Woman’s Microblading Procedure Ends In Disastrous ‘Monster Brows’

A Michigan woman was horrified when her routine microblading procedure went terribly wrong, leaving her with “monster brows” that are nothing like what she hoped to achieve. While she’s spoken out against the salon that performed the procedure, the owner stands behind her work. Oh dear.

  1. Shannon Bozell paid $350 for microblading. In October 2019, Bozell went to Merle Norman in Kalamazoo, Michigan for the eyebrow tattooing procedure, where salon owner Anne Hicks went to work.
  2. Bozell hoped to correct the damage she caused by overplucking. According to CBS Austin, Bozell was guilty of overplucking her brows when she was younger, leaving her with nearly no hairs to work with. She hoped Hicks would help her out but was unhappy from the minute Hicks was done, believing the brows to be “too boxy, too dark and ill-suited to her face.”
  3. She’s had to change her whole appearance to conceal them. Bozell says she’s had to dye her hair and cut in bangs to conceal Hicks’ shoddy work. She admitted that she feels embarrassed to go out in public because of them since people look at her strangely. “I went from having zero eyebrows to having these monster eyebrows, and it’s hard to swallow,” she said. “They’re big caterpillar eyebrows that don’t fit my face.”
  4. The salon originally tried to correct the problem. After Bozell reached out, Hicks set another appointment to lighten the color as well as to create a bit more of an arch. Bozell was initially pretty happy with the minor improvement, but it wasn’t long before things went from bad to worse. “I felt better when I left. I took a few pictures, and they were lighter. I did not realize in 24 to 48 hours, I was going to have two very large blisters,” she recalled.
  5. Hicks is washing her hands of any responsibility. After Bozell sent in photos of her blisters, Hicks sent her aftercare instructions but claimed she didn’t know the blisters in the photos were actually blisters or if they were caused by Bozell not taking care of them properly. “I stand by the work that I did when she left, and I stand behind the fact that I told her in detail what the process could be and what the process was,” said Hicks.
  6. Bozell eventually had to seek a second opinion. While Hicks eventually asked Bozell to come back in for yet another appointment, Bozell went elsewhere since she wanted the brows removed rather than messed with anymore and Hicks isn’t licensed to do that work (and I’m not sure I’d trust her anyway after the work she did here). The removal process can take up to six treatments and at $150 a pop, that can get pretty pricy.
  7. Hicks has refused Bozell’s refund requests. Hicks says she doesn’t do refunds and that she drew diagrams on Bozell’s face before she got started to show what the brows would look like anyway. However, Bozell says that while she did indeed proceed after seeing the diagram, she was never clear on what she was seeing anyway. “I still don’t really understand it when I look at the pictures. There’s a lot going on in the face diagram. I was able to look at it, I did agree to it. I didn’t specify. I should have,” she said.
  8. Hicks attacked Bozell on Facebook. Saying that she felt like her business was in danger, Hicks defended the salon on Facebook and even went so far as to reveal that Bozell was a recovering drug addict which had nothing at all to do with the microblading procedure and was incredibly inappropriate. She later deleted the post but insists she was “backed into a corner” and felt justified in making the attack. “It means everything to me. This is my everything. I don’t take it as a joke. I take what I do very seriously,” Hicks said. “I tried many times to get her [Bozell] to come into my studio so I could make this right with her, and unfortunately that never happened.”

 

Bolde has been a source of dating and relationship advice for single women around the world since 2014. We combine scientific data, experiential wisdom, and personal anecdotes to provide help and encouragement to those frustrated by the journey to find love. Follow us on Instagram @bolde_media or on Facebook @BoldeMedia
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