Hairstrokes are a staple of the PMU industry. With this being said, it is essential for an artist to understand which equipment, procedure, and style will suit them best for this procedure. This procedure is the most popular PMU procedure because they provide the client with a natural, no-makeup look. Whereas powder brows will leave the client with a more dramatic, soft makeup look.
When recommending a procedure to a client, there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Skin type on the Fitzpatrick scale
- Retention
- Skin Maturity
- Durability of the procedure
Ultra-Thin/ Hypersensitive (Type 1)
- Very thin skin
- Invisible pores on eyebrows
- Susceptible skin conditions and bleeding
- Hypersensitive to treatments
- Thin epidermis layer
- Pink undertone
Thin/ Non-Sensitive (Type 2)
- Very small pores
- Thin, non-sensitive skin
- Fair Skinned
- Susceptible to bleeding
Medium (Types 2-6)
- Small pores
- Not susceptible to bleeding easily
- Medium sensitivity
Thick (Types 2-6)
- Large pores
- No specified sensitivity
- No specified susceptibility to bleeding
- Oily skin
Understanding your clients’ skin type and thickness is important as it will guide you to know what to expect from the results of the procedures, as well as which products to use.
Skin thickness will determine which machine you should use for the pigment to penetrate the skin properly. Some areas of the skin are thinner or thicker than others. Proper needle depth can be determined by taking note of bleeding and good pigment retention in between your passes.
Powder brows are a great procedure for those with oilier skin as that skin type can often cause pigments to move which won’t be as notable with powder brows compared to that of hairstroke. Hairstrokes will be created with thinner strokes to give off that perfect natural look. Although hairstrokes are preferred on drier skin, the final product may not be completely clean and precise. Hairstrokes will last the client a long period of time and is suitable for older skin.
There are no specific stroke sizes that are directly recommended for either procedure since most artists have personal preferences according to their style. When creating hairstrokes, most artists use small stroke machines at a low voltage speed. Meanwhile artist who create powder brows, often use a higher voltage speed with a higher stroke, since pigment will penetrate the skin easily and in turn, require less passes and avoid trauma to the skin.
Microbeau Recommendations
Hairstroke Machines: The Flux Mini, Bellar and Spektra Xion S
The Flux Mini - Cordless, lightweight, 2.5 cam
The Bellar - Corded, lightweight 2.1 cam (First Edition Bellar)
The Spektra Xion S - Corded, dual cams - 1.8 & 2.5
Powder Brow Machines: Bellar V2, Xion Mini
The Bellar V2- Corded, 2.7 Cam (Second Edition Bellar)
The Xion Mini - Corded, 2.5 Cam
The Flux Mini- Cordless, lightweight 2.5 cam
The FluxS- Cordless, larger than the Flux Mini, 3.0 cam.
All Microbeau's corded machines work well with the Airbolt Mini.
