow shape complements your face best before you start lamination? Learn more in:
Brow Lamination for Different Face Shapes – LA Guide

Professional Dos and Don’ts for Long-Term Care

To be able to combine lamination and healed microblading successfully, the client has to be diligent at home and the artist has to be meticulous in the studio. 

Dos for Combining Lamination and Microblading:

• DO Communicate Your History: Always inform your lamination artist that you have microblading. This allows them to adjust the processing time of the solutions. Post-microblading brow care tips include advising your artist to apply a protective barrier (like petroleum jelly) directly over the pigmented skin before applying the lamination solution to minimize pigment contact.

• DO Focus on Hydration: Both treatments can be drying. Once the lamination is complete (and you've passed the 24-hour mark), apply a high-quality, professional-grade brow conditioning oil daily. Hydration is key to keeping both your natural hairs (from lamination) and the pigmented skin (from microblading) looking their best.

• DO Maintain the Cycle: Schedule your lamination every 6 to 8 weeks to maintain the lifted effect. Your microblading refresh appointments, however, should only occur every 12 to 18 months, as needed. Keep these two schedules entirely separate.

Don’ts for Combining Lamination and Microblading:

• AVOID Ignoring Redness or Peeling: If your combination skin is still sensitive, and the scabbing or peeling persists, even after the full 8 weeks, please delay the lamination appointment. Your skin must be completely intact and without flakes.

• Avoid Aggressive Skincare: once a lamination treatment is completed, do not use any strong exfoliating agents, such as retinoids, glycolic acid (AHAs), or mechanical scrubs in or around your brows - this will cause premature fading to the microblading pigment.

This experience is based on the safe combination of lamination and microblading to extend the life of your semi-permanent investment and maximize the daily styling benefit of the lamination service.

Your Next Step to Perfect Brows

Achieving the perfect brow enhancement LA look—defined, dense, and beautifully lifted—is entirely possible when you respect the healing process and work with skilled professionals.

Here at Belris, our skilled artists are experts in lamination of healed microblading brows as well as layering the treatments to produce the optimal result. We use every precaution to preserve the integrity and health of your original brow hair and skin so that your combination treatment will yield the dramatic, long-lasting effect you're seeking.

Ready for the most fabulous sculpted brow ever? Book your private consultation and treatment today.

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