TESTIMONIAL: Sarah T
I spend no less than 10 minutes per day filling in my eyebrows. Add that up and that's over 60 hours. I knew the insanity had to stop. Not to mention I have a toddler who gives me approximately 5 minutes to get my makeup on in the morning, so efficiency is key. At my last appointment with Dr. Ellis at Gentle Spa (see my separate review of GS, it's the shit) I told him about my eyebrow plight. Dr. Ellis mentioned that some of his other patients had gotten their brows tattooed by Athena (I think the professional term is "permanent makeup"). I trust Dr. Ellis, but I still wanted to check out Athena's reviews. So, I "yelped" her and was thrilled that all of the reviews were amazingly positive. I was, admittedly, a little apprehensive about getting my brows tattooed because I know some people say it hurts really bad and not all my friends who have done this procedure have been satisfied. But, I have 3 tattoos so I figured I could deal with the eyebrows and didn't think that all of Athena's enthusiastically positive feedback could be off. I called Athena on a Monday and she answered her phone immediately. She booked me for that Friday (this past week) at noon! I seriously had no idea what to expect when I ventured into the city for my appointment. First of all, Athena is on the 24th floor of her building with views of North Beach and the Golden Gate Bridge. The lighting in her place is amazingly perfect. Athena was super warm and made me comfy in her stainless steel tattoo shop meets barneys with some lounge-y music playing in the background type of office. Athena talked to me about what I wanted - color, thickness, height of arch, length of brow, etc. She was very thorough and took a lot of pictures each time she outlined my brow as a guide for the ink. Once we settled on the perfect brow she went to work. Athena applies a topical anesthesia so you're fairly numb during the procedure. I was a little worried it would feel just like a tattoo, but it wasn't bad at all. A couple of the brush strokes made me wince a little, but nothing bad. Athena had me check out her progress and involved me in the process. Once she was done and handed me the mirror I almost started crying because she made my brows more symmetrical and the arch was perfect. Seriously, they look freaking great. Athena charges a flat rate for her services and you can get touch-ups as much as you like for a year. I didn't even bother to ask how much it was because I knew she was the best. You'll definitely spend more than other places, but Athena really is an artist and it's your FACE! My brows are healing perfectly and although I don't think Athena will have to tweak anything, she's still called me 2 times already to check on my progress. This morning it took me 90 seconds to do my makeup. 90 SECONDS! My face and my toddler are both indebted to Athena forever!
