A single mother-of-three has revealed she was dumped by the man she was dating and was embarrassed to leave her home after a botched microblading treatment left her with four eyebrows.
Jami Ledbetter, 42, from Kansas City, Missouri, told WDAF-TV that she was initially excited when her daughters bought her a $250 Groupon for the treatment last November because she was born without eyebrows.
However, the discounted microblading session went horribly wrong, and she ended up with four brows instead of two. Not only did the end result shatter her self-confidence, but it also led to the demise of a romantic relationship.
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Horrifying: Jami Ledbetter, 42, from Kansas City, Missouri, was left with four eyebrows after a botched microblading treatment
Before: She was excited when her daughters bought her a $250 Groupon for microblading treatment because she was born without eyebrows. She is pictured before the treatment
‘I would never wish this on my worst enemy. What it’s done to my self-confidence, it’s been hard,’ she said of her uneven, stacked brows.
‘I was devastated,’ she added. ‘I was even dating a guy, and he stopped dating me at that point.’
Microblading simulates the appearance of hair using deposits of semi-permanent pigments under the first layer of skin, creating a bolder and natural-looking eyebrow.
Prices vary by location but can cost up to $1,000 for the first treatment. Although it is not permanent, the end result can last anywhere between one and three years.
Ledbetter believed the $250 Groupon was for a session with a woman who was ‘certified’ in microblading, but the treatment isn’t regulated in her home state of Missouri.
Yikes: Ledbetter believed the $250 Groupon was for a session with a woman who was ‘certified’ in microblading, but she was horrified by the end result (pictured)
Disaster: The mother-of-three was left with four brows after seeking out a woman who said she could ‘camouflage’ them
The mom said she only went to work and the grocery store after the treatment because she didn’t want people to see her botched brows.
She tried covering them up with makeup to no avail; she also sought help from a woman who claimed she could ‘camouflage’ them, but they just ended up looking worse.
Ledbetter was eventually referred to Kara Gutierrez, a licensed tattoo artist who owns the salon Spot On Beauty in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Gutierrez specializes in permanent cosmetics, including tattoo removal, and she was stunned when she saw Ledbetter’s badly botched brows for the first time in February.
Expert: Ledbetter (right) was eventually referred to Kara Gutierrez (left), a licensed tattoo artist who has been removing her brows using a pigment lightening solution
Reaction: When Gutierrez first met with Ledbetter in February, she almost cried because her botched brows were the ‘worst’ she has ever seen
Price: Ledbetter’s brows are looking better, but the full removal procedure will cost her at least $1,000. She said she would have never tried the treatment if she had known the end result
‘It took everything in me to hold back tears because this is the worst I’ve ever seen,’ she told WDAF-TV.
She has been using Li-ft, a pigment lightening solution, on Ledbetter’s brows to remove them. The solution is tattooed into the ink and creates scabs that are removed in eight-week intervals to pull out the pigment.
Although her eyebrows are looking much better, Ledbetter will have to see Gutierrez two or three more times before they are completely removed.
The full removal procedure will cost her at least $1,000 — four times the price of her initial microblading treatment.
‘If I would have known it was going to turn out like this, I probably would’ve never done it at all,’ Ledbetter admitted.
The unnamed woman who performed the botched microblading is reportedly no longer in business.