Are Nano Brows Worth It? (Nano Brows Cost)

Some of my friends were getting their eyebrows microbladed and raving about the results. I didn’t want to succumb to peer pressure but wanted to look less tired after 2 kids under 6 has aged me 10 years. I looked into nano brows instead of microblading because I have some keloid scarring after my pregnancy. Getting your eyebrows done is not cheap, but are nano brows worth it?

There’s nothing like women approaching middle age, who have some money saved up, and are looking for ways to improve or at least somewhat maintain their appearance. Can you say “cha-ching” for the beauty industry? The beauty industry generates $100 billion in annual revenue worldwide, according to Statista. The average woman spends $313 per month on her appearance, or over $3756 per year.

Here’s a look at what nano brows are, the differences between nano brows and microblading, the cost of nano brows, and what the healing time is like so it can help you answer ‘are nano brows worth it’ for you.

What are Nano Brows?

Nano brows are also called nanoblading.

Nano brows is a form of cosmetic tattooing to mimic the look of eyebrow hair strokes, so you don’t have to draw in your eyebrows or apply brow powder every day.

How long is the nano brow appointment? The appointment takes about 4 hours, the first hour and a bit is just measuring and drawing in the eyebrow shape, then the actual tattooing process begins.

I was worried that nano brows would be painful since I’ve never had any sort of tattoo done before. Thankfully, it’s not painful but it feels kind of like a prickling and buzzing sensation. A numbing gel is applied after the first pass of the machine so that you don’t feel anything.

The eyebrows might feel a little itchy and tight during the healing stage, but you can apply a moisturizer (usually provided by your brow artist) to help soothe the itch and irritation.

Are nano brows permanent? Nano brows are not permanent, they do eventually fade over time.

Nano Brows vs Microblading

What are the differences between nano brows and microblading? Microblading is definitely more popular and well known compared to nano brows.

Nano brows are done with a machine and small tiny dots to look like lines are put on your skin with a small needle.

Microblading is a manual tool with a thin blade that is dragged through the skin and the pigment is inserted into the tiny cuts.

Nano brows lasts longer than microblading, nano brows last between 18 months to 3 years and microblading lasts about 18 months, however, the nano brows pigment does fade faster than microblading.

Nano brows are considered more gentle for your skin compared to microblading because there is less trauma to the skin, the needle is finer and more pliable and therefore there is less chance of scarring.

Nano brows are more suitable for you if you are prone to keloids (but you should definitely get a patch test first before you start because the last thing you want is keloids on your eyebrows) or scarring, or if you have oily skin.

Here is a great summary of the differences between nano brows and microblading.

Nano Brows Cost

What is the cost of nano brows?

The nano brow session that I got was $500 not including taxes and tip.

This price can vary though. You want to go to a reputable artist, you don’t want to cheap out on your face.

After that there is a touch up visit within the first 2-6 months, which costs another $150.

So the total cost for the first 2-3 years is around $650 plus tax and tip (or more if you want to get a touch up before then).

Nano brows are known to be a little more expensive than microblading. I wonder if it’s because there aren’t as many technicians available who do nano brows compared to microblading.

My friends’ microblading cost around $500.

Nano Brows Maintenance

A touch up is recommended after you first get your nano brows, anywhere between 2-6 months after your nano brows. This is because pigment loss occurs when you heal, and can be up to 50% of the initial pigment. The touch up won’t take as much time and won’t cost as much as your initial nano brow appointment.

The healing process for the touch up is similar to your initial nano brow procedure but it will be accelerated and not as pronounced.

The touch up can help define your eyebrows further (for example, if you want it darker or if there were some patchy areas that did not show up as dark as you’d like).

After that nano brows can last up to three years but it is recommended to do a touch up as the pigment fades in about 18 months to two years.

Nano Brows Healing Process

What is the nano brows healing process like? It is similar to microblading.

Here’s the nano brows day by day healing process:

• Day 1: Your eyebrows will look great
• Day 2 to 5: Your eyebrows may seem too thick and dark
• Day 5 to 10: They will start flaking and looking patchy (dark and lighter spots with scabs coming off- you’re not supposed to pick them off as tempting as it may seem because this will affect the ink retention)
• Day 10 to 21: The eyebrows will seem too light (your new skin is growing over the pigmentation that’s why it seems lighter)
• Day 21 to 30: The colour comes back and you should be happy with the results
• Schedule touch up between 2-6 months

Full healing time for nano brows is about 4 weeks.

From days 2-5 I definitely freaked out and thought what have I done, they are so dark! I look like Charlie Chaplin. My kids couldn’t stop looking at my eyebrows and giggling, haha. Here are my too dark eyebrows- this is day 3.

This healing process timeline seems not that believable but it really does happen and the nano brows that you get done do follow the timeline quite accurately.

Are Nano Brows Worth It? (Verdict)

So are nano brows worth it?

Well, the eyebrows can really frame the face. And us geriatric millennials can’t really reverse the over zealous plucking of our eyebrows from the 2000’s thinner brow look.

A woman’s beauty routine can get expensive. Even though the $500 to $650 cost may seem like a lot of money up front, over three years that’s less than $200 a year. I think that nano brows give more “bang for the buck” for your appearance compared to other beauty treatments such as eyelash extensions.

For example, I know a lot of friends who have eyelash extensions. Eyelash extensions are around $120 (plus tax and tip) each time and they only last about three weeks maximum before you have to go back and refill them.

A refill is around $70. Some eyelash extension technicians recommend you get another full set (e.g. the $120 extensions) after two refills.

That’s 17 times you have to go get eyelash extensions in a year and six of those times are for a full set which is $720 and and the refills amount to $770. That’s almost $1500 not including tax and tip EACH YEAR. This isn’t counting the numerous hours wasted of your precious time for these appointments.

That’s a lot of maintenance and a lot of time and money.

So yeah, I think nano brows are worth it, there’s minimal maintenance and over a few years it isn’t that much money.

Have you ever had your eyebrows “done”?

Are nano brows worth it for you?

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