Guide

Kit or single pencil

The honest split: kits are for building a routine, singles are for replacing one. If the pouch, the pomade, and the liner would all be firsts, the kit at the bar costs less than assembling it piecewise.

If your routine already exists and one tool ran dry, the single pencils carry the newest tips -- the four-fork microblading heads and the non-drying ink systems arrive in singles first.

Watch one number: ratings volume. A kit with thousands of ratings is a settled recipe; a $4.99 single with a few dozen is the bar's experimental menu.