Laser Tattoo Removal and Skin Colour Ink Cover Up - United Kingdom

I had a tat done and stupidly did not check the transfer before actually getting it inked, thus afterwards I noticed... its the wrong way round. My little dragon was facing the wrong way on my arm. I loved the tattoo itself, it was purely the positioning that got to me. Now this my sound picky and pathetic, but I had to get it changed, I had to get my little dragon the right way round. So I made the choice to have it removed and redone the correct way. Picky? yes. Worth it? quite possibly for some, no, but to me, yes!
Why am I telling people this? Well I would like to give a bit of hope to those who have either been there and done that with laser removal and are left with little patches which just wont shift. Or those looking to give it a go.

My dragon was black outline with a main body of purple and green underbelly.
I didnt have much money and did think I was stuck with it for good, but glimmer of hope number 1: I found groupon deals for tattoo removal. 4 sessions for just £99. Bargain, so snatch up that deal did I.
Luckily groupon continued to do these deals every few months, so I would just wait until they did the deal again and buy some more cheap sessions. Even when the sessions were not available, because I had found the laser removal place via groupon, I was business they wouldnt have otherwise had, so they offered any sessions without a groupon voucher at half price. In the end I think I had about 12 sessions for about £300. Which I think is great as I have heard that some people pay this amount just for 1 session.
Anyway, so there is hope number 1 for people looking at getting removal but cant quite afford it, keep your eyes peeled on groupon or wowcher for offers.

Now, hope number 2: After 12 painful sessions (for those who have not had laser yet, yes it does hurt, a hell of a lot, I found it hurt much much more than having the tattoo done in the first place. I would much rather have more tattoos done, than lasers. Ouchy!)
So 12 sessions later, although the black outlines are completely gone, I was still left with some little patches of purple and green which just would not go. I was made aware at the start that it may not go completely, which I understood.

So I went and had my dragon 'repositioned' the right way. So now I am happy that I have my dragon back and its the right way round now, in the right place. But was still left with some little purple green patches either side of my newly positioned dragon.
I then thought about going over these patches with skin coloured ink. I went to a local tattooist and asked about it, they had never done it before and were a bit unsure, so I offered to be their guinea pig, as I would much rather have a slightly off skin colour patch than a 'mouldy bruised' patch. lol.

So off we started with testing, the first session of skin coloured ink was good, it seemed to work, but as it healed I rejected some of the ink. Next session we went a bit deeper and although I still rejected some of the ink, the patches of ink that did stay did their job and covered the green and purple! :-) result.
Now we are continuing with skin colour ink sessions, by session 4 there was still some little bits where the ink just wasnt staying, I think its because of the scar tissue from the lasering. So another idea occured to me, numbing cream. I thought it might make my arm less sensitive in order for the tattooist to go that little bit deeper, and I also thought it would hopefully reduce the blood (yes, Im a bleeder) another reason I think some the ink wasnt staying in, I was bleeding it out.
So session 5 was yesterday and we tried it with numbing cream. It seemed to work, it wasnt as sensitive, so she could get the ink a bit deeper and I didnt bleed as much as I have previously.

Only time will tell whether this session worked, but in the mean time the patches of ink that did stay worked wonders, in fact the patches of nose and claw that were left poking out from my new dragons arm are pretty much completely gone, you have to really search for them to see it.
Thus, there is hope number 2, for those of you left with little patches of tattoo that lasers just will not shift, you can go over them with skin coloured ink.

(For those who are in the UK, Essex, Basildon area, I recommend Originality Studios for skin colour coverups)

Ok, so I think I have now had 4 or 5 sessions of skin coloured ink, to try and cover up what was left after laser removal.
There has certainly been an improvement, and has most certainly faded, in fact the dragons nose and claw, which was poking out on the right side, is now pretty much completely gone. And the rest, I can still see it very clearly, BUT I think it stands out to me more because I know its there, and I am deliberately looking for it.
I have had a couple of people say they didnt notice it until I pointed it out. So seems its working well.
I also found that my first 3 sessions of ink colouring wasnt as deep as it could have been. Due to it being over scar tissue from the laser, the tattooist was being delicate and going easy on me, knowing its more painful... so the way round it... numbing cream. I put some on before my most recent session, and couldnt feel a thing, which meant the tattooist could go deeper than previously, which also seemed to help. As before some of the ink bled out in places on the first few times. But using the numbing cream, it could go deeper and longer, which meant the ink stayed in better.
The difference I notice in doing it with numbing cream, wasnt just the pain difference, but I noticed that the ink stayed in on top of the green, much better than it had previously. So, seems, success! :-D
I shall continue to have a few more sessions, this time using the numbing cream, and hope that I can finally be rid of my patches.
I also hope that all of you can see the difference and can see that it is indeed working/fading.

Just a quick update, I have not had any more ink touch ups for a while, I think I got to about 5 skin coloured ink sessions, it has improved it alot and the purple and green left overs have faded/hidden under the skin coloured ink.
Unfortunately my tattooist had to shut down her shop as she couldnt afford the rent, but she is moving to a new studio, so once shes settled in and I get a chance, I shall have some more.