February 05, 2020Lips

Introducing the I 💋 INK Lip Collection

In case you haven’t noticed… lips are HOT right now.

Over the last five years, the beauty industry has been booming. We owe much of this to the beauty influencers and bloggers of the world, constantly (sometimes bravely) trying new procedures and cosmetics and sharing their experiences with us. There’s no shortage of celeb inspiration in our social feeds. Selfie culture is alive and well, often displaying beauty looks to die for.

So, what are two of the biggest things that have come out of this beauty-storm? Big brows and full, beautifully coloured lips.

Big brows hit us in our hearts hard, right around the time microblading became a thing—the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We saw celebrities flocking to get their brows microbladed and for the first time ever, permanent makeup was getting massive media attention. What an exciting time for our industry!

With the demand for microbladed eyebrows reaching unprecedented highs, our flourishing industry needed better, safer tools. This led me to create my Signature Microblades. High-quality pigments that paired well with microblading were the next big hurdle, so I made it my mission to bring the world’s best-performing pigments to the world and I ❤️INK was introduced.

What’s next on the agenda? The focus has shifted, of course, to lips, lips, and more lips!

It’s not surprising that lips have become so popular. They are the most sensuous part of the face, and yet many women notice that their lips deteriorate over time. This loss of the fuller, rosier, more defined lips we once had can feel like a loss of youth. But, a little boost of color and definition can have a huge impact. So impactful, that Coco Chanel famously said, “If you’re sad, add more lipstick and attack.” Boom. Let’s get our lip colour on and attack, ladies!

With our fingers on the pulse, my team and I have been focused on lips for the past year. Through our research, we discovered consumer search and demand for lip blushing procedures were hitting new heights and were even considered a replacement for traditional dermal fillers. “Lip blushing” procedures were popular but the process of getting comfortable with doing the procedure wasn’t, so I wanted to revamp how the procedure was done.

My first step in this new pursuit was to assess the market and examine where there were opportunities or shortcomings. I also wanted to identify the weak spots in the procedure itself. I wanted to create solutions to the problems I found that would benefit artists, and also make it super easy for our clients to commit to getting their lips done. I looked at how top artists were doing lip procedures and how potential clients were evaluating if they wanted a procedure at all. Here’s what I learned:

Women have a lot of anxiety when it comes to tattooing their lips. They are afraid of what the healed outcome will look like and they are not sure they want a permanent procedure like lip blushing/tattooing.
Existing lip pigment colors do not present themselves very well in the bottle. As an artist, it’s hard to show your client the color you will be using, as the color in the bottle does not translate well to the finished result.
Many existing lip pigment colors are dated. I found that the best artists are doing a lot of mixing to get the more modern, natural results their clients want. It’s hard to find these modern, natural-looking lip pigment colors in standalone bottles.
Retention is an issue. It is very common for artists to do two or three procedures to get the desired outcome.

So I made it my mission to solve these four issues with the intent of helping both artists and clients achieve beautiful outcomes. Here’s what I did:

Reduce Client Anxiety

If clients could try on a few different lip colors that actually demonstrated the end result, wouldn’t it help them to feel more comfortable with a lip procedure? And ultimately aid them in deciding to go ahead with one? It only makes sense. We wouldn’t buy a new outfit, shoes, or a car without first giving them a try. So with something as important as a permanent cosmetic procedure on a woman’s lips, I felt that this “try on” step was critical.

The Preview

To enable women to preview what the finished outcome would look like, I created 12 concentrated lip blush products that are matched to each of the lip pigment colors I made. This completely revolutionizes the lip procedure consultation. Now, as an artist, you can give your clients an opportunity to sample the future look they want. I’m confident that this will turn your consultations into bookings!

*Bonus: If your client isn’t ready to commit, you can send them home with a few different lip blushes and let them take more time to decide. This has the potential to add an entirely new retail sales stream for you as well.

Client trying on I 💋 INK lip blush in Dusty Pink

Modern color palette

In the past, I’ve used many brands and colors, but I was constantly mixing pinks, reds, nudes, and oranges to create the colors of today that are more modern and fresh. I wanted a line that looked like the color palettes we love to try on at Sephora—the colors we see on Insta and runways.

The leading cosmetic brands all have very rich, earthy, and sensuous colors that I would typically need to mix two or three traditional pigment colors together to achieve. Beautiful nudes, baby pinks, soft corals, and perfect cinnamon shades have been hard to come by on their own. If we want to capitalize on this lip trend, we need to match our clients’ favorite and modern lipsticks of today.

Working closely again with Perma Blend, I’ve developed a palette of fresh and modern colors that you can use with ease and your clients will love.

Retention

Ask any artist and they will tell you that lips are hard. One of the things that make lips so hard is retention. Historically, artists would have to do two or three treatments to “build” the color into the thin mucous membrane of the lips. In order to maximize results, the Tina Davies I 💋 INK Lip Collection has been specifically formulated with maximum pigment load to yield the highest level of retention after one treatment. So now, regardless if you are doing a lip blush or lipstick effect, you can deposit with maximum pigment load—saving you time and money. Your clients will be delighted to heal with lots of color with less time spent in the chair.

THE I 💋 INK LIP PROCESS

Our new I 💋 INK Lips offering is not just a product, it’s a new way to do lip procedures. Here’s how the process works:

STEP 1 - TRY IT

Reimagine your consultations by allowing your clients to try out the color(s) they would like to have done by using our lip blush glosses that are perfectly paired to the pigments. These lip blushes are highly concentrated so apply conservatively with a disposable applicator. During the consultation, you can reference the color chart together with your client for easy selection.

The 12 Lip Blush colors of LUST and ENVY Collection

STEP 2 - DRAW IT

Pre-draw the shape with the matching pencil. A sharpener is included for precision sharpening. This will help your clients get even more comfortable with your ability to deliver their desired outcome.

The 12 Lip Liner Pencils of LUST and ENVY Collection

STEP 3 - INK IT

Tattoo the lips with the color(s) your client selected.

STEP 4 - BLUSH IT

Offer the lip blush as the perfect take-home accessory to enhance your client’s results.

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

The I 💋INK Lips offering comes in two collections: LUST and ENVY. Each collection is focused around six beautiful, modern colors (12 in total).

The ENVY Collection

The LUST Collection

Each collection includes:

6 ½ oz pigments in a broad range of modern colors (all with maximum pigment load)
6 matching lip glosses to try the color
6 matching lip liners to draw the shape
1 color chart
10 disposable lip gloss applicators