Unfortunately, I don't have a great update…read more
TL;DR -- I was ghosted for the 6-week microblading touch-up appointment, and now I get to walk around with patchy brows until I heal my heart and learn to trust again. Or whatever Adele said.
I moved forward with microblading and the initial experience was fine, but iffy. The first glaring issue was that the artist (Nhi Tran) completed the brow outline using black stencil. I am unambiguously Black. This didn't seem like the best idea to me, but what do I know? I'm not the professional. However, a coworker came in to take "before" photos and directly asked the artist if she was going to use white stencil, but the artist said she didn't bring any. She only had black. Uh oh.
Mid-appointment, she also announced that she was changing my brows from feathering (as discussed during the consultation with Alyssa) to ombre/combination with shading "because the ink wasn't staying." Sure. Sunken cost. We're already hours in and I'm in pain. Let's get this done. Uh oh #2.
Once completed, the brows were bold, as expected, but they were also uneven, not as expected. Uh oh #3. One brow's strokes rose too high above the brow and the other brow's strokes rose too high AND dipped too low below the brow - photo attached is from 1 week prior vs. the next morning. These were not *super* noticeable issues at all, especially if I didn't stare at them too long or ruminate on the possibility that I paid over $600 to look like who-dunnit. Instead, I focused on the industry standard of a 6-week touch-up appointment to fix these exact issues, and again - they were small imperfections. Not horrific. Fine. They did heal nicely, but patchy, and I was excited for the touch up appointment.
Uh oh #4 today, 12/4: The artist was a no-show for my noon appointment. The building was locked. No one visible inside. No one had contacted me. I waited a few minutes and then called 3 times between 12:04 and 12:10, and I then texted the business number at 12:12. At 12:15, someone called me back and apologized for not answering because "two different people had the business number today" (?). She also told me that my appointment was cancelled because "the artist was sick," and then apologized because she understands that no one communicated that to me. She asked to reschedule a week from now, but I didn't immediately commit. Instead I called back and said I wasn't comfortable scheduling another appointment with the artist, and I requested to speak with the owner, Alyssa.
This is the final uh oh: I was told that owner was not working again until the end of the month. I asked who was managing the business while she was gone because I'd like to discuss a refund for the portion of the service I didn't receive. The person I spoke with said that she and each of the individual brow artists were managing things, but that she would contact Alyssa and ask about the refund. Unsurprisingly, but incredibly disappointingly, she called back a few minutes later and said that there would be no refund, as the way their appointments are computed, the initial microblading fee is for the initial service only, while the "free" 6-week touch-up appointment is a "complementary service." This makes sense, but it contradicts the fact that during the microblading consultation AND at the initial appointment, I was verbally told that the follow-up appointment was "included" (again, an industry standard). I do understand though that if it's not in writing, it does not matter.
Alyssa, I know you don't think of it like this, but this is exactly what "shady business practice" is. You hear stories about business experiences gone wrong and think "wow how horrible! How could a business do that?" and you distance yourself from it in your mind. This is it. You are actively doing it. There are ways to take accountability for errors (even on behalf of your contractors) and make things right with customers who were wronged but are not comfortable putting their face on the line again.
I didn't deserve what happened here. Thankfully I can eat $600+ down the drain. The money's not the issue. The lack of respect is. To the person saving up to make this type of beauty investment in yourself, use discernment and keep searching.
I know LA businesses have this reputation, and the cost of remaining in this beautiful, saturated city is having to take risks with businesses and hope we get lucky with a good experience here and there. So here I am, providing my transparent experience for anyone else to see and make their own decision in whether or not this is the business for them - the exact same way I did.
Threading was fine. Microblading was not. Similar to the other low reviews, in the instance that you're not happy with the services, their willingness to make you whole is limited. Do with this information what you will.
