Just a few months ago, I would never, ever have entertained the idea of tattooing or etching on my eyeliner. Firstly, with years of experience drawing it on on a daily basis, I could nail an almost-perfect cat flick in a record number of minutes most mornings; and secondly, isn’t this sort of thing reserved for women a few decades older? You know what I mean – your friendly neighbourhood auntie with her heavily tattooed lids that might already be turning a nasty tinge of green or blue, enough to scare us off making our eyeliner permanent.
But then Browhaus introduced their Big Eye Eye Define Treatment, and because so many people are already such big fans of their semi-permanent brow services, I was willing to take a hesitant step to trying it out. The premise is to enlarge the eyes by etching a semi-permanent black line along the upper and lower lash lines, with the upper line drawn on slightly thicker in the middle, so the eyes appear bigger and rounder, and the lashes fuller. That also means shaving precious minutes off your makeup routine – no more having to struggle to make your eyeliner even on both sides.
Some examples from Browhaus of what the Big Eye Eye Define will look like.
So off I went to Browhaus, still with a bit of trepidation in my heart. But I quickly relaxed when we found out that Jason from the Browhaus 100AM outlet would be doing the treatment – he did my brows before and he’s great! – so I would be safe hands (only therapists with at least two years of experience are allowed to perform the Eye Define); plus, the dyes are completely safe, since they’re of 100% vegetable origin. And of course, therapists will be drawing on the proposed eyeliner shape with regular eyeliner first before the etching begins, so I get an idea of what my eyes will look like at the end.
The biggest question that might be burning in your mind right now is… does it hurt? The short answer is: just a little, but nothing that isn’t tolerable for the average pain threshold. Numbing cream was first applied onto my closed eyes, and once the effects kicked in, the needles used to etch on the eyeliner felt like mere tickles on my skin. And when the numbing effect wore off, there was a slight stinging sensation and some swelling, but that went away before the end of the night.
I have hooded monolids, and to fit my eye shape best, Jason opted for a thin line right above my upper lashlines that extended just slightly beyond my eyes, as well as lining the outer half of my lower lashlines. Immediately, my eyes looked bigger and more alert, a very welcome change, since every time I go sans eyeliner, people ask me if I got enough sleep. While the etched eyeliner on my upper lashlines aren’t immediately obvious due to my hooded lids, they added a subtle definition, and the slight flicks were all I needed – the whole point is to still keep my eyes looking natural, after all.
What the Browhaus Big Eye Eye Define looks like on my hooded monolids.
Post-treatment, I had to skip out on eye makeup for a week while my eyes healed. There was very slight itching as the dye scabbed, but otherwise, it was a relatively smooth healing process. And oh boy, all the time I saved in the mornings while I did my makeup; plus no one’s going to ask me why I’m so tired from now, should I choose to head out without eye makeup.
The Big Eye Eye Define is supposed to last three to five years, but there’s a need to go for one Tune Up session after one month has passed and within the first six months of the treatment to keep the results looking tip-top for a long time after. And definitely no ending up with strange bluish eyeliner that just looks unnatural, thankfully. As I’ve come to realise, there’s hardly anything more liberating than being able to skip out on manually lining your eyes… time to throw out my stash of liquid eyeliners maybe?
BROWHAUS Big Eye Eye Define, $856 for the upper eyeline and $107 per eye for a Tune Up maintenance session, to be done within 6 months of treatment. First-time customers get to enjoy a special price of $450 for the Upper Eye Define, valid till 31 August 2016. Available at all BROWHAUS outlets. browhaus.com
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