If you answered “yes” to the question then look no further – Kensington Mums have the solution and it is to pay a visit to London Permanent Make- lovely April Lui will take care of you and give you that amazing look you are wishing to have.
If you are like me, a working mum plus with whole additional house chores load and all the after school activities runs, then this can be the perfect solution for you to save time in the mornings, no need to have any touch-ups during the day when you are running late already for a working meeting or if you went to the gym during lunchtime and don’t want to give the impression you have been crying non-stop due to the eyeliner streaks on your cheeks, then permanent makeup is your solution.
I have wished for luscious lips like the models have all my life. To have some colour on my lips so I don’t look so pale as even if I have spent a fortune on tattoo lipsticks or 24 lipsticks; they always tend to go away and not last as long as they say they will. So after doing extensive research, I can tell you, it can be very scary what you find, I read some literally “horror” stories about unprofessionals doing permanent make-up. I also read how painful it is, especially as the lips are a very tender area of the face that can get easily swollen. It has always been on my mind to do but never really got the courage to proceed. Until I met April.
We first had a phone conversation and she explained to me that most of her clients that are looking to tattoo their lips are the ones that have also tried fillers on their lips and after having their lips tattooed they don’t even need to go back to fillers as they have a much nice and natural look. Which I was totally interested in. She explained thoroughly all the implications and what to expect.
Booking my appointment was quick as she was very accommodating understanding that I could only attend when my son was in nursery and not during Half Term. We also booked in the touch-up session which is recommended to be done 4-6 weeks after the first one.
She sent via post a patch test kit that needed to be done and completed before attending the first session to ensure I had no allergic reactions to the ink.
I also received many documentations and consent forms that needed to be completed following a very rigorous procedure and standards including Covid consents; showing full duty of care and great healthy protocol practices. She also sent me documents specific for the lips treatments containing all the relevant information about the pre-treatment advice and after-treatment. If there is any specific look and you have pictures to show she recommends bringing them with you so she can have an idea.
The day of my appointment came and I was nervous and scared yet super excited to have my dream come true. I arrived at her own private studio where she practices. She immediately took all necessary precautions related to the current pandemic times i.e.: took my temperature and gave me hand sanitiser and also gave me some shoe protectors to place on top of my own shoes so as to keep a sterile environment. We then reviewed all the paperwork and signed more documents and then jumped onto the exciting part.
April has been from the start a very approachable and professional permanent make-up artist – yes artist as she redesigned my lips in a lovely shape that suited me perfectly. She carefully listened to my likings and what I wanted to achieve. I told her that I was looking for a very natural look that can enhance my lips and that gave me that extra colour in my face that is very fair all year long!
She quickly started by designing my lips with some pencil and then showed me to ensure I liked the shape she created. Once I was content, we were off to placing the numbing cream to start the treatment.
Then she showed me all the different colours she had and we took some time to select the right colours for me. She did a bespoke colour by mixing together some reds, orange and brown to achieve the colour that was to my liking.
Numbing cream was doing its magic and so we were ready to start the tattooing, I have to say it hurts as any beauty treatment does, but it is not that painful and also she has a great hand and is very mindful and puts more numbing cream on if the pain is too much.
So, after roughly like 2 hours as there was some more mixing we needed to add to the colours I was ready and surprisingly for me to see that my lips looked swollen but in a natural and good way. So much so, that my partner hardly noticed but yes this is so normal with him as men are mostly never noticing all we women do! She gave me an ointment that I needed to apply to the area at least 3 times per day and suggested that I avoid eating spicy food (so happy this is never in my diet) and also avoid drinking hot beverages, no kissing to avoid infection, and to avoid saunas, pools, etc for 2 weeks.
The next day my lips were a little swollen but they came back to normal very quickly and I felt as if I was in the sun for a little longer. I must admit I was very happy that the pain was tolerable and that I didn’t have any side effects and that my lips were not that swollen.
Exactly one week after my lips started to peel and I have to admit it was hard not to touch them especially when there is a piece of skin that you want to rip off. But you need to be very patient and wait until it falls by itself. This is the hardest part ever. My lips after the skin layer peeled off looked as if there was no colour and then after a couple of days, the colour came back.
Then I had a lovely natural shape and colour to my lips that enhanced my full face. Right after the 4 weeks, my lips were more than completely healed. I was due to go back for my touch-up session. April listened to me and gave me a very subtle colour and so she even said that she was sure that I will ask her to go darker on my touch-up session and she was right.
I went for my touch session and again she followed all the same sanitary procedures and off we were to sign off all the paperwork. Then to the more exciting part selecting the colour. She convinced me to be bolder and go a little darker and I am so happy she did. We selected the right tone by mixing a couple of colours she had until she came up with the right tone which was not too orangy nor a femme fatal red – it was exactly the right colour for my liking that matched my skin tone.
This time it was even less painful I have to say. Not sure if it was the new numbing cream she got or that my lips were now accustomed or the excitement I had to get them done again. Overall I have to say that it was much less painful. Once again, April provided me with the aftercare cream I needed to apply to my lips to take away.
My lips were swollen only right after the treatment as the next day they were normal. I attended an event the following day and was so happy to have my lips with the amazing colour April achieved that lasted the whole night long! Exactly five days after the touch up my lips were peeling again which is the part that is not very nice. It can be very challenging not to pick on your lips when the dead skin will start to peel off, but you must not do so.
Your lips will be a little sensitive after. Make sure to put on the cream on the lips to hydrate them. You will see that the colour will be almost gone but in less than a week’s time the colour came back again and I can tell you how happy I am with the results.
Totally worth tattooing my lips and so happy I did it with April. She also does eyebrows as well as eyeliners. The pictures I have seen of these treatments are absolutely stunning so I can fully recommend coming to April and getting the look you want that will give you free time every morning as you won’t have to put any makeup on after coming to her. What are you waiting for to look perfect and natural all the time plus save some time in your daily routine? Book in your consultation today!
April Lui
Permanent Makeup Artist & Anti-Ageing Strategist
London Permanent Makeup
+44 (0)77 250 47821
www.londonpermanentmakeup.co.uk
Email: april@londonpermanentmakeup.co.uk
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