Cosmetic procedures are often seen as a quick way to enhance one’s appearance, but sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

One young woman’s beauty treatment took an unexpected turn, leaving her looking far from the glamorous result she anticipated.

What unfolded next is a cautionary tale about the risks of certain cosmetic enhancements.


A 21-year-old woman from Manchester, Tash Evans, was left shocked and amused.

She had undergone a lip tattoo procedure, only to experience an extreme allergic reaction.

Tash decided to have her lips tattooed on 18 January, a procedure that involves injecting pigment into the lips to create a semi-permanent tint.


What was meant to be a beauty enhancement turned into a bizarre situation when Tash's lips swelled up to five times their normal size.

'I had a jump scare when I looked at myself in the mirror,' Tash said.

'They started swelling as soon as she started doing it.'

She was initially unaware of how severe the swelling was, thinking it was just a normal reaction.

'When they're numbed, they feel swollen anyway, so I didn't realise how bad it was. I didn't know my lips could go that big.'


Tash could not help but compare herself to Fungus, a character from Disney Pixar's Monsters Inc., who also suffers a similar fate of ballooning lips after being sucked into a scream extractor.


'My mum said how "ugly" I looked and her and my dad did the usual thing of saying I "didn't need it."'

When her boyfriend saw her, they both burst out laughing, and he even shut the door on her.

Tash is no stranger to cosmetic procedures, having previously had filler placed in her top lip. She had felt her bottom lip was disproportionately larger and wanted to balance it out.

She shared: 'I've had lip filler before and had no problems. This has never happened before, but tattooing is different.'

She opted for the tattoo because the filler had left her lip outline 'blurry', and she wanted to achieve more definition.

The swelling, fortunately, started to subside after two days.


However, Tash was forced to wear a mask when leaving the house, as the swelling had left her looking quite different.

She added: 'I had to wear a mask to Asda and luckily I booked the day off work on Monday for my boyfriend's birthday.'

Despite the shock, Tash found the situation humorous and shared a clip of her swollen lips on social media.

The video went viral, accumulating over 1.2 million views.


Tash said: 'People were saying it's an allergic reaction and were telling me to go to A&E but I wasn't going to do that.'

'There are more important people who need A&E.'

She explained that there were more urgent cases in the hospital, and since she wasn’t in pain, she was able to laugh about it.

In the end, Tash was happy with the results, especially the colour, once the swelling had gone down.

She doesn’t believe the practitioner was at fault, stating that she had been kind and responded promptly to her concerns.


A lipstick tattoo, also known as lip blushing, is a cosmetic procedure that involves tattooing pigment into the lips to provide a semi-permanent tint.

The procedure uses a handheld device to insert pigment into the upper layer of the skin.

A numbing cream is applied beforehand to minimize discomfort.

This treatment can last up to two years, with costs ranging $500 and $1200

Cosmetologists typically carry out a patch test before the procedure to check for allergic reactions to the pigment or anaesthetic cream.

Despite the scare, Tash maintained a positive outlook and laughed at the situation, saying she was glad she could make people’s day with her viral video.


After experiencing such a dramatic reaction, do you think cosmetic procedures like lip tattoos are worth the risk? Share your thoughts in the comments below!