Is Vitamin C fading your microblading?

If you’ve spent any amount of time researching skincare or anti-aging, you’ll know that Vitamin C is an important ingredient in your anti-aging routine, and a key to maintaining a glowing, smooth, and even complexion. More often than not, one of the key benefits that people use Vitamin C for is skin brightening. 

However, Vitamin C is acidic, and while it has numerous benefits, it also has one major downside that is often not discussed. 

What is Microblading

If you’ve ever microbladed your eyebrows, Vitamin C will do exactly what it’s designed to do on skin – it will light it. But in the case of microblading, it will fade your very expensive procedure.

Microblading is a cosmetic procedure that etches, hairlike strokes using a scalpel-like device (“needle”) directly onto your skin by inserting pigment under your skin through the use of a needle, creating well-defined natural looking eyebrows . Results can last from a year to 24 (or more months), depending on your skin type, lifestyle, and how often you get touch-ups.

According to most experts in the beauty industry, microblading continues to grow as a semi-permanent makeup treatment solution (especially for those of us that overplucked our brows in the 1990s). Not only is it a fast (although not cheap) beauty solution that doesn’t require any surgery, it simplifies your beauty routine. 

But it can be pricey. Depending on where you live and who you go to, microblading can range between $250-$800 per session. Touch-ups cost less if you go to the same esthetician, but it’s not uncommon to have to pay for an entirely “new” procedure every few years. That can get pricey. 

And let’s face it, this is your face and most of us aren’t willing to economize on permanent procedures like microblading, so we’ll end up paying closer to $800 than $250. My first microblading session cost $850 (although that did include the tip). 

Why Microblading Fades

Microblading pigments can either come from organic (think fruit or vegetables sources). These can be referred to by professionals as “lake pigments”. Pigments can also be inorganic (think iron oxide and chromium oxide) metal-based compounds, which tend to last longer.

No matter which type of pigment is used, unlike tattoos, which involve inserting the ink into the skin’s dermis, microblading pigments are inked on the epidermis (your uppermost layer of skin), which allows the pigment to fade. 

This is why even though some people refer to microblading as permanent and a tattoo, it is actually a semi-permanent solution. 

And this is the only reason I had my procedures – I wanted the safety net of knowing that it wasn’t permanent, in case something went wrong and I was stuck for the rest of my life with badly tattooed eyebrows.

I’ve had my eyebrows microbladed several times, by various estheticians, but what I found surprising, is that not one of them asked me about my skincare regiment, or what products I used.

Because I had not had a skincare routine, I didn’t know to even ask if I should avoid any products or ingredients. As I started using Vitamin C in the last 2 years, I have noticed that my microblading is fading faster than it had in previous years. I use ascorbic acid more than any other product in my routine, and it’s likely the reason that my microblading fading has accelerated.

Skin Brightening (in other words, fading) Effects of Vitamin C

There are a lot of factors that can affect the lifespan of microblading, but one of them is the skincare products we use, especially a strong, clinically proven, and one of the most popular brightening ingredient – Vitamin C. 

Vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble antioxidant vitamin used topically to exfoliate and brighten skin. It’s also used to improve skin texture, hydrate the skin, and several other wonderful benefits that we won’t get into here. For the purposes of this post, think skin brightening. 

How does it do this? As the simplest definition, it neutralizes free-radicals, which come from the external environment (smog, smoke, pollution, sun) around us and damage our skin. It also accelerates the production of collagen and elastin to make skin tighter and firmer. 

According to a 2017 review, Vitamin C has been shown to slow melanin production, which is the pigment responsible for skin color. This can lead to helping to reduce dark spots and fade hyperpigmentation. 

Vitamin C penetrates under the skin. Once it has penetrated, as it’s acidic, this can cause the pigment, which is inserted on the uppermost layer of skin (not deep into the dermis), to break down and fade faster. As microblading is supposed to fade as your body breaks down the pigment and metabolize it out of your system, applying Vitamin C directly on top of the pigment, will speed up that process.

It is important to note that some estheticians claim that you only need to avoid Vitamin C (or other acids) during the healing process and claim that according to their experience, Vitamin C doesn’t affect the microblading if applied after the brows are completely healed. Some people that have had the procedure have reported that they haven’t noticed any premature fading. So, there is no definite proof that Vitamin C will fade microblading. 

At the very least, because Vitamin C penetrates the skin, it will probably cause discoloration of the pigment.

Of note too, is that if you search for solution to fade a badly botched microblading procedure, most of the advise given includes applying various acids, including Vitamin C, onto the eyebrows to speed up the breakdown process.

Which Products to Avoid

If you don’t want to take a chance on your microblading fading, it is generally better to avoid directly applying most products that are anti-aging on your brows, as they all will have acidic ingredients. 

And again, while this post focused on Vitamin C, it’s a good idea to avoid any lotions, cleansers, or serums that have acids in them. 

When applying these products, it’s good practice to go above the eyebrow and make sure that the products don’t touch any of the pigment.

Conclusion

Vitamin C can affect your microblading and cause premature fading, or at the very least, discoloration. Try to avoid applying it directly on the eyebrows, especially during the healing process.

Always consult your microblading technician and check with them about the skincare products that you regularly use. 

Do you think Vitamin C is fading your microbladed brows? Let us know in the comments!