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Microblading seems like a great idea… in theory. It’s the technique of semi-permanently tattooing your eyebrows on, generally to make your brows seem fuller. Trust me, these aren’t your great aunt’s tattooed, blue-tinged eyebrows (you all know what I’m talking about). Microblading is generally done by a professional, who,  through the magic of tattooing, is able to create the natural looking brows of your dreams. 

The reason I’m not currently rocking semi-permanent eyebrows and why many other women also choose not to is because of the risk involved. Just like with virtually any procedure, there is a chance that things might not go as planned. Unfortunately Amanda Coats, a single mother from Melbourne, Australia, is the perfect example of this. In a lengthy Facebook post, Coats explained that she noticed from the moment she arrived to get her brows done, her technician wasn’t acting professionally. “[She] was very rushed, going in and out of the room attending to other clients during my procedure, and also doing another eyebrow tattoo at the same time — she did not put new gloves on each time which does not keep things sterile.” 

Its important to note here that whenever you feel uncomfortable in a situation such as this, let your technician or a manager know. Speak in a polite (yet firm) way that you are unhappy with what is occurring. Not only are you are paying customer, but you’re the one who has to live with the end results, so make your concerns heard! 

According to the DailyMail Australia, the next day Coats woke up in pain, and phoned the salon right away too voice her concerns. “’I rang her straight away and said skin was coming off and she put it down to color fading.” The symptoms and pain continued, and Coats experienced swelling and pus coming out of her eyebrows. 

Coats did not give up, and continued to contact the salon through every available method to inform them of the issues that were occurring due to the microblading. She alleged that they “did not care.” Eventually, Coats needed to seek medical help, and claims the doctor had to prescribe her antibiotics, antibiotic cream and steroids. 

The salon, however, tells a different story. The owner says that Coats did not contact them about the infection until two and a half weeks after the microblading took place. “There’s no way we could be possibly responsible for the infection at that stage, two and a half weeks after the procedure. My wife has done over 2,000 of these procedures, and we’ve never had any issues of infection. We’ve been unable to defend ourselves, and we are taking action against Amanda for defamation and that’s in the process of being issued.” 

It has been reported that both parties have sought for legal representation. Lets hope that this gets solved … and that this story hasn’t completely deterred you from the prospect of microblading your brows! 

Amanda is a National Intern, Style and Beauty Blogger and a Chapter Advisor for Her Campus. She is doing a double major in criminology and sociology at Western University. She is a proud member of Alpha Gamma Delta - Zeta Chi chapter, and makes 99% of her decisions based off of WWEWD (what would Elle Woods Do?). Follow her on instagram @amanda_h_jones, and listen to her talk about makeup *a bit* more than usual at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m-7cOzh_oI&t=237s