A reaction to a red lip cosmetic tattoo

Abstract

A 42-year-old white woman had a red cosmetic tattoo applied to her upper and lower lips in March 1996. The tattoo healed within 2 weeks with no complications. Two weeks later, to define further the color and borders of the tattoo, the patient underwent a second application of the same red lip tattoo. Within a few days, her lips became edematous, pruritic, crusted, and tender. She was treated with a topical corticosteroid ointment twice daily for 4 weeks, and her eruption improved. Another steroid ointment was then used intermittently for 5 months until she experienced a small ulceration on her lower lip.