Lip tattoo: pros and cons

What’s this? A Lip tattoo is a popular cosmetic procedure that allows you to change your appearance without surgery. It takes only a few hours, and the result is stored for a long time.

What are the features? Like any beauty procedure, it has its characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. Before deciding on such an upgrade, you should carefully study the contraindications to avoid unpleasant complications. 

What is lip tattooing: pros and cons

A Lip tattoo is, in fact, a tattoo on the lips that makes them brighter and plumper. In some words, it isn’t nice, but it looks impressive and neat. In addition, the procedure itself does not cause pain because the master will either apply a special cream or inject lidocaine into the gum (as the client wishes).

How is permanent makeup different from using hyaluronic acid? In the first case, light paint is used, which, apart from color, will give nothing more to the lips. The ink is injected into the skin through a tattoo machine, not a syringe. In principle, the purpose of permanent makeup is to visually change the lips and not change them in any way inside. At the same time, girls often resort to both procedures and get beautiful and moisturized lips.

Most often, lip tattooing is done with shading because there are many advantages, in addition to the fact that it looks beautiful both in the photo and in life:

• Convenience. Thanks to the procedure, the girl will no longer have to spend time on lip makeup daily because they will look great without it.
• Versatility. A tattoo with shading is suitable for women of all ages. Young girls opt for a solid or partial version, while older ladies prefer contour makeup.

• Durability. If you properly care for your lips after the procedure, the tattoo will delight you for several years.
• Strength. Since the paint is injected under the skin, the makeup will not go anywhere from the lips, and as soon as everything finally heals, you can safely visit the bathhouse, sauna, or beach.
• Does not cause allergic reactions. The permanent used for lip tattooing is of very high quality and is almost always accepted by the body without any problems.
• Naturalness. Permanent makeup with shading looks natural and spectacular, especially in light shades.

However, it must be borne in mind that lip tattooing also has negative sides:

• The session takes a long time. The procedure lasts 1-2 hours. Since the sensations may not be pleasant, many girls interrupt the session without completing everything.
• Discomfort during recovery. A couple of days after the tattoo, the lips may swell, and dry squats appear on them. These troubles are easy enough to endure.
• High price for a lip tattoo. Not everyone can afford to have it done by a highly skilled craftsman. To get to a professional, you have to pay a rather large amount, but you can not worry about the quality of makeup, which cannot be said about specialists with a cheap price list who do not have reviews and recommendations.
• Contraindications. Not everyone can do permanent makeup. There are situations when, as a result of the procedure, people experience such unpleasant consequences as herpes or allergies.

Indications and contraindications for lip tattooing

A similar option for long-lasting makeup is most often chosen by busy women or those who are not satisfied with the appearance of their lips. 

Tattooing is perfect for those who want to hide the first signs of aging because the procedure will make the lips brighter and the contour clearer. In general, the face will look more well-groomed and younger. Tattooing is no less effective when there is asymmetry on the lips or they are naturally very thin.

Before going for the procedure, you must find out what contraindications exist. Lip tattooing is not suitable for those who:

• diabetes;
• low blood clotting;
• mental disorders;
• chronic herpes;
• Severe gum problems.

Often women are interested in whether lip tattooing can be done during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and the answer is no. It is not recommended to carry out the procedure if there are wounds or vesicles on the lips. A relative contraindication is a menstruation because, during this period, women feel pain more acutely.

Lip tattoo techniques

Depending on the specific case, many different techniques can be performed individually or combined. Let’s talk about the most common.

• Contour technique. It is used when the natural contour of the lips is fuzzy. The specialist will carefully select it. The colors are chosen so that it is not clear that this is a lip tattoo, and there is no feeling that the outline was outlined with a pencil. Most often, this technique is chosen by adult women to hide the signs of wilting.

• Feathering. Thanks to permanent makeup with shading, lips become brighter and more saturated. The paint is distributed over their entire surface, starting from the contour or slightly beyond. This way, it visually enlarges the lips, but the shade must be chosen perfectly.
• Volume technique. It is used when correcting asymmetry, adding volume, or aligning the contour. As a rule, the procedure in this technique will have two stages: working with the contour and masking imperfections and “filling” the entire surface with color.
• Watercolor technique. Now clear lines and boundaries are no longer relevant. In the watercolor technique, the contours are blurred, which makes the result look as natural as possible. In addition, you can choose muted shades, and no one will guess that you have a lip tattoo.
• Light Kayal. This technique creates highlights on the lips, similar to those made by makeup artists with a white pencil. The result of this procedure will be tender, plump lips. However, for this method, they must be an ideal natural form.
• Permanent lipstick. The master fills the lips with a bright pigment, creating the effect of using juicy lipstick. This technique can be chosen by those who always paint their lips with one favorite tool. The color must be chosen thoughtfully because it will be challenging to block such a tattoo.

