Celebrity Wow Brow — Local services in West Orange

I had my first appointment with Maryann today. The office is clean and modern and she was warm and friendly but there were several things that I DID NOT like. When she was creating “my custom color” I had absolutely no involvement in it. I was actually lying down with my eyes closed because she had applied an anesthetic on me a few minutes prior. I explained to her that I had concerns about the color matching properly because I was tanner than usual. She shrugged it off and assured me that it “would be dark at first but then soften up as it heals”. I have had this done before and while that statement is true it does not change the fact that if she chose a color too dark, in the end it will still be too dark for my skin tone. This is why I would have liked to be involved in what is being put on my face.

After the anesthetic had set in she asked me to sit up so she can pencil in my brows to show me where the tattooing would be. When she was finished she asked me to look in the mirror to see what I though. When I mentioned how much different they look from how I normally pencil them in she immediately debated with me saying that “this is a more natural look” and that it was “the natural shape of my eyebrows”. My eyebrows are very sparse and extremely uneven to begin with so I’m not sure where she got that from. And regardless to whether it was a “more natural look” or not, I am paying to get what I LIKE on my face, not her. I must have looked at the mirror for a total of 20 seconds because as I was deciding if I even liked what she had drawn she proceeded to tell me that she didn't “want the anesthetic to wear off”. A very polite way of rushing me into accepting what she had just colored onto my face.

The procedure itself was relatively painless and quick. I did like that she used hair-like strokes instead of completely coloring them in. When it was over I looked in the mirror once more and did not like what I saw. Again, regardless to how much SHE thought they were beautiful and natural I told her that they were still too short for my taste, (which she reluctantly fixed for me) and I noticed that they were still uneven. The shape is off and one is thicker than the other. I may be knit picking here but then again this is something on my face for the whole world to see. Not to mention I am paying $500 for it so why shouldn't I be happy with the end result?! I get a follow-up visit in 8 weeks (which is included in the price) to fix any imperfections.

As of right now I believe her work is worth 2 stars because of how rushed I felt, not to mention the fact that she kept trying to talk me out of my opinions on the look I was going for. If in my next visit she can take her time during the session to listen to my concerns and correct the things that I SEE wrong with it I would be more than happy to give a 5 star rating. But for the moment I am pretty unhappy and wouldn't not recommend this place to anyone. Not everyone has $500...

In the back of my mind and seeing others have it, I always wanted to try permanent eye liner but that is not what I originally went to MaryAnn for. I went to see her for brow microblading as recommended by a few people in the West Orange Facebook group. I have had so many compliments on my brows. They really reframe my face nicely now. MaryAnn uses precise strokes and my brows truly look natural. My hair colorist told me they looked like I filled them in perfectly with pencil but who has time everyday. I said I just wake up and go thanks to MaryAnn. I had a facial with and esthetician who has lots of skincare credentials and she was also amazed about how perfect my brows looked. The bonus was that I found out MaryAnn also does permanent makeup and I would be able to have my eyeliner done. She used a green black color to compliment my eyes without being overly harsh. I also had my lipliner done. When I came back for my lipliner touchup, she felt that my eye liner could have been a bit darker and she fixed them. The first six week touch up is free because MaryAnn really cares about her work. MaryAnn allows plenty of time to numb the area she is working on. You can feel the strokes of the microblading slightly but I was surprised that my eyeliner application was virtually painless. I wouldn't use...

MaryAnn is the true definition of an artist. She is so very knowledgeable in her craft and demonstrates the kind of professionalism, talent and has the utmost confidence in herself and her art that immediately made me feel comfortable and assured that I was in the best possible hands of anyone in this industry Maryann created the colors that would be best for my skin tone, showed me what it would look like. The precise stokes of color made everything from my eyebrows, eyeliner and my lips look so natural, beautiful and flawless. As she was working, she continually explained what she was doing and always made sure to ask if I was comfortable. She is a perfectionist and the end result shows. I've had so many compliments and inquiries as to who was the artist that did my permanent makeup. My simple answer is Maryann Velardi and I wouldn't trust...