WORDS NICKY ADAMS / PHOTOS SALINA GALVAN

Simultaneously enhancing and taking years off your face, well-shaped, defined eyebrows have become the ultimate beauty weapon – and there are a million Instagram posts to prove it. With the world’s love of fuller brows growing by the day, for many, microblading has become a must, and for those who have naturally thinner brows, might have mercilessly overplucked in the past or are noticing theirs thinning with age, this treatment has become the answer to a beauty prayer.

Microblading is a technique whereby the eyebrows are semi-permanently drawn onto the face using a tool to which tiny blades are attached. In the hands of a highly trained technician, anaesthetic is applied to the skin and medical-grade ink is implanted using fine strokes. The realistic-looking result is beautiful brows that remain perfectly manicured for up to three years. Rebecca (Reebz) Kuruvilla of Otumoetai’s Kuruvilla Beauty Design has been a practicing beauty therapist for 34 years, and during that time has become well known for her skill and passion for eyebrow shaping. UNO sat down to talk about how, through additional training in the art of microblading, her greatest professional skill has been taken to the next level.

UNO: What drew you to microblading?

REEBZ: I’ve always loved doing eyebrows. Because of my background in the industry, it was important to me to choose the very best microblading course, which is the Phibrows technique, using the highest-quality ink in the world. After this, I completed an additional Perfection course, involving one-to-one training. I found it was a real advantage to know eyebrows before I started and have the knowledge of anatomy and physiology that you learn as a beauty therapist. You have to be able to understand how ink is going to work with different skin types; not everyone can have this procedure done and you’ve got to know who’s compatible. I can assess all of this in my initial consultation.

What does the process involve?

After the initial consultation and pre-care summary, clients return for their first treatment. This takes two to three hours, and then there’s basic aftercare of three to four days – simple things like ensuring you don’t sweat or overheat. A month later, the client comes back to repeat this process. My salon is based at my home in a very private and highly sterile environment that I can control. Having grown up in a family of doctors, this is something I feel strongly about. My parents had a medical practice at the Mount and my brother is a surgeon, so you can imagine how important maintaining good systems and medical hygiene is to me.

What kind of reactions do you get from your clients?

They are really happy to have easy-to- maintain brows that look amazing. I don’t follow trends, I just give back my clients the brows that best suit their face shape. It’s often the shape they had originally had. And now it looks even better.