POSTED UNDER Tattoo Removal Reviews
Laser
UPDATED FROM AnnKobe
14 days post
3 days after first laser session of the colours (2 weeks after laser session on the black part)
it's still hurting and itching like hell, far worse than 2 weeks ago. I wonder if this has to do with the colours. I couldn't sleep for 2 nights now, turning crazy. Hopefully the itching will stop soon.
ORIGINAL POST
Laser Tattoo Removal After 2 Cover Ups
Hello there! My name is Ann and I created a profile on this website in Jan 2019 and must admit that I'm really happy that I've discovered all of you with plenty of information, photos and stories. It helped me for sure. And it still does!
I hesitated on posting my own story, but I think it works both ways ;-)
So here we go. 7 years ago I got a tattoo on my back with the names of my 3 children. I loved it and I would still love it.... if it would have stayed the same. I'm really unlucky when it comes to tattoos ... after some years the names became blurry, apparently this is also known as a tattoo blowout.
Unfortunately this is not the only story I have for all of you.
As I was really happy (at first) with the tattoo on my spine, I went for 2 other tattoos at the same tattoo artist. One of them is really beautiful I think and it didn't change through time. The second one is another story.
Never ever give your tattoo artist full freedom. Seriously, what was I thinking when I told him: do whatever you want, I trust you, I just want something on my upper arm (the other ones I couldn't see, because they are on my back, this time I wanted to be able to see it myself) and it should make people think about plants or flowers, but it can't be plants or flowers. The tattoo artist told me that he knew exactly what I wanted (naive me was thinking alike) and so he started with the tattoo.... eventually I ended up with something that made some people think about a funny squid.
I waited for more than 2 years, I tried to love it, but I couldn't. Horrible!
I started searching on the internet 3 years ago. Didn't know what to do. Finally (I didn't do enough research!!) I decided to search for someone who could cover the tattoo with another tattoo. Laser seemed to leave an ugly shadow there where the tattoo had been before.
So I visited a lot of tattoo artists and finally I found a woman that wanted to help me. She's specialised in cover ups. I like her, but I still don't understand why she never told me that laser was the easiest option, because of (and this she only said after doing the cover up) the fact that the initial tattoo was grey with some shadows and so easy to get removed by laser.
After 4 sessions I ended up with something I liked for 50%. I talked about it with the tattoo artist, but she was very reluctant in changing anything else and advised me to wait. So I waited.... and I didn't start loving my cover up. As I liked it partially I never stopped searching on the internet, hoping to find some ideas or other tattoo artists that could help me.
A year ago I found a young woman. Her work is beautiful and she's also mainly doing cover ups. I visited her and she was very honest from the beginning. She could help me, but also made it very clear to me that a cover up of a cover up would become very dark. It was up to me and I was still convinced of the fact that a cover up was my only good option. At that point in time I also accepted to work with colours (before I only wanted black tattoos), as that seemed the only way to change the tattoo.
What she did was extremely good. She used butterflies and a flower to change the tattoo. The tattoo itself became more feminine but also very dark.... something I once again couldn't get used to.
And there I was, thinking 'what the hell have I done with my body, how did I get here?'.
I tried to ignore the problem by hiding my upper arm with clothes (not always easy) and by not talking about it with family or friends.
Ignoring didn't help me. After some months the initial cover up became more visible, as the second cover up faded a bit.
Thanks to google and facebook I came across a laser clinic in my neighbourhood. I made an appointment and showed them the tattoo on my back with the blowout. I also showed the tattoo on my arm and I could see at the face of the doctor that this was going to be an enormous challenge.
By now I've had 5 sessions on the tattoo on my spine. Apparently the ink is very deep into my skin and after 5 sessions (8 weeks interval) there is some fading, but not as expected. The last 2 sessions the doctor passed 2 times with the laser, the second time with an extra lens to focus the laser beam even more on the tattoo.
I had 1 session (last week, beginning of Aug 2019) on my upper arm, as it took some time for me (and the doctor ;-)) to get ready for this.
The only thing I can say is that I'm happy to have started this process. If you're not happy with a tattoo, please don't think that a cover up is the best solution. It probably will make your tattoo darker and the old tattoo will always be visible to you.
