Lip Tattoos:

Lip Tattoos:

What Is Lip Blushing?

Lip blushing is a semipermanent makeup tattoo designed for your lips, which allows you to enhance your natural color and shape, or camouflage some minor corrections like asymmetry, scarring, or hyperpigmentation. "As we lose collagen and elasticity in our skin, we lose shape, and the color starts to disintegrate into our skin," said Kondratyev. (Source:

I Got a "lip Blush" Tattoo for the First Time — and the Results Are Life-Changing

For as long as I can remember, I've been constantly wearing lip color: to the grocery store, to school, to the gym — everywhere. The only time of day I didn't was when I was sleeping. With my extremely pale skin and light features, without a brush of color on my lips I felt like a corpse whenever I looked in the mirror. So in an effort to look, um, alive, lipstick became my daily sidekick. (Source: www.popsugar.com)

How Should I Prepare for My Lip Blushing Appointment?

Your precare before getting tattooed is very important. You want to make sure you're hydrated — the more hydrated you are, the better results you'll have. As you can see if my "before" photo, New York's brutal winter left me with dry, peeling lips that were very much not hydrated. The night before, try to exfoliate your lips lightly and put on a lip mask. You'll also want to skip that afterwork glass of wine at least 24 hours prior to your appointment. If you're someone who gets cold sores, you'll need to take an antiviral medication at least three days before and at least three days after your lip blush.

What's the Tattoo Process Like?

First, the artist will draw your desired lip shape with a lip pencil for you to look at and approve, which basically acts as a stencil. "I map the lips according to each person's facial features, so I kind of align everything, so it's the most natural way possible," said Kondratyev. "You have to stay on lip tissue when you do cosmetic tattooing; you can only maybe go one millimeter outside the lip line — where you see pores, you don't tattoo. So there are limitations, but it can be used to help create a fuller-looking natural lip."

Is Lip Blushing Painful?

As Kondratyev said, "the pain level is different for everyone. Pain-wise, some people are more sensitive, and usually those are the people who didn't follow the precare rules, by drinking alcohol and caffeine." But let's get real here: you're tattooing your lips. While I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, once the process began and I fully realized that, yes, I was getting a tattoo done on my very sensitive lip tissue, I had a minor freak-out. But as someone who has tattoos, I didn't find it to be very painful — most of the time, it felt like a light brushing across your lips — and the numbing cream my artist used definitely helped ease my nerves. "Some artists are against it, but I use a 5 percent lidocaine numbing agent because it makes it more comfortable, and your lips are sensitive tissue."

What Should I Expect After Getting Lip Blushing?

While my artist warned me ahead of time that my lips would likely swell, I had no idea what I was in store for. Everyone reacts differently — some people might not swell at all — but as soon as my first session was over, I pretty much looked like I had been stung by 17 bees. Luckily, it only lasted for around 24 hours. In my experience, the swelling and numbness completely faded within a day. As your lips heal throughout the next seven days, you'll want to coat them with a thin layer of Aquaphor, avoid eating or drinking spicy, citrusy, or salty foods, and it's also best to wait at least four days before working out again to preserve the ink. (Source: www.popsugar.com)