Valentine’s Day has passed, and if you, like many other ink addicts, got drunk on love, you might have gotten a couple’s tattoo that ended in disaster! Luckily for you, nowadays there are options to amend this bad decision. Join us to talk about laser tattoo removal and cover-ups!

Depending on the size and location of your love mark, an excellent option to erase that dark part of your history is a cover-up tattoo! We’ve talked about this topic before, so check it out at this link. The issue with cover-ups is that not every tattoo artist performs this technique because it requires a high level of skill, knowledge, and above all, experience. So think twice before going to your cousin tattoo artist who “can fix it cheaper” because, in our experience, you’ll most likely end up with an even bigger disaster than what you started with. Choosing the right tattoo artist to do your cover-up is as delicate a decision as deciding to get a couple’s tattoo, and, friend, if you’ve already made a mistake once, you’d better think twice this time! A fine-line, minimalist tattoo, less than 2 inches, will be much simpler for an artist to work on. I even dare to say that if your tattoo is fine-line, just leave it for 2 years, and it will mostly disappear (I’m just kidding with you, fine-liner friends).

Now, for larger and more complicated pieces to tattoo, some artists may recommend one or two laser sessions before starting to work to give you the cleanest and best-executed work possible. But before we dive into this, let’s talk a little about the laser, shall we?

Removing your tattoo with a laser is an option if it’s within your reach and you want to completely erase the art from your body, but this process is not magical! The laser is twice as painful as the tattoo (this is in the words of people who have experienced the laser firsthand), so you may want to consider this before booking your appointment to erase that name from your ribcage. Again, if you have a small, linear tattoo, your suffering will be very short since it’s very likely that in just one session, you’ll erase that tattoo you now hate. In the case of larger tattoos with solid fills, you’ll probably need two or three sessions, but how does the laser work?

Tattoo removal is carried out using laser photoacoustic technology, which fragments and pulverizes the ink pigments in the skin. Over time, the body metabolizes these particles and eliminates them.

Or for short: the laser destroys the ink into small particles that then exit your skin.

Normally, this removal takes about 8 weeks, although it’s a very variable time depending on the type of tattoo, its size, colors used, and the area where it’s located.

Just like before getting a tattoo, it’s important to avoid direct and prolonged sun exposure 10 days before and after the treatment.

Now, friends, what if your tattoo is too large and solid for a cover-up but you also don’t want to go through several very painful laser sessions? Right! A 50/50 is a great option.

Let’s go back to the topic we mentioned at the beginning! Getting a laser session before starting your cover-up will always be a great option if it’s within your means. Think of your arm as a sheet of paper (although it’s not, just imagine it). If you already have a drawing and want to make a new one, it simply won’t look good; you’ll probably end up with just a big blotch. But if before reusing the sheet, you erase the previous drawing with an eraser (the laser), your new drawing will look much better. Although, just like with a sheet of paper, consider that you’re harming your skin, which is an organ, so think carefully, inform yourself about the best option to deal with your tattoo, and respect your body very much!

So friends, TL;DR, tattoos are a big responsibility, FOR REAL! Although there are always options to fix some mistakes, there may be others that are not so easy to repair. However, there will always be the Blackout option for the most daring, but that’s a topic for another day.