BLADE RUNNER

The Queen of Brows celebrity brow expert

Gatsby is home to an array of beauty services ranging from their recently launched Korean Facials to their renowned ‘gatsbyinspired’ hairstyles so when they secured Suman Jalaf to visit from London I nearly got whiplash with how quickly I called to make an appointment.

Sick of non-existent eyebrows that were overplucked in my teens I was prepared to go to extremes to get the on-trend Cara Delevingne look. In the 1990s and Noughties, the global trend in eyebrows leaned towards thin, ‘pointy’ arches. Big brows had gone out of style, so the tendency around the world was to over-pluck. The result? Generations of women lamenting their skinny brows and coveting the arches of Cara Delevingne. Fortunately for us, this is one of the many A-list clients that Suman Jalaf (@ sumanbrows) has in her portfolio.

I’ve always had a difficult relationship with my eyebrows. As a child I had dark hair and something of a monobrow. When I was a teenager, a friend who could no longer stand the sight of two bushy slug-like things above my eyes held me down and plucked them to almost nonexistence. As was the trend, I continued to over-pluck, to the point where large portions of my brows simply stopped growing back.

Fast forward a few years, and I started working in the magazine industry where I was introduced to the concept of filling in my now sparse eyebrows. In my role I’ve been exposed to countless wondrous products claiming to correct my baldy brows, and many of them did - albeit temporarily. The older I get, the more aware I am that having a clean, flattering brow shape is really important to the entire face.

The trouble with drawing them on is that they can look different from day to day, and a wonky brow can destroy even the most fabulous makeup look. And there’s also the fact that when I went makeup free, people got a fright at the sight of me with no brows. I was mortified even going to the gym without drawing them on. It was time for some professional intervention.

I’d heard about semi-permanent brow embroidery from friends in the industry, but when I realised that it was essentially eyebrow tattoos, I initially went off the idea. I was terrified of it all going wrong and the idea of it being painful frightened me - plucking is bad enough! Still, the more I heard about the practice, the more interested I was.

As I rather anxiously walked into the beautifully chandeliered beauty salon my fears were quickly dashed as bubbly Suman talked me through the whole process reassuring me of the results . Furthermore during the treatment we continued to giggle about anything-and-everything making for a truly wonderful experience. She promised to transform my brow shape and density by measuring my facial parameters and drawing a new arch, as well as filling in all my little bald patches. The fact that the entire procedure is done with little needles lined up in a row is daunting, but when I saw her clients’ results, I was 100% in!

The process involves a hand held tool with a microblade in it, dipped in ink. When this breaks the skin the ink settles in to the stroke, so it’s like a semi-permanent tattoo that fades over time. Each brow gets about a dozen strokes with topical numbing cream, and you can hear the scratch of every incision, but, once the cream goes on, it’s far more tolerable.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this treatment has changed my life. I feel like I’ve had plastic surgery, such is the difference to my face. I don’t need to fill my eyebrows in at all, and each little stroke looks like real hair, unlike the powdery, harsh lines I used to draw on myself.

There’s no more smudging or sweating off my brows, but the best part is that for the first time since my teens I look absolutely normal without make-up. I can swim, workout or even just go make-up free without looking like I’ve accidentally shaved off my eyebrows. This treatment has given me the confidence to be seen make-up free.

Thankyou Gatsby for hosting the Queen of Brows and raising a few eyebrows in the beauty industry of Bahrain.

For bookings at Gatsby Beauty Lounge please call 34302020 @gatsbybh