Aftercare

After getting permanent makeup, you should follow these aftercare tips to help the area heal and maintain the results:

  • Avoid touching: Keep the area clean and avoid touching, picking, or rubbing it. 

  • Avoid certain activities: Avoid heavy exercise, sweating, sun exposure, swimming, saunas, and jacuzzis for a period of time. 

  • Avoid certain products: Avoid makeup, skincare products, cleansing creams, and chemicals on the treated area. 

  • Put a fresh pillow case on your bed and sleep on your back: If possible, sleep on your back to prevent the treated area from sticking to your pillowcase. 

  • Let scabs fall off: Don't pick at scabs, as this can cause pigment loss or scarring. 

  • Moisturize: Apply ointment or Vaseline to the treated area to keep it moist. 

  • Wash gently: After a few days, you can gently cleanse the area with warm water and avoid rubbing it vigorously. 

  • Schedule touch-ups: Schedule touch-ups to keep your permanent makeup looking fresh. 

  • Notify your doctor: If you're getting an MRI within three months of your treatment, tell your doctor. 

  • Don't give blood: You can't give blood for six months after your treatment. 

The healing process for permanent makeup can take 4–8 weeks.

For lip blush healing, there are a few additional aftercare tips for you to protect your lips:

  • Avoid spicy foods for first few days - this will sting and irritate your lips!

  • Eat beige food for the first few days, consume nothing saturated with colour - tomato based foods, curry, red wine etc.

  • Avoid kissing for 4-5 days to avoid infection or irritation.

  • Drink using a straw for the first few days and avoid food touching your lips when you eat.

My personal lip blush healing journey

Deciding on the treatment

I’d thought about getting lip blush for quite a while, after having my eyebrows microbladed before and loving them! My eyebrows were a game changer, making my make-up routine faster and I felt generally more confident “without makeup”.

My lips have always been naturally pale in colour and my lip border not very defined. I used a lip liner on my lips most days to define them, but it only ever lasted a couple of hours, and it wasn’t the natural-looking lip colour I’d like. That’s why I started considering lip blush.

It took me months of thinking about it before I committed to booking my lip blush in though… Why? I was (unnecessarily) worried about the lip blush healing process. I knew it took a while for the lips to heal, and they’re not a feature you can easily hide!

Now I think back and just wish I’d booked them in sooner – the healing process was very quick and painless, and I now have a constant natural-looking lip colour like I’ve always wanted.

24 hours before the procedure

In the days leading up to the treatment, I drank lots of water and used extra hydrating lip creams to try and hydrate them as much as possible. My lips are naturally on the drier side, especially as it was the middle of winter, so I wanted to make sure they were in the best condition they could be.

The day before the procedure, I avoided caffeine, alcohol and any other stimulants, as this can affect the way your body reacts to the cosmetic tattooing (it can increase swelling and thin your blood).

Day of the procedure

I already knew I wanted the most natural-looking colour. Once I’d picked the colour, Ella applied numbing cream and continued to do this throughout the treatment to keep my lips nice and numb. I was pleasantly surprised at how painless the treatment was – I was falling asleep at several points, so it can’t have been too bad!

After the treatment, my lips were looking lovely, but the colour is a much bolder colour and there was some swelling, which made them look bigger than usual. Don’t worry, this will go down over the next day or two, and the colour will lighten over the next 4-5 days by around 60%.

Day 1

My lips were still a little swollen, and the colour was darker. If you have any asymmetry at this stage, keep in mind it is most likely due to the swelling! They will settle down in a day or two. My lip skin gradually became drier which, combined with the bold colour, made it look like I had a matte lipstick on. I continued to moisturise them every hour or so to keep them as hydrated as possible. You can go about your normal activities without worrying about your lips too much.”

Day 2 

I woke up with much drier lips, and a darker red colour. The skin became progressively tighter and drier throughout the day, until they eventually started to shed on the inner lip area only. I’ve religiously moisturised my lips with the ointment provided, and that really helped with the shedding – instead of large dry flakes, my skin came off in very small thin flakes which is less noticeable and not painful at all (as you can see in the photo for day 2).”

Day 3

Similarly to the day before, the skin continued to come off on it’s own. It started in the centre of my lips and gradually worked its way out towards the lip line by the evening. Try not pick or rub the skin, even if it looks like it’s coming off – this will affect the results! It can be really tempting but you’ll be glad you didn’t in the end.

Day 4

By the fourth day, my lips already have fresh skin exposed with no more flaking. The colour is much more subtle now, and my lips are really soft. All swelling has gone down, and I just keep hydrating my lips with the ointment provided to keep the healing process going. Although I’m now past the most noticeable healing period, the lips will continue to heal over the next 4-6 weeks.”

The following days and weeks…

The following days/weeks continued much the same. Don’t worry if you feel like the colour fades in the weeks after your treatment – the pigment will come back! The lip skin goes through a cycle and thickens to heal, which can briefly conceal your new colour. After 4-6 weeks, it will return to normal and reveal your true lip blush effect.