Travel vlogger Kaylen — known on social media as @kaylendoesstuff — documented her “excruciatingly painful” experience getting a lip blushing treatment
A travel vlogger has gone viral after showing off her “failed” attempt at a lip blushing treatment during her trip to Colombia.
Kaylen — known on social media as @kaylendoesstuff — posted a TikTok video, which has now garnered over 15.3 million views, documenting the experience and the shocking results.
Lip blushing is a semi-permanent tattoo that can enhance the color and shape of your lips and give the impression of more fullness, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This is done by depositing color ink into the lips and along the lip line to improve the overall look. The color is typically subtle in order to give natural-looking results.
“When I took this video, I realized, ‘Wait, I actually really like my lips, maybe I shouldn’t do this,’” Kaylen said in the clip as she walked to her appointment. “And while I was getting the numbing thing I was like, ‘Ok I definitely should go home.’ But I did not go home!”
Kaylen said she wanted a pink color, however the practitioner insisted she get a “bright ruby red” color, which she assured would fade to pink. She ultimately agreed despite her hesitancy.
The 23-year-old content creator then explained how she was “suffering” during the application process and the results were alarming, giving a close up look at her extremely swollen, red lips that left her barely able to talk.
“It was excruciatingly painful. I was swelling like crazy, it felt so raw and numb and I looked really bad,” she said. “Honestly, if you’re thinking about getting this done, just buy lipstick. It was so painful I had to beg her to stop. I just looked the worst out of anyone I’ve seen get this done.”
Later on her YouTube channel, Kaylen showed the aftermath to the lip blushing treatment. The following day, the swelling slowly started to go down but the red color began peeling, which she called “nasty and disgusting.”
By day four, the peeling stopped and all of the red color was gone, leaving her lips a purple color that just got “darker and darker.”
Kaylen said her lips looked “way worse than before,” even on day 16.
She assured that she went to a “fancy” establishment for the lip blushing but admitted that it was “not worth it” due to the pain, swelling, peeling, and recovery time. Kaylen also noted that she paid $50 for the treatment, which is a lot more expensive in the United States — and another reason why she wouldn’t recommend it.
Lip blushing isn’t covered by insurance and typically costs between $500 and $1,500 per session, varying by location, the Cleveland Clinic states.
Kaylen explained that the experience has taught her a valuable lesson about beauty and self-love.
“Obviously you can enhance your beauty with makeup, false lashes, nails, things like that, but your nose is the right shape, hips the right size, lips the right color,” she said. “This whole thing has made me realize I’m perfect the way that I am. I don’t want to change a thing. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”
