DARK LIPS

Dark lip tattooing differs from lip blush procedures in that they involve neutralization sessions to blend and even out any darkly pigmented areas - specifically if the target color is pink.
Darkly pigmented lips are most often seen on people of color who fall into the skin category Fitzpatrick IV and up and in some cases Fitz III.

Lips with higher melanin levels will often appear as multi colored/toned, such as a brown upper lip and pink bottom lip, and/or hyper-pigmented. Due to the vascular nature of lip tissue, hyper-pigmented lips usually appear to have cool blue and purple undertones to the naked eye. In order to even out and neutralize these tones, we must use complimentary colors only. The complimentary color to blue is orange and/or yellow - I know, it sounds wild! Although this may seem alarming, these colors will cancel out the cool blue tones and leave a nice nude-y warm pink (examples below). How deeply saturated the darkness of the lip is will determine how bright the orange/yellow pigment is required and how many neutralizing sessions are needed. Only after all of the lip is neutralized can we tattoo a target color, as long as that color is still warm, if a color other than pink is desired. Using deep, cool colors will only result in darkening the lips further.

Some Fitz III clients will also need neutralization sessions, but since overall melanin count is lower and thus of lighter value, there are less risks and more room to play with a wider range of color.

Clients who fall into the Fitz VI scale or with lips that are extremely dark may be outside my ability and skill level to work with, or may involve several neutralization sessions and see little results. If you are unsure if your lips are any of these things, please reach out via the contact page for an online consultation prior to booking.

The process of darkening the lighter areas of the lip instead of the other way around is called “Camouflage”. This is an entirely different process and anyone looking to receive this service will need to reach out for a consultation via email or the contact form on this website prior to booking.

If you are looking for the brown lip liner with pink inner area, I am not sure if my skill and present color theory knowledge will permit me to execute that look. I think it’s beautiful with makeup but I am unsure of the appearance it may have long term.

HEALING

The initial healing experience is the same for everyone and lasts roughly 5 days; darker lips clients can sometimes experience a bit more swelling immediately after.
Details of this are outlined on the “Lips” portion of the AFTERCARE page.

Other aspects of healing that neutralization clients may experience is active hypo/hyper-pigmentation, which are both trauma responses by melanocytes (cells that produce melanin). These cells can either be under or over stimulated resulting in a loss of melanin, causing very light pink/white patches or an overproduction of melanin, giving the appearance of very dark patches at any point in the healing process. While this doesn't always happen in dark lips, it can be frightening if it does and the client is unaware of the process. In both cases, this is temporary and completely normal and resolves around 6-12 weeks on average when the true color of the tattoo can then be seen.

Clients are able to wear lipstick after the initial healing phase is over, usually after the 4th or 5th day.

HEALED RESULTS

There is no way to correctly determine how many neutralization sessions a client may need. The healed results below and the amount of sessions are noted. If there is any remaining dark areas, then these clients received another neutralizing session.

First session is $650. A booking fee of $200 is required at the time of booking and will be applied to your total balance at the time of your appointment.
Touch ups are a separate cost of $200 and is scheduled approximately 8-12 weeks from your initial session.

Lip Blush involving neutralization are not priced higher however, client’s may need more than one touch up session to reach optimal results.