Getting any form of permanent makeup shouldn’t be an impulsive decision, and it’s not something to take lightly. Lip blushing is no exception.
Since it’s not exactly a cheap treatment, and since it does imply going through at least 2 rounds of having your lips tattooed, clients want to know is lip blushing worth it before they take the plunge.
PMUHub, as always, gives you an honest answer – no sugarcoating!
In General, Is Lip Blushing Worth It?
In general, lip blushing is worth it if you want to get a subtle enhancement from it. If you’re expecting the perfect red lip that you’ll never have to touch again, then you probably won’t get what you’re looking for.
Whether is lip blushing worth it, therefore, largely depends on your expectations.
While the treatment can give your lips a lovely pop of color and works great to neutralize the bluish/purplish tone of dark lips, it can’t really be as bright as some lipsticks, and it doesn’t last forever.
Other factors to consider are what the treatment feels like, how much it costs, and the side effects you can expect after each session. But let’s go through them one at a time.
Image source: Instagram @prettyfaceink.adl
Is Lip Blushing Painful?
It can be uncomfortable, but it’s not too bad. The treatment is always done with topical anesthetics which eliminate most of the pain.
That said, lip blushing is still a form of tattooing and it does imply a needle poking the sensitive skin of the lips over and over again. So you’re bound to feel something. Most clients describe it as a scratching sensation, which isn’t the most pleasant thing in the world, but it’s bearable.
How much discomfort you’ll feel largely depends on how well you handle pain in general. You can learn more about how clients who’ve had lip blush describe the treatment in this article.
How Bad Are the Side Effects?
They can be annoying, but they’re not that serious. You can expect:
- Swelling
- Tenderness
- Itching
- Flaking
- Tightness and dryness
Your lips will go through several stages of the healing process and each stage brings about different side effects. All these are normal and to be expected.
What’s not normal, though, is extreme discomfort. If you experience any extreme pain, extreme itching, rashes or similar symptoms, you might be having an allergic reaction, or an infection may be developing.
If you feel like something weird is going on, contact your artist and let them assess the situation.
Find out more about the lip blush healing stages here.
Image source: Instagram @nakedaestheticsss
How Long Do the Results Last?
This is very individual, but in general, the results can last up to 2 years. The longevity of the results depends on how your system retains pigments, your skincare routine, how much you expose the area to sunlight, etc.
You can learn all about the factors in our Lip Blush Longevity Guide.
Bear in mind that lip blush won’t hold the same intensity for long – the color will fade gradually, until the skin of the lips goes back to its natural shade.
If you get a darker shade, your lips hold pigment well and you adjust your routine a bit, you might go the full 2 years without touch ups. If this isn’t the case, you can book a touch up and get the pigments replenished when you feel like your lips are too faded.
How Much Does Lip Blushing Cost?
The average price of lip blushing in the US is around $590, but the price can vary based on the style you’re getting, the location, the exclusivity of the artist, etc.
You can learn more about these factors in this guide, and see the average price near you.
What Will My Lip Blushing Look Like After the Treatment?
Right after the treatment, the color of your lips will look very intense. You might love it, or you might feel like it’s too much. Whichever the case, know that the color won’t keep that intensity for long.
The color will fade somewhat during the healing process.
Image source: Instagram @mercerspmu
And What Will It Look Like After It’s Healed?
During the healing process, the lips can lose up to 50% of pigments. As the lips are healing from the procedure, excess pigment is extracted and the color fades. Only after 6 weeks can you consider the color final.
At that point, you’ll have the touch up, some of the pigments will be replenished, and the shade will get darkened back up a bit. But healed results will never look as prominent as freshly done lip blush, and that’s not what you should expect.
Image source: Instagram @levickibeauty
What About After a Year or 2?
Lip blush fades gradually, and after your lips have healed from the touch up, the pace at which they’ll keep fading is very individual.
Your lip blush may fade away entirely after about a year, or they may keep the color for longer. Nobody can really predict it.
But the good news is that lip blushing looks good even as it fades. It’s not like you’ll wake up one day with no pigment left – it’s all very gradual and you probably won’t even notice the fading on a day-to-day basis.
Image source: Instagram @allegria_studio
List of Lip Blush Pros
Hopefully, we managed to explain all the points that you need to be aware of objectively and we gave you enough info to help make an educated decision on whether this is the treatment for you or not, but let’s also mention some of the undeniable benefits of lip blushing.
Here are some pros to help you decide is lip blushing worth it:
- It can neutralize dark lips very effectively
- It can diminish minor lip asymmetry
- It can give the illusion of fuller lips
- It can disguise scars in the lip area
- Your lips will look enhanced without lip makeup, but you can add makeup on top of your lip blushing if you want to
The answer to the question is lip blushing worth it or not can only come from you, so weigh the pros against the cons and decide for yourself. One thing we can say though, is that lip blushing gives the best enhancement on really pale lips.
Final Note
As we’ve already explained, lip blushing is the PMU procedure where most pigment loss is expected during healing. With this in mind, it’s an already established strategy to go a few shades darker with the pigment choice than you want, so that the losses are balanced out.
So one piece of advice – listen to your artist if they suggest a pigment shade that may look too dark at first glance – they know what they’re doing!
Cover image source: Freepik
