New fashion hit Nigeria, men tattoo their lips pink

There's a new mens fashion craze sweeping Nigeria - to tattoo your lips pink. So BattaBox heads to a tattoo parlour to find out ... why?!

"It's a mens fashion label," says one customer as he gets ready for the pink lips. "It's to get the girls."



The tattoo parlour owner - named "Only Boy" John - then takes his needle and puts a pink balm on the lower lip. The whole process takes about 30 minutes and can be painful. The tattoo artists insist they sterilise the needle and use a new one. Only Boy then wipes away the balm with cotton wool to reveal a sore but pinker lip.

"When people go for interviews, they will look at their face and lips," explains Only Boy John. "And people will be scared of their lips because they are black,"

But perhaps the scariest thing is that this latest Nigerian mens fashion trend is permanent- "This is for life," explains Only Boy.