How to make a lip tattoo

Before proceeding with the procedure itself, you and the master need to discuss all the nuances, details, and your wishes and create a sketch. You must complete this stage because the main questions are solved here: what will be the shape, color, pigment, the technique used?

In addition, the specialist is tasked with telling the client about the additional possibilities of the procedure: smoothing the contour, getting rid of the whiteness that often remains after herpes, and correcting the lowered corners of the mouth.

The steps for creating a lip tattoo are as follows:

1. Drawing on the working surface of the sketch, which must be fixed.
2. Creation of micro-punctures along the contour of the sketch using a special apparatus without anesthesia.
3. The use of external anesthetic agents that are used in dental treatment. The master makes applications. A professional will not use injections because they cause swelling and deform the sketch.
4. A device with a thin needle makes a tattoo.

This procedure takes one to three hours, depending on how it is carried out. To make only a contour is quite fast, but other types of tattoos (watercolor, lipstick, natural, 3D, Lip Light, shading) require work for several hours. Application anesthesia can weaken quite quickly, so it is periodically updated.

The nuances of choosing a color for a lip tattoo

The variety of colors in which lip tattooing is performed is very large, so the choice of a suitable shade must be approached with all responsibility because it will depend on how natural and beautiful the result will be. The master should help you with this.

As a rule, when determining the desired color, they are guided by a person’s external features. The shade should match the natural tone of the skin and hair. You can build on existing color types:

• Celtic. It includes girls with bright red hair, fair skin, blue or green eyes, and freckles. In this case, bright pigments are suitable: red or pink will be a great addition to the look.
• Scandinavian. Blondes with fair skin and blue eyes will become even more attractive if they get a tattoo in coral, caramel, or cherry shades.
• European. Owners of light brown hair, slightly dark skin, and bright brown or gray eyes can choose brown or beige dye. This tattoo will be a great addition to the natural beauty.
• Mediterranean. Girls with dark hair and eyes and dark skin are offered a wider range of suitable colors. Terracotta, wine, or golden red shades look especially good. The pigment must be saturated. Thus, the girl’s appearance will always attract attention and admiring glances.

Nude shades suit almost everyone. It is especially worth taking a closer look at them for those who will get a tattoo for the first time. In this situation, it is better to abandon very bright colors. In principle, saturated pigments can quickly get bored, and blocking them takes work.

Care after lip tattoo

Restoring the lips after the procedure with shading takes a long time. Often it takes from 14 to 20 days. During this period, edema and the formation of a dry crust on the lips can be observed. In some cases, ichor may be released during healing. The recovery process is different for everyone due to the body’s individual characteristics.

To maintain a beautiful result, a tattoo must be properly cared for. During the first and second days after the session, you must do the following:

• try not to wet your lips;
• constantly apply healing agents;
• do not drink alcoholic beverages;
• postpone going to the pool and sports activities;
• drink any liquid through a straw;
• apply sunscreen to lips
• do not scratch or peel off the crusts;
• use disposable towels or wipes to clean your face.

After a week or a half, the crusts will begin to move away, but, as a rule, unevenly. During this period, you need to be patient and not tear them off yourself. Also, do not apply gloss or lipstick to your lips to even out the tone. Before the procedure, you should be told that after the convergence of the crusts, the color seems pale, but you should wait a couple of days, and you can enjoy a rich shade. The final restoration of color will end 3-4 weeks after the procedure.

Prevention does not always help, so that herpes may appear. As soon as you notice it, you should immediately consult a doctor so that it does not have time to become too large. Antiviral ointments and gels are often prescribed to fight herpes, and immunomodulators are taken to improve the body’s natural defenses.

How long does a lip tattoo last?

Girls must find out before the session how long their lip tattoo will please them. It depends on many factors, including the depth of the introduction of paint and its characteristics. Light shades only last for a short time, as dark and bright ones.

Longevity also depends on the woman’s age: in young girls, everything heals and recovers very quickly, so they have to update the color more often than older ladies.

The correct care of a tattoo is very important. If all the recommendations were followed as expected, the lips would be beautiful for several months.

You can go for correction when the pigment is completely gone or maintain color. If the second option is closer to you, you must visit the master every 8-10 months. The first correction is carried out a month after the procedure so that the master can refine some nuances. In this session, the girl can change the shade if she does not as the one made initially.

Tattoo correction lasts up to 30 minutes.

Many of the fair sex are satisfied after the procedure. They like that the lips look natural and well-groomed, and this appearance is generally transformed.

With the help of lip tattoos, older women want to look younger than their years, and the procedure gives this effect. In addition, they can make corrections infrequently. If we compare the plasticity of the lips (surgical intervention) and their visual change with the help of permanent makeup, then it will take less time and money in the second case.

A bad opinion about the procedure is often formed by those who fall into the hands of an evil master, after which the makeup must be removed. To avoid such an outcome, you must carefully choose a specialist and read reviews about him before going for a lip tattoo session.

If you choose the right highly qualified master and follow all the recommendations for healing after the procedure, the result will meet your expectations.