How a mum’s Groupon tattoo session went horribly wrong
<p>Microblading has become the latest craze in the beauty world, with the tattoo-procedure mimicking life like hairs to give you the appearance of fuller brows.</p>
<p>And while generally, people walk out quite happy with their new found eyebrows, one woman from Kansas City couldn’t have been more distraught over the final result.</p>
<p>Jami Ledbetter was born without eyebrows, so she was ecstatic when her daughters purchased a Groupon for her to have them microbladed in November. But that elated feeling of happiness didn’t last long as she looked into the mirror and discovered a botched job.</p>
<p>“I would never wish this on my worst enemy,” said the 42-year-old.</p>
<p>“What it’s done to my self-confidence, it’s been hard.”</p>
<p>The $250 voucher was for services by a woman claiming to be qualified in microblading. But that clearly wasn’t the case after Ledbetter’s traumatic experience.</p>
<p>“I was devastated,” said Ledbetter.</p>
<p>“I was even dating a guy, and he stopped dating me at that point.”</p>
<p>The mother-of-three’s self esteem took such a hit that she only left the house for work and grocery shopping. She attempted to cover her new brows with makeup, but her attempts at masking the tattoo failed miserably.</p>
<p>She then went to another woman who told her she could “camouflage” her eyebrows, but after six weeks, the situation seemed to be getting worse.</p>
<p>“It was pretty painful,” said Ledbetter.</p>
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<p>“I tried to have a good attitude, but it burned a lot. It kind of felt bruised.”</p>
<p>It was only when she visited Kara Gutierrez, a licenced and insured tattoo artist who specialises in permanent cosmetics that Jami found relief.</p>
<p>“It took everything in me to hold back tears because this is the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Gutierrez.</p>
<p>“Within 24 hours of a botched job, I can remove the bad brow.”</p>
<p>Ledbetter is currently undergoing a treatment known as Li-ft – a pigment lightening solution that is tattooed into the bad ink, slowly removing the colour in eight-week intervals.</p>
<p>“It’s very unpredictable to how much you can remove, but it works,” said Gutierrez.</p>
<p>The cosmetic artist has growing concerns over the industry, as she claims more and more women are falling into the trap of dodgy tattoo artists.</p>
<p>“Nobody’s governing this,” she said.</p>
<p>“No one is saying, ‘This is the right way. This is the wrong way’.”</p>
<p>She has advised those wanting to go through with the procedure to do plenty of research.</p>
