What to write in your first message

The message most chats open with

I'm Jisun, the owner of London Brow in Seoul. The first message most brow chats open with is often a single word: hello, or price? I answer those, but they cost us both a round of messages before anything useful happens. A first message that carries the right four things lets me reply with something about your brows straight away, and in a translated chat every round saved matters. This article gives you the four things, a template to copy, and the reason behind each line so you can adapt it.

The reason a short, complete first message works is that my side of the chat always starts the same way. Before I write anything I look at your photo and ask myself what I see: how much hair, where it stops, whether the two brows differ, and whether your sentence matches your photo. If the message gives me the photo and the sentence, I can do that thinking immediately. If it gives me only hello, I have to ask for them first.

Line one and two: the look, and the one change

Line one names what you are interested in. You do not need a technique word. 'Natural Brow' or 'hair strokes' is enough, 'soft combo' or 'strokes with light shading' is enough, 'men's brows' is enough, and 'I am not sure which menu' is also enough. Line two is one sentence about the single thing you most want to change. Not a list. The one thing. 'My front is sparse.' 'My tail stops early.' 'My left brow sits higher than my right.' If you cannot choose one, send the two that bother you most and say which is first.

Here is a way to find line two if it does not come easily. Stand in front of a mirror in daylight with your brows bare and look at them for ten seconds without touching them. The spot your eye lands on first is your line two. People differ in what they notice, and that is exactly why I want your sentence rather than a general request for nicer brows.

Line three and four: your dates and your free days

Line three is your arrival and departure in Seoul, or if you live here, the weeks that suit you. Line four is the days within that window you are actually free, with Sundays left out because I am closed then. We plan the timing together inside your trip, so the more honest line four is, the better the first suggestion I can make. If a change of plan would collide with a flight, say so now rather than later, and we will place the appointment with room around it.

You will notice there is no line for payment, duration or the exact time of day. Those are confirmed in the consultation, and asking for them in the first message gets you the same answer: we will confirm them together once the date is agreed. The price line itself is published and you can read it before you write.

The attachments: two photos, three at most

Attach a photo of your bare brows, taken straight on in daylight, hairs brushed the way you wear them, no filter, relaxed face. That is the photo I design from. If you usually wear brow makeup, attach a second photo with it on, because it shows me the shape you already like living with. A third photo, a reference, is optional; if you send one, write which single part of it you like, the front, the arch or the tail, rather than the whole brow.

Do not send a gallery. Three photos with a sentence each tell me more than fifteen with none, and in a translated chat fifteen photos mean fifteen things I have to guess about. If a spot matters, circle it in your phone's photo editor and send that version.

The template, ready to copy

Consultations at London Brow are translation-assisted over WhatsApp, so plain sentences like these are ideal: 'Hello. I am interested in Natural Brow. The one thing I want to change is my sparse front. I am in Seoul from the 3rd to the 10th and free on the 5th, 6th and 8th. Bare-brow photo and makeup photo attached.' Change the menu, the one thing and the dates, and send it. My reply will tell you what I see in your photo, which days could work and what we will confirm in the consultation. From there it is one more exchange to an agreed date.

Common questions