The Five Critical Errors
Five errors account for the vast majority of unsatisfactory lip blushing outcomes. Each has a specific root cause, a recognisable early warning sign, and a prevention protocol. Understanding these five errors transforms the practitioner from someone who reacts to problems into someone who prevents them.
Error 1: Colour shift — the healed result is a different hue than intended. Root cause: inadequate undertone assessment or failure to account for Fitzpatrick-related colour behaviour. The practitioner selected pigment based on what it looked like in the bottle rather than how it would interact with the client's specific skin undertone and natural lip pigmentation. Prevention: complete the Module 3 colour assessment protocol — undertone analysis, Fitzpatrick typing, colour preview test — before every procedure without exception.
Error 2: Uneven saturation — patchy, inconsistent colour across the lip surface. Root cause: inconsistent needle depth, machine speed variation, or failure to account for tissue thickness differences between upper and lower lip. Prevention: maintain constant hand pressure and systematically cover the entire surface, checking for even density after each pass rather than working to completion in one area before moving to the next.
Error 3: Border irregularity — uneven, wobbly, or asymmetric outline. Root cause: mapping errors, freehand placement without reference points, or working on a moving target (client talking, wincing, swelling). Prevention: complete the Module 2 mapping protocol and stabilise the lip tissue with your non-dominant hand before every border pass. If the client is moving, stop. Reposition. Resume.
Error 4: Over-saturation — colour too dark or dense for the intended archetype. Root cause: too many passes, excessive machine speed, or failure to monitor cumulative density during the procedure. Prevention: work incrementally, assess after each pass, and stop when saturation reaches target rather than adding "one more pass for safety."
Error 5: Pigment migration — colour spreading beyond the intended placement boundaries. Root cause: excessive needle depth, overworking traumatised tissue, or pigment implantation into structurally compromised areas (scar tissue, border advancement zone).
Pigment Migration Patterns
Migration occurs when pigment travels through tissue rather than remaining where it was deposited. It follows predictable pathways: along blood vessels (vascular migration), through lymphatic channels (lymphatic spread), and into areas of tissue disruption (trauma-assisted migration). The border zones are most vulnerable because the vermilion border is a tissue transition point where different structural properties meet.
Prevention is always preferable to correction. The prevention triad: controlled needle depth (no deeper than the papillary dermis), appropriate machine speed (consistent, moderate), and avoiding overworking any single area (maximum 3 passes in the same zone). Once migration has occurred, correction requires waiting for the pigment to fully settle (8-12 weeks minimum) before assessing whether camouflage, laser, or saline removal is the appropriate intervention.
Border bleed — pigment spreading beyond the vermilion border into facial skin — is the most visible and distressing form of migration. It typically occurs when the needle is angled outward at the border rather than perpendicular to the surface, or when excessive border advancement places pigment in facial skin tissue that lacks the retention properties of vermilion tissue. Prevention: work with the needle angled slightly inward at the border, and never advance beyond the 1.5mm maximum threshold from Module 8.
Correction Strategies
Correction work is a distinct skill set from application work. It requires patience, advanced colour theory, and the willingness to work across multiple sessions rather than attempting a single-pass fix. Four scenarios cover the majority of corrections needed.
Colour correction uses complementary pigments to neutralise unwanted hues — the same principles from Module 6 (Dark Lip Neutralisation) applied to correcting previous work rather than natural pigmentation. An orange-shifted result requires a cool corrector. A grey-shifted result requires a warm corrector. The corrective pigment must be applied at the same depth as the pigment being corrected.
Saturation correction for patchy results uses strategic targeted application to even out density differences. Map the high-density and low-density zones at the assessment appointment, then apply pigment only in the low-density zones at the correction session. Do not re-apply to high-density areas — this compounds the unevenness.
Border correction for irregularity depends on the direction of the error. If the border is inside the natural vermilion (under-extended), it can be extended to the correct position in a touch-up session. If the border is outside the natural vermilion (over-extended or migrated), correction options are limited to camouflage with skin-tone pigment, laser removal, or saline removal — all of which carry their own risks and limitations.
Managing Client Complaints
Not every complaint indicates an error. The diagnostic framework applies to client communications as much as to the procedure itself. When a client contacts you with a concern, the first step is to determine where they are in the healing timeline — a complaint at day 7 about colour loss is a normal healing stage, not a procedure failure. A complaint at day 42 about persistent colour shift is a genuine issue that requires assessment and potential correction.
The five most common client complaints and their diagnostic context: "It's too dark" (days 1-3: normal oxidation — reassure and wait), "The colour disappeared" (days 10-14: ghost phase — reassure and wait), "It's patchy" (days 5-14: uneven peeling, often resolves — assess at 6 weeks), "One side looks different" (days 1-14: swelling variation between sides — assess at 6 weeks), "It's the wrong colour" (assess only at 6+ weeks when healing is complete — if genuinely shifted, plan correction using colour theory).
Documentation as Protection
Document every complaint. Photograph every concern under controlled conditions (natural daylight, standardised distance, no filters). Compare against baseline documentation taken during consultation. The practitioner who has thorough pre-procedure photographs and written assessment can demonstrate whether a client's concern is a procedure issue or a pre-existing condition that was already documented.
This documentation also protects against claims that escalate beyond the practitioner-client relationship. Insurance companies, regulatory bodies, and legal advisors all require evidence. Contemporaneous documentation — photographs and notes made at the time of assessment and treatment — carries significantly more weight than retrospective recollection.
When to Refer
Some corrections exceed the scope of pigment-on-pigment work. Significant migration into facial skin, severe allergic reactions, scarring from overworked tissue, and infection all require medical intervention rather than cosmetic correction. The diagnostic practitioner recognises the boundary between corrective PMU and medical referral. Attempting to fix a medical issue with more pigment compounds the problem.
Case Study: The Day-7 Panic Call
A client contacts you 7 days after an Ombré lip procedure with a photograph showing her lower lip significantly lighter than her upper lip, with visible patchiness. She is convinced the lower lip "didn't take" and requests an immediate touch-up. Her original procedure was well-executed with consistent passes across both lips.
The diagnostic assessment: day 7 is peak peeling phase. The lower lip has a larger surface area, more tissue movement (talking, eating), and typically peels more aggressively than the upper lip. The photograph shows peeling in progress — the lighter patches are areas where surface pigment has already shed, while the darker patches are areas where peeling has not yet occurred. The upper lip appears more even because it has less surface area and the peeling is at a different stage.
The response: compare her day-7 photograph against day-0 post-procedure photographs (both lips evenly saturated). Explain the peeling timeline and why the lower lip often appears to heal unevenly before it heals evenly. Schedule a check-in at day 28 to assess the true settled result. Under no circumstances perform a touch-up at day 7 — the tissue is mid-healing, fragile, and will not retain pigment. Adding needle trauma to incompletely healed tissue risks scarring and makes the final result worse, not better.
At the day-28 check-in: both lips had settled to even, matching saturation. The patchiness at day 7 was entirely a peeling-stage artefact. The client's anxiety was managed through communication and documentation rather than through unnecessary clinical intervention.