Xuenou > Fashion > I Got a “Lip Blush” Tattoo For the First Time, and the Results are Life-Changing
I Got a “Lip Blush” Tattoo For the First Time, and the Results are Life-Changing
One editor tried "lip blushing," and will never go back. Learn about the lip tattoo process and see the before-and-after photos.

I Got a “Lip Blush” Tattoo For the First Time, and the Results are Life-Changing

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been constantly wearing lip color: to the grocery store, to school, to the gym — everywhere. The only time of day I didn’t was when I was sleeping. With my extremely pale skin and light features, without a brush of color on my lips I felt like a corpse whenever I looked in the mirror. So in an effort to look, um, alive, lipstick became my daily sidekick.

Things finally changed one day when I was scrolling Instagram and came across an unbelievable before and after of “lip blushing,” a form of semipermanent makeup that transforms your lips by enhancing your natural color and providing more shape and definition. I knew about semipermanent cosmetic tattooing, but when I heard that phrase, I imagined an awkward, badly drawn lip liner tattoo. This new procedure was far from that; after falling down a rabbit hole of #LipBlushing photos on Instagram, I realized this form of semipermanent makeup was basically just a beautifully enhanced version of your natural lips, so I decided to take the plunge and try it out myself.

A few weeks later, I made an appointment with Savannah Kondratyev from First Class Cosmetics in New York City. Now, it’s been two months since my lip blushing experience, and I’m completely hooked — every time I look in the mirror, I still can’t believe that I’m not wearing lipstick. If you’re wondering what lip blushing is all about, read on for my experience and before and after photos.