Lip Neutralization / Lip Lightening
Ideal For Men and Women
Lip Neutralization (sometimes referred to as Lip Lightening), is actually a specialty lip enhancement procedure, designed to meet the unique cosmetic challenges of individuals with cooler, darker or uneven lip tones. This permanent lipstick service is ideal for brightening and balancing pigment in melanin rich or bi-tone lips. It may also be used to camouflage hyper-pigmentation and some forms of pigment loss.
The Lip Neutralization procedure is considered a “highly skilled” cosmetic tattooing process. Our Lip Neutralization technician is Look Natural’s founder and paramedical artist, Evie Delaney. Evie is a master level lip tattoo artist who has extensively trained with ethnic skin specialists all over the world. She has over 23 years of experience in cosmetic restoration services. Her goal with Lip Neutralization Artistry, is to create a neutral base tone in the lips, to give clients more color options – with or without cosmetics. This makes it an ideal cosmetic service for both women and men.
The word Neutralization relates to the process that will be used, leveraging complimentary colors (meaning colors on opposite sides of the color wheel) to cancel one another out. Dark Lip Neutralization uses the science of color theory and speciality cosmetic tattoo pigments, to turn a darker value lip tone into a “lighter or brighter” skin tone. The layering effect of these pigments reduces or cancels out the cooler melanin hues in the skin, creating a more pleasing overall lip color.
How Does it Work?
The Lip Neutralization process actually involves two steps. The first step, Lip Neutralization, is designed to mask the cooler tones in the deeper layers of the lip tissue. In the second step, we will add additional colors to create your new improved lip color. The procedure itself involves tattooing “semi-permanent” pigments into the skin in each session. The Lip Neutralization process will require 2 – sessions as a minimum, to achieve the best results. Every canvas is different, and generally the darker the lip value, the more sessions that could be required. Your tattooed lipstick technician will give you an estimated number of sessions that could be expected to achieve your cosmetic goals. Additional sessions are generally recommended or required for individuals with very dark lip tones – or for clients wishing to achieve a more vivid cosmetic lip color. All follow-up Lip Neutralization appointments will be scheduled 8 to10 weeks apart to allow ample time for healing and to give the neutralization pigment time to bloom in the skin. This two step process creates a more pleasing overall lip color. Once the cool tones in the lips have been neutralized, if desired, the lips can be further enhanced with cosmetic colors designed for lip blushing or lipstick.
How Long Does it Last?
Lip color correction and lip color enhancements typically last from two to three years for most healthy individuals; however, we generally recommend clients boost their lip color every two years to help extend the vibrancy of the Lip Neutralization results.
How Do I know if I’m a Good Candidate for This Service?
Schedule a Consultation…
We will be happy to schedule a convenient time for a phone consultation so that we may review the service and answer all of your questions about the Lip Neutralization process. We will request to see current pictures of your lips, and we will gather a little background information to determine if you are a good candidate for the Lip Neutralization procedure. You can send these pictures confidentially through our email or through texts to our office, prior to your phone consult. Additionally we will also provide you with a copy of our Pre-and-Post Service consent forms in advance, so you can read and evaluate any procedural risks and side effects. Our goal is to help our clients prepare for an outstanding result. The day of your procedure, you will have an additional “face-to-face” review of the entire process and our recommended post care instructions.
Here’s What to Expect…
The Look Natural Clinic uses a digital tattoo process to “gently” implant neutralizing and color enhancing pigments into the lips. The initial appointment will take 2-hours. We recommend no caffeine or alcohol the day before and the day of your procedure for optimum comfort. Clients will be thoroughly numbed prior to and during the entire lip tattoo process. You will also be provided with a topical treatment to use after your session, which will extend your comfort once you are home. Most clients report little to no post-treatment discomfort with our unique tattooing process.
Immediately After The Service What you may observe…
Your lip color will appear to be a bright coral tone immediately after the initial procedure. THIS IS TEMPORARY and NORMAL. This is the Neutralization color and it will subside within 5 TO 7 DAYS days as the skin heals . The surface lip color WILL lightly EXFOLIATE within 5 to 7 days, leaving a more normalized color. Sometimes the lip color can appear spotty, uneven or patchy at this stage. THIS IS NORMAL. It is also not uncommon for the lips to return to some state of their original color during this phase of the healing process. We will recommend bathing your Lips in Aquaphor Lip Therapy for 2 weeks after each session, and not using any cosmetics on the lips for 2 weeks after each session. Your neutralized lip color is slowly maturing in the skin and will begin to re-appear between the 6th and the 8th week “as a new, lighter color”. This healing process is called BLOOMING. Depending on how dark your lips were before you started, the lip neutralization process should move the lip color towards a lighter or brighter value during the blooming process. The blooming process will takes 8 to 10 weeks to complete. The Neutralization procedure will begin to cancel the darker hues in the lips after each session. We will continue to build on the neutralization process in all the follow-up session(s) to move the lips toward your desired color. Note: Fuller Lips may swell for a very short time immediately following the procedure. This is very temporary. Fuller lips have more vascularity. Swelling can also be normal for any lip procedures or for individuals who have lip fillers. We will apply topical skin analgesics post procedure to help reduce swelling if this occurs. We also recommend the use of cold compresses combined with over the counter anti-inflammatories for the first 48 hours to help reduce any swelling .
Risks Associated with Lip Neutralization or Lip Lightening: It is important to understand that there are inherent risks associated with any form of tattooing on darker complexions . These would be the (Fitzpatrick 4 to 6 skin tones). It is possible to experience HYPER-PIGMENTATION (Darker spots) or HYPO-PIGMENTATION (Lighter spots) occurring in the lips, in response to the needles used in the lip tattoo process. Note: Darker complexions can experience these types of skin reactions from any disruptions to the skin (FROM) breakouts, cuts, burns, acne, lasers, chemicals or injections ). This can also occur if you have sensitive or highly reactive skin, are a smoker, spend a lot of time in the sun, or are on certain medications that are known to affect the skin. If this occurs, this usually resolves itself as the lip tissue heals over the course of 1 to 3 months. In rarer instances, this can continue for longer or require follow-up therapies to help resolve.
Ready to Go?
Book an Appointment…
To book an appointment, please email us at LookNaturalAtl@gmail or Call our office at 770-870-1844. We look forward to helping you achieve your cosmetic goals.
Wondering if You Are a Candidate for Lip Neutralization?
Compare your lips to the lips shown below. If your lips are similar to any of these pictures, you will be a great candidate for our Lip Neutralization Service.
