Refreshing brows, lips and eyeliner
Permanent makeup fades. A colour boost every 9 to 24 months brings the shape and tone back before it starts looking patchy, and it costs a good deal less than starting again. From £150.
Why it fades in the first place
Permanent makeup sits in skin that renews itself, which means the pigment is slowly carried out of it. That is by design. Something that genuinely never faded would still be there in twenty years, in a shape that suited you in your thirties.
How fast it goes depends on your skin type, how much sun the area gets and how well you looked after it. Oilier skin fades quicker. Sun fades everything.
Fading is not a fault. It is what stops a brow you chose in 2026 following you into 2046.
A refresh is not a repair. It is the same treatment, done lighter, on work that is mostly still there.
Which one do you need
Top-up appointment, or refresh?
These get confused constantly, and it matters, because one of them is free and the other is not.
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Top-up appointment
Included, 6 to 12 weeks after your first treatment
Part of the original price, not a separate appointment you pay for. It happens once the first treatment has fully healed and it is clear how your skin took the pigment.
Almost everybody has one. Skin takes colour unevenly and there is nearly always something to even out, particularly on lips. If you have not had yours yet, that is what you are due, not a refresh.
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Refresh
Paid, 12 to 24 months later
Maintenance. The shape is still there but the colour has softened, and a refresh brings it back rather than starting over. It is quicker and cheaper than a first treatment because most of the work is already in.
Come back somewhere between 9 and 24 months and you pay the refresh price. Leave it much longer than two years and there may not be enough left to work with, at which point it is a first treatment again at the full price.
Timing
How to know when
Most people know before they book. If you are looking in the mirror wondering, it is probably time.
- The shape has softened at the edges and lost its definition.
- The colour has gone patchy, or lighter in places than others.
- Gaps have opened up at the front, where brows get the most wear.
- You have started drawing bits of it back on in the morning.
Inside two years it is a refresh. Much beyond that and there may not be enough left to work with.
The appointment
What actually happens
Shorter than a first treatment, because most of the work is already in the skin.
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No patch test, usually
If you have been treated before and nothing has changed medically, you will not need another. Iyesha will check when you book.
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A look at what is left
How much colour has held, where it has faded and whether the shape still suits you. Faces change over two years and so do the brows that suit them.
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A chance to change it
A refresh is the natural point to adjust the shape or go slightly warmer or cooler. Plenty of people do. It is easier than you think, because you are working with something rather than from scratch.
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The pigment
Less work than a first treatment, so a shorter appointment. Around two hours rather than three, depending on how much has faded. The included top-up appointment after a first treatment is shorter still, about an hour and a half.
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Aftercare
The same as a first treatment. Shorter healing, because less has been done, but the first week is the same.
Healing
Easier the second time
Less pigment goes in, so there is less to settle. The same stages, all of them milder and quicker.
The full healing detail for each treatment is on its own page: brows, lip blush and eyeliner.
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Days 1 to 3
Darker and bolder than the result, but less dramatically so than a first treatment. There is less pigment going in, so there is less to settle.
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Days 3 to 7
Light flaking. Less than the first time round and it passes faster, but the rules are the same. Do not pick it.
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Weeks 2 to 3
The colour dips and looks lighter than you wanted. Familiar territory if you have done this before.
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Weeks 4 to 6
Settled, and back where it was. Most people find a refresh heals better than their first treatment did, because the skin has been through it once already.
Prices
Priced on how long you have left it
The longer you leave it, the more there is to put back, which is the only reason the two prices differ.
- Refresh at 9 to 18 months
- £150
- Refresh at 18 to 24 months
- £175
The same prices apply to brows, lips and eyeliner. Beyond 24 months Iyesha will look and tell you honestly whether it is still a refresh.
Reviews
Clients who came back
Iyesha is amazing at what she does. I've recently been back for my annual top up and again my eyebrows are perfect, even better than the first time round healed.
This is the 2nd time I've had my eyebrows done with her, the first time they lasted for 3 years. The strokes look so natural, like real brow hairs, and my brows are now fuller, more symmetrical and beautifully shaped without looking harsh or overdone.
After a bad experience with microblading which I found extremely painful, I came to Iyesha to have my eyebrows redone. She is absolutely amazing, the experience was enjoyable and pain free. She corrected the shape and I'm totally in love.
Questions
Before you book
The ones returning clients ask most. If yours is not here, Iyesha would rather you asked than guessed.
What is the difference between a top-up appointment and a refresh?
The top-up appointment is included in the price of your first treatment and happens 6 to 12 weeks later, once it has healed. A refresh is maintenance, paid for, and comes 9 to 24 months after that. If you have not had your top-up appointment yet, that is what you are due and it costs nothing.
How do I know when I need one?
When the shape starts softening at the edges, when the colour goes patchy, or when you find yourself drawing bits of it back on in the morning. Most people know before they book. Somewhere between 9 and 24 months is normal.
What if I have left it too long?
Come in and let Iyesha look. If there is enough left to work with it is still a refresh. If there is not, it is a first treatment again at the full price, which is why coming back inside two years is worth doing.
Can you top up work somebody else did?
Often yes, and Iyesha does a fair amount of it. It depends how it was put in, how dark it still is and whether the shape is one worth keeping. She will look at it and tell you honestly, including if the answer is that you would be better starting again.
Does it take as long as the first appointment?
No. Around two hours rather than three, because most of the work is already in the skin and she is bringing it back rather than building it. The consultation is shorter too, since you both know what you are doing.
Ready when you are
Had them done elsewhere?
Iyesha tops up other artists' work regularly. Send a photograph or come in and she will tell you honestly whether it is worth topping up or better started again.
Or call 07584 560450