I-brow. U-nibrow?

When Cyndi first told me that she was going to get her eyebrows tattooed, I immediately thought:














I remember eyebrow tattoos being quite popular amongst the ajummas in the 90s. I also remember those tattoos being frighteningly bold, as if someoone took shoe polish and schmeared it all over their eyebrows in order to match their conspicuous mauve lip liner.

Cyndi, however, assured me that times have changed and that tattoo artists now design more natural looking eyebrows. In fact, two of her female co-workers had gotten their eyebrows done with much success.

Cyndi's eyebrows are a bit thin and she was tired of filling in her brows with makeup, so she decided to get them tattooed. I, on the other hand, have beastly eyebrows, so was not the least interested in getting my eyebrows tattooed. But I, of course, tagged along anyway to check out his handiwork.

The tattoo artist (who is also a professional makeup artist) asked that I not show his face. I thought it was because he was camera shy, but then Heng informed me that he was operating without a license. This is why I can't give you the whereabouts of his office, but I will say that he is located near Apgujung. He's apparently quite famous.

It's been over a week since Cyndi's appointment and her eyebrows look good. At first, we were all alarmed because immediately after the procedure, Cyndi's eyebrows were a very dark red. She kind of looked like a crazy woman, so she had to hide behind Heng's humongous shades. Her eyebrows remained red for about three days, but soon afterwards, the color begin to flake off. A week later, her eyebrows are very natural looking. If you look closely, you'd think that Cyndi just colored in her eyebrows with a pencil.

The tattoo artist spent a lot of time designing Cyndi's eyebrows in pencil, before he actually tattooed anything. He told her that Americans like their eyebrows on the thin side, while Korean women like their eyebrows a little fuller. (This is very true. Thinly groomed eyebrows are one of the key ways I'm able to identify a fellow gyopo.) He also told us that shorter eyebrows are in these days because it makes your face look smaller. Cyndi decided to go with the more Korean look, so her eyebrows are now fuller, yet shorter.

Cyndi says that the needle doesn't hurt at all, but you may have to go in a few times so that the tattoo artist can ensure that the ink has properly settled onto your skin. The eyebrows tattoos should last about three years are so.

Check out the behind the scenes footage, then let me know what you think of Cyndi's new eyebrows. ^^

(The video features the song "That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings.)


Cyndi gets her eyebrows tattooed from Annalog on Vimeo.