A lot of you have asked me on Instagram about my recent experience with semi-permanent lip tattooing at Princessbrows. Read below for my complete review of the experience, from the consultation and procedure to the healing process and results. I've been following accounts like @art_face_london since forever, and was initially thinking of doing it when I was in Europe next. But I also realized that these studios abroad tend to charge more for tanned/darker skin tones (Fitzpatrick 3-4), and seem more specialised in fairer skin tones.
I came upon Rebecca from Princessbrows' work here in Hong Kong, and I immediately messaged her for a booking. Princessbrows is the tried-and-true expert in the city for the highly delicate technique of semi-permanent lip tattooing, with years of experience and several 5-star reviews from satisfied clients. The price is set at HK$8,000 including a free touch-up within 3 months, with a non-refundable advanced deposit of HK$2,000. The procedure is relatively painless thanks to the turbo numbing cream produced in-house by Princessbrows, and the whole thing took around 1 hour from start to finish. The healing process takes around 1-2 weeks, and the colour is supposed to last approximately 5 years. What an awesome deal, especially for someone like me with naturally dead-looking (no joke) lips without lipstick. I am sooo beyond happy with my lips now, four and a half weeks on. They look naturally rosy, never feel dry, and the lines of my cupid's bow are also more even thanks to shape correction by Rebecca.
The photo on the LEFT was taken on the day of the procedure (27 February), when I had no makeup on my lips. You can see that the shape isn't very distinctive at all, and the colour looks dull - a look I don't miss at all. On the right is the photo I took last weekend (March 30), completely healed and without touch-up. I'm only thinking of going back for a touch-up sometime over the month for the chance of ensuring it'll last the full five years that it's meant to, rather than because I think it needs correcting.
From here on, I'll explain what went down during the consultation and tattooing procedure. First, the specialist takes a look at the kind of colour you want to achieve, which for me was a peachy pink colour by Charlotte Tilbury that I was already wearing on my lips. From that, Rebecca was able to determine exactly the colour pigment to use for me. She then applied the numbing cream (pictured above) and left me for around 25 mins while it set in. By the time she came back, my lips were sooo numb I couldn't feel anything that touched them. She drew a mock-up of my lips so she knew precisely where to shade by using a red lipliner pencil first, adding a little bit more to my top lip to even out my cupid's bow.
She began the tattooing process with the lipline - could barely feel the needle at all and felt no pain - and after, the lips are filled in with swift strokes. The numbing will of course wear off eventually, so you can let your technician know at any time if you feel discomfort so the cream can be reapplied.
RIGHT AFTER THE PROCEDURE. My lips swelled up like this - but don't worry, this only lasted one and a half days maximum. It was definitely a little bit more swollen the morning after when I woke up, and the colour looked exaggerated. No pain, though. Make sure you're prepared for your lips to look bolder for the first 2-3 days, similar to how your eyebrows look after a microblading session. For me, the colour finally settled down a lot on the fourth day. Throughout the week, you can only 1) sip from a straw when drinking liquids, and 2) you can't kiss anyone! Those are the two cardinal rules, other than the obvious things like no picking/scratching at it. Food-wise, I ate whatever I wanted.
Throughout the healing process over the first week, I noticed my colour was shifting a lot - like the top would be darker than the bottom, the middle of my bottom lip would become paler, etc. But when I addressed my concerns to Rebecca, she assured me it was just part of the process and it would even out better after 2 weeks, which it did! Must be patient. If you're worried about scabbing, there was none of that. The Princessbrows technique ensures that your lips don't scab or flake.
And the result after 2 weeks! Colour is even, and I only use regular balm to moisturize here and there. Lipsticks are now for special occasions only. It's a great way to curb your lipstick-buying addiction (which I definitely had before this) and l love how little effort I have to put into lipcare now when I'm getting ready for events, or even for work. If you have any questions I haven't already answered here, comment here or shoot me a DM on @furellie.
📞Phone: 2799 0800 / 2117 1786 📨Email: info@Princessbrows.com 🏯Location: 1604-05, car Po commercial building, Lyndhurst terrace, Central, Hong Kong 😴Numbing: Perfect Numb ⏰Treatment time: 1 hour -1.5 hour
😃Healing time: 1 week 😙Lasting times: 5 years for lips
😳Painfulness: 0- minimum 🎨The house of PMU pigment Appointment: HK$2000 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit