Like many others, I’ve long wanted to have my brows done for two reasons: 1) I wanted my brows perpetually on fleek without having to exert much effort because 2) I hate filling my brows in myself. So when the opportunity to experience brow sculpting presented itself to me, I eagerly took it—knowing that I’d be in the best hands of Ms. Keighty Wong, the brow fairy of Strokes Eye Beauty Studio.
Keighty Wong, the COO of Strokes, is well-known in the industry for transforming the brows of some of our favorite celebrities such as Nadine Lustre, Bela Padilla, Kris Bernal, Saab Magalona-Bacarro, and Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio. But her story began way back when she was a makeup artist for weddings with Strokes co-founder Momoi Supe. At the time, both she and Momoi were already very particular with the way they did their clients’ brows.
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“[As makeup artists], mas precise kami sa brows, mas nanggigigil kami sa brows,” Keighty shared with WhenInManila.com.
Soon after, she stumbled into the world of microblading because of her sister-in-law who had hers done at a local beauty salon. The results had been disastrous! So Keighty and Momoi decided to learn how to do brow shaping themselves and flew to different countries to start their training.
“Kami ni Momoi, we decided to fly to Singapore to start the training,” she said. “Puro self-taught na lang halos ‘yung step-by-step namin. Hindi naman tinuturo sa training ‘yun eh.”
They continued their studies in Asia and in Europe to improve and hone their brow-shaping technique until finally in 2015, the two opened their first Strokes salon which has now expanded to three branches across Metro Manila!
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Keighty notes that she doesn’t have a particular style of brow sculpting as she customizes it according to what she deems would suit the client best while honoring their wishes on how they want their brows to look. She cites Saab Magalona as an example, who had wanted a more natural appearance to her bushy brows. Meanwhile, online influencer Verniece Enciso requested more “made-up” brows.
“Client preference lang talaga,” Keighty said, which attests to the quality of service and the skill of each brow artist in Strokes. She also assures that what they do in Strokes is vastly different from the once-popular eyebrow tattooing which permanently inks “perfect” arches on your brow bone, with the unfortunate payoff of it eventually turning into a greenish color as the years go by. With brow sculpting, which is only semi-permanent, each stroke is blended into your natural brows, filling in the empty spaces to make it look much more complete. “That’s why we call it 3D [sculpting]. Dapat three-dimensional ‘yung itsura. Nag-be-blend siya with your natural brows.”
Truly, brow sculpting is no longer just a job for Keighty but a passion, working tirelessly every single day for the past years, only ever traveling out of the country to train and upgrade her skills (with some sightseeing and shopping on the side). When asked about what keeps her passionate about brows, she said that it’s because she believes in their power in affecting one’s appearance.
“Kasi malaking impact siya when it comes to the face eh! Ang laki talaga. [Brows] can make you an angry person kahit ‘di ka angry. They can make you maldita, they can make you look sad. So important talaga ‘yung shaping. ‘Yung teamwork namin [sa Strokes], importante ‘yun.”
With such dedication and love for her craft, Keighty proves that she’s a master in her own right and you can trust her to transform your brows into the best that they can be.
My experience with brow sculpting
I will preface this by saying that I was not hesitant to have my brows done at all. Some people may be, but I had been wanting to finally get rid of a tedious part of my daily makeup routine, even just for a little while. There was no fear in my body of how my looks would drastically change; after all, I had complete faith in my brow fairy Keighty—and I wasn’t wrong!
I visited their branch in EDSA Shangri-la Mall where I first had a shaping consultation. They asked me how I wanted my brows to look before telling me their recommendation. My brows were then smothered in an anesthetic cream which stayed on for at least 40 minutes. Afterward, I was immediately taken to the treatment room with Keighty who spared no time to work on my brows. (She literally started the procedure the moment I laid down on the bed!)
Because I naturally had enough hair on my brows (not sparse, not at all bushy either), she decided to do a “stranding” technique to fill in the bald areas. The whole process took less than an hour. And nope, it wasn’t painful! The only thing you would feel is the pressure of the blade on your skin and, towards the end of the session when the numbing cream starts wearing off, a sensation akin to ant bites. Though admittedly, I have high pain tolerance, so the experience may be different for you.
Once she was done, she put my head inside this contraption that shines UV light to cure the brows and finish it all up. And that’s it! Here’s a before, during, and after of my treatment:
I was then told that brow sculpting would take two weeks to heal, during which I am not allowed to sweat profusely from workouts, swim, and stay out in the sun for too long. The brows will also darken in the first few days, and then start scabbing, and will require slathering on some healing gel every so often. But I just had to stick it through… until eventually I am left with picture-perfect brows!
I documented how my brows looked every day in the past two weeks and, really, you can see the daily transformation:
Needless to say, I am so in love with how it all turned out! Thank you to Keighty Wong and Strokes Eye Beauty Studio for the great experience.
You can book Keighty’s brow sculpting service through Strokes’ Instagram page or by contacting each of their branches: Strokes Vertis North (09177772259 / 09566770350), Strokes Greenbelt (09177772306), Strokes EDSA Shangri-La (09177771058), and Strokes Molito (09998775115 / 09958458616).
Check out Keighty’s brow portfolio here.
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