DAY OF SERVICE: It’s normal for your lips to feel puffy, tight, tender or similar to sunburn. Your lips will most likely be swollen & possibly lightly bruised as lips are a very vascular area. Swelling goes down within hours, and bruising will fade over a few days. The overall look will feel more 'lipstick-y' than the healed result, as we are seeing a fresh tattoo not yet healed.

DAY 2: The swelling should have gone by now, and the colour will look darker / more intense because of this - they will not heal this colour. Your lips will feel tighter, drier and possibly chapped, but this is just the film protecting your healing lip skin. Leave the film alone – picking or biting it will cause irritation, can cause scarring and will lift colour from the skin resulting in unevenness and blank spots. Over the course of the day, your lips may start to feel grainy, as small bits of film are getting ready to peel away.

DAYS 3 - 5: The film will start flaking off, and may not exfoliate away evenly. Try not to scratch, pull or bite the film off prematurely.

DAYS 6 - 14: Once the film has fully lifted, the ink implanted can look around 50% lighter, and may be slightly towards the middle as this area gets more ‘wear and tear’ (eating, drinking, teeth brushing etc). Your lips will probably still feel dehydrated at this stage, so it's important to keep moisturising them.

Although you will feel as though your lips are healed at this point, they’re not quite there yet. Please continue to treat the area with care & be more gentle for the next 4+ weeks, as your skin is still regenerating & needs time to fully heal and repair. 

WEEKS 4 - 6: As your healing skin settles down you should notice the colour blooming and some definition around the edges returning. The colour will probably still feel a little light as you were used to having such dark lips for the first few days, but this is what the top up is for. If you liked your lips when you left the first appointment (shape, colour, style etc.), we will do the exact same thing again at your touch up. It’s always easier to add more ink and go darker at the top up, than it is to reverse going too dark or bright at your first session. 

AFTER TOP UP: The ink usually holds better as we are building on top of that first layer. Your lips won’t fade as much and may heal quicker or easier than the first time.