Your One-Week PMU Checklist: How to Show Up Ready

Most clients spend more time picking a brow shape on Pinterest than preparing their skin — and honestly, the prep matters more. I can work with almost any brow preference, but I can't undo a sunburn, calm skin that's mid-retinol-purge, or fix pigment that didn't hold because the skin wasn't ready. The good news: getting ready takes almost no effort. It's a checklist, not a lifestyle change.

Here's exactly what I tell every client in the week before their appointment, whether we're doing nano brows, powder brows, combo brows, or lip blush. Do this, and we start the session on easy mode.

7 days out: pause the strong actives

This is the big one. Stop retinol, retinal, and tretinoin on the treatment area — at least two months out. The point is keeping them off the procedure area entirely. These products thin and sensitize the outer skin, which means more bleeding during the procedure and patchier healing after. I wrote a whole article on why we ask you to pause retinol if you want the full explanation. Until then: gentle cleanser, plain moisturizer, sunscreen. Boring skincare, beautiful results.

If any of those products is prescription, don't stop it on my say-so — that's a conversation for you and your prescriber first. And keep them away from the treated area until healing is fully done, not just until appointment day.

Brows: stop touching them

The week before your brow appointment, put the tweezers down. I know the urge to "clean them up" before seeing me — resist it. I need to see your natural growth pattern to map a shape that actually fits your face. Over-plucked brows give me less information, and a shape I'm guessing at instead of reading. Same goes for waxing or threading right before your appointment: irritated skin plus a tattoo procedure is a bad combination. Arrive with your brows as they grow, and let me do the shaping.

Lips: start the lip prep (and check one thing)

Three nights before a lip blush appointment, start a simple routine: gently exfoliate your lips, then sleep in a thick layer of Vaseline or a rich lip balm. Repeat each night, and keep balm on during the day. Dry, flaky lips hold color unevenly — smooth, hydrated lips hold it evenly.

The other thing: if you get cold sores, tell us when you book, not the night before. This is a conversation to have with your doctor about an antiviral plan — not something we can advise on, but something we need to know about so we can plan the appointment around it. If you've never had a cold sore, no need to worry about it.

Eyes: ditch the lash extensions and contacts

Getting lash line enhancement? Lash extensions have to come off first — they get in the way, and the adhesive doesn't mix well with a fresh tattoo. Give your lash line a few days to recover after removal. And plan to wear glasses, not contacts, on appointment day and for the first days of healing.

48 hours out: sun, sweat, and alcohol

Two days before, protect the treatment area from the sun — no tanning beds, no long unprotected beach days. Sunburned or freshly tanned skin is reactive skin, and we may have to reschedule if the area is burned or peeling. Keep your normal workouts, but skip anything extreme the day before that leaves your skin flushed and sensitized.

Alcohol is a 48-hour conversation too: skip it the day before your appointment. Alcohol thins the blood, which means more bleeding during the procedure — and more bleeding means less pigment stays where we put it.

The day before: eat, sleep, skip the painkillers

Two rules for the day before: no alcohol, and no painkillers (ibuprofen, aspirin, and the like thin the blood too). I get asked about this a lot — "but won't it hurt more?" We numb the area properly during the appointment; the painkillers would cost you more in pigment retention than they'd save you in comfort.

Otherwise, treat it like a normal day. Eat real meals, drink water, sleep normally. Don't show up dehydrated and running on three hours of sleep — your skin, your pain tolerance, and your patience will all thank you.

The morning of: keep it simple

Eat breakfast — a real one. Nobody enjoys a long appointment on an empty stomach, and lightheadedness and tattooing don't mix. Skip the morning coffee if you can; caffeine makes some clients more sensitive and a little jittery, and steady stillness is what gives you crisp strokes.

Arrive with a clean face and no makeup on the treatment area. No foundation over the brows, no lipstick, no eyeliner — we need to see your real skin tone and texture. If your appointment is for brows or lips, wash your hair the night before, since you'll want to keep the area dry and product-free for the first days of healing.

What to bring (and what to know)

Bring reference photos if you have them — they're a great starting point for the conversation, even if your final shape ends up different. If you haven't signed your consent form yet, there's a link in your confirmation email; signing it beforehand saves chair time.

One honest note: if there's a contraindication you didn't disclose when booking — pregnancy, breastfeeding, certain skin conditions or medications on the treatment area — and we discover it at the appointment, we can't proceed and the deposit policy applies. It's always better to tell us beforehand so we can plan together. Not sure if something counts? Ask. We'd rather have the conversation early than the surprise on the day.

That's the whole list. Nothing on it is hard; all of it makes your appointment smoother and your healed result stronger. When in doubt, the $15 consultation is the perfect place to get your specific situation checked — we map your shape or preview your lip color, answer every question, and if you book a procedure after, $45 goes toward your service. Still deciding between techniques? The one-minute quiz is a good place to start.