The Mission boasts more than 10 tattoo shops, each with their own specialty. It’s easy to get the perfect tattoo here, but it’s much more difficult to get rid of it again if you change your mind.
Kim Stace Thomas, a tattoo artist at Mermaid Tattoo, said customers who come in wanting to get rid of a tattoo either develop a dislike for its quality or its associated memories—names of past lovers are popular candidates.
Covering up an old tattoo is a process defined by what’s already there, because the pigments of the new tattoo are driven into the same layer as the old tattoo, making covering up black patterns and other dark colors virtually impossible with lighter ones. The trick, artists said, is to mask rather than block out the old art.
“The idea is to distract the eye from what’s there,” said Loren Butchart, who works at Scholar Tattoo on 22nd Street.
That can be done either by adding more black to an existing dark-colored tattoo and incorporating it into a bigger, more elaborate design. Butchart said that more experienced artists can also work lighter colors on top of darker ones to subtly lighten an existing pattern.
Tattoo artists are often called on to cover up old tattoos because laser surgery is painful and expensive. Butchart brought up the example of a mentor who had a dark tribal tattoo all around his neck. He had it removed by laser, a process requiring 15 excruciatingly painful sessions at $500 each.
Even after the sessions, which are usually short, are over, Thomas said the healing process is lengthy and sometimes a bit gruesome. She said she saw customers who were having tattoos removed come in with serious blistering and redness long after their laser sessions were over.
Experiences with laser removal vary dramatically, but Marbelly De Leon, who works at TattooBeGone near Union Square, says it’s usually not as painful as people think, and is the only procedure that completely breaks apart the pigment.
Her laser procedure, she said, was less painful than getting the tattoo itself, but she conceded that it may have been because her tattoo was small. People with larger areas covered might find the process more painful. Bruising, scabbing and peeling are common aftereffects of laser removal.
Nonetheless, laser removal is in high demand. De Leon said the center provides laser removals six days a week for eight hours a day. TattooBeGone laser removal costs $100 per square inch per session, with a discount for additional square inches on larger tattoos.
Still, many regretful body art clients are seeking alternatives, resulting in a plethora of questionable methods. Thomas said she has seen clients try so-called “tattoo bombs” advertised in magazines that are applied directly to the skin and touted as a safe removal technique. The artist described the result as more of a chemical burn, with the tattoo still in place. Butchart has heard of a process that involves injecting salt water into the skin and applying lemon and a heat compress. Does that work? Butchart said he doubted it.
“If it really was that easy, people would be doing it all the time,” Thomas said. Nonetheless, she said removal technology is developing quickly and she wouldn’t be surprised to see something better than laser removal on the market soon.
Jeannie Sides has one alternative. Sides runs an independent practice specializing in cosmetic corrective tattooing and tattoo removal. Sides uses a technique that involves tattooing a compound into the same layer as the existing pigment. The compound brings the pigment to the surface of the skin. She described the procedure as “invasive” in that it breaks the skin with the tattoo needle, but overall less damaging and painful than laser removal. Her method of tattoo removal starts at $150 per square inch. Though some laser removal locations offer cheaper services, they often will not work on the face due to the dangers of working with lasers near the eyes, Sides said.