Think Before You Ink

Every Monday I receive at least one or two phone calls from people who want their tattoos removed. Great you think, if you remove tattoos, that’s exactly what you want – new clients.

The dilemma for me and the person calling is that the tattoo was usually applied on the previous Saturday night / Sunday morning and they really want it gone immediately however it isn’t possible to remove a brand new, freshly inked piece of skin art.

As tempting as it is to try to clean off the fresh, still drying ink from the skin, it cannot be touched for AT LEAST 8 WEEKS until the tattoo settles and the skin fully heals from the tattooing process.

I was faced with this problem a little while ago when a young lady came to see me at the Clinic.

She was crying, and I mean crying! She had a tattoo done that morning and it was nothing like she wanted. As a result she came straight over to us to remove it immediately. She assumed since it went on instantly, and as it was so fresh it should come off the same way, instantly.

After I explained that I cannot laser an unhealed patch of skin under any circumstances, I asked what happened. Between her sobs she told me the whole story.

She explained that she really wanted to get a tattoo for a long time but was nervous. Then she visited the tattoo artist that morning with a desire for her first tattoo after finally plucking up the courage to get one. She had a vague idea of what she wanted but wasn’t certain exactly of what she wanted. She assumed the tattoo artist would know exactly what she wanted. So she talked to the artist and felt that he understood her requirements, so she let him go ahead. 

Looking at the tattoo, I saw nothing wrong with it. I’ve seen some really bad tattoos. As a tattoo, this particular one was perfect and quite beautiful. Well inked, great artwork, well defined, expertly executed and finished. Technically, a great tattoo to be truly proud of.

However to the young lady it was just WRONG – NOTHING like the tattoo she wanted even though she couldn’t describe what she wanted.

So after reassuring her that we will be able to remove the tattoo in a couple of months after it heals fully, she left the Clinic. I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her because whilst she really wanted a tattoo, she didn’t know what tattoo she wanted. 

To me that is the most important part of getting  tattoo – knowing EXACTLY what you want and why you want it. It pays to be fussy, bossy, picky and difficult in getting precisely the tattoo you want otherwise you might end up getting a great tattoo, but not the great tattoo YOU really wanted.