Can Laser Remove a Terrible Permanent Lip Liner?

This is a problem because the pink or red inks have, as you say, a mixture. The white pigments may contain iron which when hit by the laser is changed to a black pigment. Then you have a black permanent lip liner.So the way we proceed is to test a spot with the Q-switched laser and see if there is no color change. If there is not, then we might treat a small area and wait.  If after 30 minutes there is no color change when the immediate white reaction from the laser subsides, then we can go ahead and treat this, probably with the 532 YAG for red.  However, there can be a mix of pigments and more than one wavelength might be needed.   If the pigment were to turn black, sometimes treating the black with the ruby or alexandrite or 1064 YAG might remove it.  Finally the ablative CO2 or erbium laser may have to be removed to try to remove the skin layer by layer and get rid of the pigment as it heals.   Usually there is no scarring with Q-switched tattoo laser, perhaps 1% of patients get some texture change.  Reds are a challenge and hopefully this was a vegetable based dye. I have seen allergic reactions when metallic red pigments were treated with Q-switched laser, presumably by changing the composition to something the body would react to.

The use of a q-switched tattoo removal laser is an effective treatment to remove unwanted lip liner. It may take multiple treatments but generally is very successful. Typically for red inks it takes us about 4 to 6 treatments. Other types of tattoo lasers can take from 4 to 12 treatments. It is unlikely that the laser for tattoo would cause scarring based upon the photos you have submitted.

You may benefit from either tattoo removal or Fraxel laser resurfacing to reduce the appearance of the tattooed lip line. Please consult a certified laser technician or a board certified plastic surgeon.

IT may also oxidise it making it black. This is because liner and cosmetic tattoo use metals such as iron or titanium dioxide. A few helpful pointers for laser removal of flesh coloured tattoos// liners/ cosmetic tattoos-1. Test spot2. If it turns black, retreat with a 1064 nm Q Switch laser for several more times3. Be careful who lasers the tattoo, as they need to know how to deal with oxidised tattoos. Hope that helps, Dr Davin Lim Dermatologist.