Tattoo Removal

Tattoo removal is a topic I can closely relate to. I myself have begun the process of having one of my tattoos removed. I know first hand why people choose to try and get rid of them and what the process entails. On the side of The Aesthetic Collective I am also a model. I have a few tattoos and they have at times actually held me back from certain types of work. Just a few days ago my new agent called me to see if I was available for casting for Speedo Swimwear. Super excited I said yes! But then I thought with my experience in modelling I better check that they definitely knew about my tattoos. “Oh I forgot” She exclaimed.. and just like that there was no more casting for me.

Tattoos are obviously becoming more and more popular with at least someone we know adorning at least one or two or three tattoos but even more popular than getting a tattoo is now the act of removing them. One in three people who have a tattoo now regret getting it and are looking to have it removed. Why? For a number of reasons…

• Adorning an ex-partners name and wanting it removed.
• An image that person no longer resonates with.
• The “it seemed like a good idea at the time” tattoo.
• Those who have limited their job prospects by getting tattoos.
• And then there are those people who sincerely don’t like their tattoos anymore or feel as though it doesn’t represent who they are in their life any more.

In Australia 22 percent of men aged 20-29 have a tattoo and in women of the same age a staggering 29 percent have at least one tattoo. Statistics tell us that 34 percent of those with the tattoos regret having it. These statistics prove there is big dollars in tattoo removal and according to UK data the revenue for tattoo removals has risen by 440 percent worth an estimated $75.5 million.

Now what’s the most important piece of information we can gather from that? If you are looking to have a tattoo removed make sure you find someone with the right credentials and licensing, as there are a lot of people entering the tattoo removal business just to make some money.

Tattoos used to be removed via painful processes such as painful dermabrasion, acidic skin peels or literally cutting the image out and then patching the area with skin grafts.

But not anymore, Q-switch lasers can remove almost any type of tattoo. To understand how these lasers work and which is best to remove, which tattoo it, is important to understand how tattoos work with the skin.

Injecting ink about a millimetre into the skin, which is the dermis layer, here the ink won’t be absorbed by the immune system nor will it be shed like the outside layers of skin.

Q-Switch lasers work by shattering the ink into smaller fragments so the body can naturally excrete it. They are set to different wavelengths depending on the skin type and the location and colour of the tattoo.

The Q-switch lasers work by generating a short pulse at one-thousandth million of a second. This pulse is what shatters the tattoo particles that the body’s immune system removes. It is important to know that through this process only one layer of the ink can be reduced at a time, so it takes up to 4 to 10 sessions with 6-week intervals in between.

The ideal colour for removal is black and grey because that tattoo will be at the same depth in the skin and the same wavelength for the laser to remove the ink.

Apparently yellow, purple, turquoise and fluorescent dyes are hardest to fade. And not one single laser can remove all tattoos due to the type of tattoo, where it is placed on the body and how certain lasers respond to different dyes.

If you are looking to have a tattoo removed make sure you look around and do your research. You need to find a tattoo removalist that has the correct licensing and qualification as well as the right equipment.

All laser operators in Australia are required to comply with the Australian Laser Standard AS:NZ 4173:2004

So make sure you ask as many questions as you need to when looking to have a tattoo removed. Finding a tattoo removalist with a lot of experience with lasers as well as a good reputation and images of the previous work they have done will be a great help in finding a laser technician for you. If you need any help with this please don’t hesitate to email us at info@wickedbeauty.com.au