Lips after care
The healing process requires patience. Please ensure you’ve read this information as your healed results rely heavily on how well you can follow the aftercare advice.
The Healing Process
Permanent makeup is an art, not a science. Your results will vary and using lip liner, lip gloss or lipstick may still be needed, especially when wearing heavy coverage make up. This is not necessarily a no maintenance treatment, but a low maintenance treatment. No two sides of the face are the same or perfectly symmetrical and whilst trying to obtain perfect symmetry is my goal, nothing is guaranteed or 100% perfect.
Healing is specific to each client and it’s important to realise that you’ll need a colour boost every 12 / 18 / 24 months to maintain the vibrancy of your lip tattoo. When you leave the appointment, your lip tattoo will be intact and I’ll do my best to help you heal properly. Your lifestyle choices, age, genetics, and skin type will contribute to the retention of your lip tattoo. If you regularly bite your lips, use lip exfoliator, use sunbeds, sunbathe, don’t use sun protection, smoke, use anti-aging products (on your lips), or get your lips filled after having your lips tattooed, your lip tattoo WILL fade faster and you’ll need more regular touch ups.
Whilst the film is peeling, it may seem as though the treatment hasn’t worked well. The colour may look weak or it may seem as though the ink has disappeared. Why? Lip tattoos are not as deep as a ‘normal’ tattoo – your new healing skin is covering the ink and when your skin and the ink start to settle (between weeks 2-4), you’ll notice that your lip tattoo ‘starts coming back’. It didn’t disappear in the first place; it was just harder to see through a thicker layer of healing skin. If the colour is still weak/patchy at weeks 5-6, don’t worry! This is a delicate tattoo to heal, and is why we do 2 sessions.
If your lips are kept clean and moisturised then only a thin film (not a scab) will appear. The film will start peeling off by itself around day 3 and may not exfoliate evenly. During this time, your lips may feel tight, cracked, chapped and itchy as the flakes are coming away. Leave the film alone; picking will cause irritation, can lead to scars and will lift colour from the treated area resulting in unevenness and blank spots. Let the area heal naturally for best results and keep your lips moisturised at all times to help soothe and heal them. The colour implanted will fade by 50-60% during the first healing process.
During the first few days, you may experience: swelling, bruising, dryness, tingling and tenderness. This is a fresh tattoo on a delicate area of skin that needs time to close up and heal. During the following few days, dryness and tenderness may continue as well as some tightness. Your lips may feel like they need to crack when you move your mouth. This is normal and your skin healing.
It’s important to wait until your lips are properly healed (after your 6 week touch up appointment) before making a final judgement about them. This treatment is a two-step process requiring patience (with some clients needing a second touch up) to get the full desired look which won’t be achieved until after your 6 week touch up. At your touch up appointment, we can make any changes you want – a lot of clients go bolder as they have had time to adjust to their new lips and feel more confident with the process.
Do’s and Don’t’s
- Follow the aftercare properly to allow your lips to heal as well as they should.
- Keep your lips as clean and dry, but moisturised, as you can for the first 5-10 days. Too much lymph fluid, water, sweat & oil will result in scabs instead of a film. Scabs will result in patchy brows.
- Keep your lips moisturised with After Inked (provided) or other lip balm for the whole healing process
- Use an icepack (wrapped in something clean) or take ibuprofen if your lips feel swollen and there is bruising present.
- Use a straw whist drinking and avoid salty or spicy food if your lips feel tender for the first few days.
- Touch, bite or scratch your lips – touching or picking could cause irritation, infection & loss of pigment.
- Exercise for at least 2-5 days after your treatment due to sweating. Gentle exercise is okay after the first few days.
- Put lip liner, lipstick, lip gloss, cleansers, lotions etc. on or close to your lips for 1-2 weeks to avoid irritation & cross contamination.
- Use saunas, steam rooms or swimming pools for 1 week due to sweating, risk of getting your lips wet & hygiene.
- Have facials or other face beauty treatments done for 1 week to avoid irritation & cross contamination.
- Have lip fillers or use sunbeds, chemical peels or any strong face treatment for 4 weeks as your skin will not be healed enough.
- Use anti-aging creams, chemical peels, acids or retinols on or close to your lips ever! These products strip the skin / change your skin and the chemicals in them will react and affect with the pigment / retention.
Other things that can contribute to premature fading
- Frequent exercising & sweating
- Oily skin
- Fast metabolism
- Iron deficiency
- Hypo/er thyroidism
- Hormone replacement medications
- Other daily medications
- Smoking
- Sunbeds & sunbathing
- Not using sun protection
- Excessive exfoliating
- Harsh cleansers or anti-aging products
Healing milestones
Top tips
- When cleaning, make sure you are cleansing firmly enough so that you are actually cleaning your lips, but not too hard that you’re hurting yourself, irritating the tattoo or pulling the peel off.
- If you’re getting closer to day 10 and still have a lot of flakes left, you probably haven’t been cleaning firmly enough or keeping them moisturised enough and you’ll need to cleanse and moisturise more to assist the film coming away.
