A beauty enthusiast from the UK found herself with an unexpected transformation after a routine lip-blush tattoo left her looking like a character straight out of Monsters, Inc.—but she insists she has no regrets.
Tash Evans, 21, underwent the permanent makeup procedure on January 18, hoping to add definition and color to her lips. But within minutes, her lips began swelling dramatically, eventually ballooning to nearly five times their usual size.
“I had a jump scare when I looked at myself in the mirror,” Tash recalled. “All I could see was the character Fungus from Monsters, Inc. when he gets stuck in the scream extractor machine.”
Despite the alarming reaction, Tash was able to find humor in the situation. Even her boyfriend couldn’t hold back his laughter, shutting the door on her after taking one look. Her parents, however, weren’t as amused. “My mum said how ‘ugly’ I looked and my dad told me I didn’t need the procedure,” she said.
Why She Got the Lip Tattoo
Tash had previously gotten lip fillers in her top lip to balance out her naturally fuller bottom lip. While she didn’t experience any issues with the fillers, she felt they blurred the outline of her lips—leading her to try lip blush tattooing.
“I wanted a more defined lip shape,” she explained. “I wasn’t expecting my lips to swell this much, though.”
The Aftermath & Social Media Frenzy
The swelling, which was supposed to subside by the evening, took a full two days to go down. In the meantime, Tash resorted to wearing a mask while out in public. “I had to wear a mask to Asda,” she said. “Luckily, I had the day off work for my boyfriend’s birthday.”
She shared a clip of her dramatically swollen lips on TikTok, which quickly racked up over 2.2 million views. Comments flooded in, with some people urging her to seek medical help, while others joked about her resemblance to the Monsters, Inc. character.
“Lip blush or scream extractor?” one user quipped. Another added, “Girl, take antihistamines—it should help.”
No Regrets
Despite the temporary swelling, Tash insists she doesn’t blame the practitioner and has no regrets. “I wasn’t in pain, so I can laugh about it,” she said. “Now that the swelling is gone, I’m really happy with the results.”
She even went as far as calling the lip blush tattoo the “best thing” she’s ever done, adding that the color and definition now look exactly as she had hoped.
Would you still get a lip tattoo after seeing this? Let us know in the comments!
