Lip Blush Aftercare Routine - Day by Day
To make sure your lips heal properly, you need to follow a lip blush aftercare routine for a few days after the procedure. Here’s what you have to do.
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Updated September 2023.
As with any permanent makeup treatment, a lip tattoo requires a bit of special care to heal properly.
Since the procedure is done by piercing the skin of the lips over and over again with an electric PMU machine, the area has to go through a regeneration cycle called the healing process.
Lip blush aftercare is there to help the skin heal into the attractive, even shade you wanted. It also helps relieve the annoying side effects of healing.
PMUHub brings you all the info on lip blush aftercare + a day by day schedule and products that will ensure safe healing.
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What Is Lip Blush Aftercare?
Lip tattoo aftercare is the routine you have to follow in the days after the lip blush treatment. It implies cleaning the area regularly, treating it with a special ointment, and avoiding certain activities and products.
Lip blush is done with an electric device similar to a tattoo machine. The needle opens up the skin and deposits PMU pigments into it in a million tiny dots.
When the lips start closing up those channels, a thin scabby film is formed. Once that flakes off, your gorgeous enhanced lips are revealed.
The treated skin of the lips goes through a recovery cycle as it closes up the micro-wounds. In order for the pigments to settle into the skin evenly, you need to provide it with enough moisture, and prevent contamination.
Keep reading for all the precautions and the timeline.
Image source: Instagram @zoe.pmu
What’s the Lip Blush Aftercare Routine Like?
There are 2 general types of lip tattoo aftercare – dry and wet healing. Both entail some general rules for the first 7-10 days, or until the peeling is over:
- Don’t touch your lips or pick at the scabs or skin that starts peeling off.
- Don’t get the lips soaking wet – no long hot showers, no swimming, no excessive sweating (this includes saunas and steam baths). Refrain from working out.
- Don’t get toothpaste on your lips – click here to learn how to brush your teeth after lip blush.
- Don’t put any makeup or care products on the area besides the prescribed aftercare ointment.
- Don’t eat spicy or very salty foods – they’ll sting.
- Don’t drink anything too hot – it’ll trigger swelling.
- Don’t drink alcohol – it will burn and dry out your lips further.
- Don’t expose your lips to the sunlight. No tanning in the sun or in tanning beds for 3-4 weeks.
- Don’t sleep on your face.
- Don’t get teeth whitening.
Dry healing is an outdated practice that is very tricky to keep and doesn’t give that great results. It implies keeping the lips dry, without applying any moisturizing products, for the entire length of the healing cycle.
This causes heavier scabbing that pulls out a lot of pigments in patches, so the results end up uneven and unattractive. Plus, you will experience extreme dryness you have no way of diminishing.
That’s why PMU artists now prescribe variations of wet healing.
Here’s a universal wet healing lip blush aftercare routine day by day:
DAY 1
Your freshly tattooed lips are swollen and the color is quite intense.
You need to start your lip blush aftercare routine as soon as half an hour or so after the treatment. The skin starts oozing lymph and you need to blot it off frequently to prevent a thick scab from forming.
Refrain from eating for a few hours. Drink through a straw.
If you experience intense swelling, an ice pack may help. If you experience any pain, check with your artist if you can take an Ibuprofen.
Blot the area with a cotton pad dampened with sterile water every 30 minutes, or as often as your artist advises. Apply a thin layer of the aftercare ointment prescribed by your artist.
Here are some good lip blush aftercare ointments:
DAYS 2-10
The swelling should subside by day 2, and your lips might start peeling.
The peeling will last for up to 7 days (it ends faster for most clients), and once the scabby film falls off, the lip tattoo aftercare is over.
For most people, it’s day 7 after the procedure, but if they’re still peeling at this point, keep it up until it stops.
Clean your lips after every meal with a mild alcohol-free soap approved by your artist and warm water. Do not rub and be very gentle. Make it quick and dry the lips by tapping them with a cotton pad or a clean towel.
Apply the prescribed ointment after every cleaning, and whenever you feel your lips are getting tight and dry. Keeping them covered with a layer of aftercare cream prevents heavy scabbing, and protects the area from external contamination.
Image source: Instagram @labeautypmu
AFTER PEELING ENDS
If your lips stopped peeling, you can now go back to your normal routine, including working out. You can start wearing makeup and using other products, but bear in mind that some skincare ingredients like retinol and acids accelerate the fading of PMU.
It’s also a good idea to put on SPF whenever you’re outdoors, as sunlight can speed up pigment fading.
@msamberred Lips scab! It’s part of the healing process. Immediately after being tattooed they are big, bright, and bold! After 5-7 days they soften up a bit and all scabs go away. Could you make it through the healing process? #fyp #lipblush #lipblushtattoo #msamberred #tattooedlips #tattoohealingprocess ♬ original sound - Ms Amber Red
NOTE
The lip tattoo aftercare described above is the most common routine. If your artist prescribes a different one, follow that. It may be specially adapted to your needs.
Is the Lip Tattoo Aftercare the Same for Every Style?
The lip tattoo comes in various styles, the most popular and widely-known one being the full lip blush.
All lip tattoos imply the same technique, only different saturation patterns and areas treated. So, no matter which style you get, the aftercare is the same.
Depending on how many passes were made and how much the skin was broken, you may experience healing symptoms of different degrees of severity.
Scabbing and peeling is more extreme for full lip color than it is for shaded lip liner, for example. But you should follow the universal lip blush aftercare nevertheless.
Learn more about different lip blush styles and see some examples here.
Why Is Lip Tint Tattoo Aftercare Important?
Lip blush aftercare is essential for achieving satisfactory results of the treatment.
You have to follow the aftercare routine to enable the pigments to settle into the skin properly and evenly.
Not keeping your lips moisturized will lead to heavy scabbing that pulls out pigments. The same goes for picking at the scabs and ripping off pieces of chapping skin.
The skin recovery causes unpleasant sensations of dryness, tightness, and itching, all of which can be relieved if you moisturize the lips.
Apart from this, if you don’t clean the area properly and regularly and let lymph, dirt and dead skin cells build up, you risk developing an infection or irritation.
So do your best to stick to the lip tint tattoo aftercare routine to stay healthy, get maximum pigment retention, and make the whole experience more comfortable.
NOTE
Cold sores are a common and essentially harmless side effect of lip blushing. If you know you’re generally prone to getting them, consult a GP and see if you can take an antiviral med a few days before your procedure.
Very severe cases of cold sores can potentially affect pigment retention. But for most clients, the lips will heal just fine.
Here’s all you need to know about cold sores after lip blush.
Image source: Instagram @anna.marastudio
Lip Blush Aftercare – Main Takeaways
Following the lip blush aftercare routine is essential for getting the best possible results, and staying healthy. As your skin heals from the trauma caused by the tattooing, it needs some special care.
Luckily, the lip blush tattoo aftercare is quite simple and it only lasts for about 10 days. You just need to clean and moisturize your lips regularly, and avoid certain activities.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LIP TATTOO
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