I plan to have a lot of laser sessions (after reading stories on this website) and I see 2 solutions. The first one is the most optimistic one where the tattoos will have disappeared almost completely, the second one is the one where I will realise after some years that a new cover up will be the only beautiful solution. Let's wait and see.
I hesitated on posting my own story, but I think it works both ways ;-)
So here we go. 7 years ago I got a tattoo on my back with the names of my 3 children. I loved it and I would still love it.... if it would have stayed the same. I'm really unlucky when it comes to tattoos ... after some years the names became blurry, apparently this is also known as a tattoo blowout.
Unfortunately this is not the only story I have for all of you.
As I was really happy (at first) with the tattoo on my spine, I went for 2 other tattoos at the same tattoo artist. One of them is really beautiful I think and it didn't change through time. The second one is another story.
Never ever give your tattoo artist full freedom. Seriously, what was I thinking when I told him: do whatever you want, I trust you, I just want something on my upper arm (the other ones I couldn't see, because they are on my back, this time I wanted to be able to see it myself) and it should make people think about plants or flowers, but it can't be plants or flowers. The tattoo artist told me that he knew exactly what I wanted (naive me was thinking alike) and so he started with the tattoo.... eventually I ended up with something that made some people think about a funny squid.
I waited for more than 2 years, I tried to love it, but I couldn't. Horrible!
I started searching on the internet 3 years ago. Didn't know what to do. Finally (I didn't do enough research!!) I decided to search for someone who could cover the tattoo with another tattoo. Laser seemed to leave an ugly shadow there where the tattoo had been before.
So I visited a lot of tattoo artists and finally I found a woman that wanted to help me. She's specialised in cover ups. I like her, but I still don't understand why she never told me that laser was the easiest option, because of (and this she only said after doing the cover up) the fact that the initial tattoo was grey with some shadows and so easy to get removed by laser.
After 4 sessions I ended up with something I liked for 50%. I talked about it with the tattoo artist, but she was very reluctant in changing anything else and advised me to wait. So I waited.... and I didn't start loving my cover up. As I liked it partially I never stopped searching on the internet, hoping to find some ideas or other tattoo artists that could help me.
A year ago I found a young woman. Her work is beautiful and she's also mainly doing cover ups. I visited her and she was very honest from the beginning. She could help me, but also made it very clear to me that a cover up of a cover up would become very dark. It was up to me and I was still convinced of the fact that a cover up was my only good option. At that point in time I also accepted to work with colours (before I only wanted black tattoos), as that seemed the only way to change the tattoo.
What she did was extremely good. She used butterflies and a flower to change the tattoo. The tattoo itself became more feminine but also very dark.... something I once again couldn't get used to.
And there I was, thinking 'what the hell have I done with my body, how did I get here?'.
I tried to ignore the problem by hiding my upper arm with clothes (not always easy) and by not talking about it with family or friends.
Ignoring didn't help me. After some months the initial cover up became more visible, as the second cover up faded a bit.
Thanks to google and facebook I came across a laser clinic in my neighbourhood. I made an appointment and showed them the tattoo on my back with the blowout. I also showed the tattoo on my arm and I could see at the face of the doctor that this was going to be an enormous challenge.
By now I've had 5 sessions on the tattoo on my spine. Apparently the ink is very deep into my skin and after 5 sessions (8 weeks interval) there is some fading, but not as expected. The last 2 sessions the doctor passed 2 times with the laser, the second time with an extra lens to focus the laser beam even more on the tattoo.
I had 1 session (last week, beginning of Aug 2019) on my upper arm, as it took some time for me (and the doctor ;-)) to get ready for this.
The only thing I can say is that I'm happy to have started this process. If you're not happy with a tattoo, please don't think that a cover up is the best solution. It probably will make your tattoo darker and the old tattoo will always be visible to you.
I plan to have a lot of laser sessions (after reading stories on this website) and I see 2 solutions. The first one is the most optimistic one where the tattoos will have disappeared almost completely, the second one is the one where I will realise after some years that a new cover up will be the only beautiful solution. Let's wait and see.
Replies (1)
Hi can I talk to you I have the same problem maybe we can help each other
Replies (1)