When you think of tattooed-on makeup, two words that probably don't come to mind are "subtle" and "natural." That was my same instinct. At least it was until I met Hibba Kapil, a "browologist" and the owner of Hibba Beauty, a salon in New York City that specializes in brow grooming. Kapil introduced me to the wondrous world of eyebrow tattoos. Yes, I got my brows tattooed. And yes, I'm really glad I did. Here's what you need to know about the process.

For her "brow reformation" service, Kapil relies on a new tattooing procedure that uses a micropigmentation process to deposit ink on the top layer of dermis, resulting in a semipermanent tattoo that last for about a year. The device she uses, which looks like a futuristic silver pen, creates "brushstrokes" that mimic the appearance of real brow hairs.

I have naturally sparse brows, so the idea of not having to fill them in with makeup every morning had obvious appeal. I asked Kapil to give me fuller, shapelier brows that didn't look fake. And she succeeded: I love my new eyebrows. And the idea that I'll never have to touch an eyebrow pencil again (OK, for at least a year) is strangely liberating. But the process wasn't exactly easy. Let me walk you through it.

1. Prepare to be emotionally wrecked. Maybe it's just the drama queen in me (or maybe it's because I've never gotten a real tattoo), but my nerves were out of control when I was on my way to Kapil's salon for my appointment. I knew the brow tattoos wouldn't last forever, but they would last for a whole year. So it was still a pretty big commitment. I couldn't decide whether to be more terrified of the potential pain of the tattoo process or of what the final results would look like. What if I hated them? How much concealer would it take to cover them up if I did? The thought of having botched brows for an entire year made my stomach churn.

When I arrived at the salon, there was little time for an emotional breakdown: Kapil quickly went to work, informing me that the process would take about two hours. She spent the first hour threading my brows and filling them in with a pencil to get an ideal shape that would serve as a template for my tattoos.

2. Prepare to feel numb—physically and possibly emotionally. After Kapil outlined my ideal brow shape, she traced over it with a Sharpie marker and then applied numbing ointment to the area. At that point, I was in such a nervous haze that the permanent marker didn't even phase me. Here's what I looked like with crazy Sharpie'd brows covered with plastic wrap, which helped the numbing ointment sink in:

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While I was numbing up, Kapil custom-mixed ink to get the right shade for me. She uses Intenze, a vegan, glycerin-based ink.

3. Prepare to hate your new eyebrows for a second—and then fall completely in love with them. I couldn't take any pictures of the actual procedure. But I will tell you this: It took only about ten minutes, there was no bleeding, and with the numbing cream, very little pain. It felt like someone was scratching my face—not exactly a horrible sensation but a slightly uncomfortable one.

The really scary part was picking up that mirror and looking at the finished work. I'll be honest, I almost started crying—not because they looked bad, but because they looked so different. Before I could shed a tear, Kapil saw the panic coming and immediately reassured me that the intensity would fade a bit over time. "They're always really dark for the first two days, but in a week, they'll fade to what you'll really want them to look like," she explained. It took me only another ten minutes of stolen glances at myself in the mirror before I started seriously loving my new brows.

4. You'll have to figure out a way to keep your brows dry for a whole week. After a day of reveling in compliments about my new brows—even the pharmacist at CVS asked me for grooming tips—the high started to wear off when I got ready to wash my face that night. Kapil had instructed me to not get my brows wet for a week in order to let the ink fully skin into the skin. Wetting your brows during that time can result in pigment loss, and I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize my new arches.

I used a washcloth to carefully wash my face, avoiding my brow area, and then applied A + D Diaper Rash Ointment on my brows to help them heal, as Kapil had suggested. I somehow survived a whole week of preventing moisture from touching my brows, taking showers with a washcloth over my face and avoiding any kind of strenuous exercise. They developed tiny scabs after about three days (this is a normal part of the process), and I let them fall off naturally. Here's what I looked like five days after getting the tattoos:

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5. Prepare to spend a considerable amount of money. I'm now a firm believer that brow tattoos can change your life. But they also have the potential to change your bank account. Kapil charges $50 for the initial consultation and brow cleanup. The actual tattoo service costs between $400 and $650. Kapil provides a complimentary touch-up after four weeks to observe the results and make any adjustments, if needed. And after eight months, Kapil suggests another touch-up, which costs $250, to correct the fading that can occur from sun exposure.

Would I go through it all again? A million times yes.