Regretting a tattoo is becoming more and more common.
At least if you ask skin therapist Kith Larsson, who works with lasering away tattoos.
– It hurts to remove, she says.
Actually, maybe not so strange. The Swedes are some of the most tattooed people per capita. At the clinic where Kith works, they already got a tattoo removal machine two years ago. When she describes her everyday life, she says that there are more and more customers who want to remove their tattoos. Even so-called “cover ups” are common.
– We help a lot of people to blur out to make a cover up. So you don’t have to remove everything, just blur it out so you can tattoo over it.
There are machines for home use, but there are some advantages to having it done by professionals. Some also find that it can also hurt.
– It hurts to remove. It is much faster to remove, although you have to go several times.
Those motifs are most common
Like, among other things, fashion, food and music, tattoos also follow trends. Something that was super trendy to tattoo 15 years ago might not be as attractive to have burned onto your body in 2023. Kith feels that there are certain specific motifs that are extra popular to laser away.
– It is precisely these texts. Carpe Diem in different spellings and lower back tattoos. They are not that popular. The barbed wire on the arm and these ancient tribals. The ex’s name is not so fun to wear on the chest either.
The amount of time that passes between people getting a tattoo and wanting to remove it varies widely, but it can also go away.
– We’ve actually had people come directly from the tattoo studio to us the same day, says Kith Larsson.
However, it cannot be done.
– I talk to them of course and say that it has to heal and say that you can think about your decision before, then we’ll see each other when it has healed.
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