It’s true what they say, nothing frames the face better than a beautiful pair of brows. But if like us, you find the constant tweasing, waxing, tinting and shaping all too hard to keep on top of, you need to sit down with Ellie Dunne—girl-boss, all-round angel and founder of one of Perth’s most in-demand new brow studios, Ellie Dunne Collective (EDC).
The luxurious new Claremont salon may have only opened four months ago but with nearly a decade in the industry, Dunne really knows her stuff so no surprise to hear she's pretty much booked solid. Honestly, though, what sets Dunne apart (other than her dazzling personality) is her uncanny ability to work with each client’s natural beauty and dial that up to the absolute max.
Dunne and her talented team offer everything from brow tinting and styling, to brow lamination (which Dunne informed us is hugely popular at the moment), makeup, and even cosmetic tattooing treatments like feather touch and ombre brows if you’re chasing something a little more permanent.
After some back and forth over email, I settled on ombre brows, which is a type of cosmetic tattooing that delivers a powdered look—in other words, it will look like I’ve done my makeup, without having to touch a thing (winning!).
I should point out, I had initially planned to go with the feather touch look as I wanted a natural long-lasting brow, but was advised that with a little bit of an oily t-zone, I’d get the best result with ombre and we could still keep it light and natural. They also gave me some strict instructions around coffee and alcohol leading up to our appointment—it was a no-go for 48 hours before, so keep this in mind when booking your appointment.
From the moment you walk into the dreamy new Claremont salon, you’ll be in awe of the light and airy space, with high ceilings, modern lighting, terrazzo floors, and an aesthetic as hell fit-out. If you’re really lucky, you might even be greeted by a cute lil pupper before a smiling face pops out to meet you. Then after any necessary forms are filled out, you’ll be whisked off to one of the luxe little treatment rooms to get started.
Considering I’ve never had a tattoo in my life, I was feeling a little nervous about the whole tattooing my face thing, but thankfully they talked me through the process, assured me that we wouldn’t tattoo anything until I was completely happy with the shape, and explained how the actual tattooing part would go down, including which bits might hurt a little. Let’s face it, that was the main thing on my mind.
After our chat, they prepped my brows then got to work marking out the shape with extreme precision (I’m talking rulers and everything)—working with each brow’s natural shape and ensuring my sisters (not twins, remember) were on point. We talked through the shape together as we assessed them in the mirror and once I was feeling good, it was time to get started.
The initial layer of tattooing is done without numbing cream, so this is the only part that slightly hurts, but for the most part, I found it just got a little uncomfortable, not overly painful. Don’t worry, they'll check in with you throughout the process so you can always just let them know if you need a break. After the initial layer, a numbing cream was applied before another layer of tattooing to fill those babies in. Over the next hour, we rinsed and repeated this process on both brows and before I knew it, we were done.
Now, I was given full warning that the initial look might be a bit of a shock, but that didn’t stop me from quietly freaking out a little inside when we held up the mirror because they were SO dark. If you find yourself doing the same, try to chill out, I promise it will go down within the week.
For the next week, I followed the post-treatment instructions and laughed at myself in the mirror when I slipped the plastic visor on before my shower—you're not allowed to get them wet so the visor will keep your precious beauties dry when you need to wash your hair. Over the first few days, they started to peel and flake a little, then over the next six to ten days the colour faded to a more natural tone and revealed two picture-perfect brows that were gathering compliments left, right and centre.
I zipped back in at the six-week mark so we could assess how they’d healed and do some minor touch-ups—in case you hadn’t noticed, Dunne’s a bit of a perfectionist. Then another week of healing and we were done for at least 12-18 months. Yep, now I’m walking around with glorious brows, all day every day without having to do a thing. Pretty epic, right?
The whole thing will set you back $750, which may seem like a lot, but given how long-lasting the treatment is, we reckon it's 100 percent worth it. If you’re keen to book a treatment with the beautiful brow angel herself, head to the website and get in touch. If you're still not convinced, scope out the stunning before and afters over on their 'gram.
Now that your brows are on point, check out some of our fave beauty buys for the month.