Star

5 hours ago, glow-on said:

Thanks for your input! Since I'm considering a cover-up, I will have to do at least a few laser sessions anyways, so I'll definitely need to do a lot more research. The place I considered originally has a PicoWay. I'd be open to hearing opinions on different lasers. Mine is mostly shading with very light line work - artist specifically said she was using very light touch and there was such little pain I felt like I could have taken a nap. I'm hoping that might help reduce the number of sessions needed to fade. I have another tattoo with heavier line work, and that one felt like a razorblade slicing through the skin the whole time. After 10 years it looks very much the same. I'd say the line work on that one is at least twice as thick. Never regretted that one, always loved it, but then again it has a lot of significance as my late mother had a matching one.

It's interesting but not surprising to hear that you had a different response to the laser on different body parts. I wonder if it's just increased circulation in different areas, or if it's more complicated than that? 

Of course I would love to be one of the very lucky few who do get almost complete removal (keyword almost), but my expectations have thankfully been lowered. I at one point strongly considered a chest piece but decided against it. I wouldn't be broken hearted to end up with them, after all I like them enough to have considered it for years, but since I ultimately decided against it, I'd obviously slightly prefer to not. It's anyone's guess why I went with that positioning this time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've had cover ups done over certain tattoos, depending on the experience of the artist, the colours covering, the tattoo underneath etc maybe a cover up can be done without laser, my whole arm was covered up with purple, pink and blue flowers over scarred black thick tattoos but that's something to talk to your artist about as they, ideally, won't attempt something they don't think is possible, depending on the tattoo and what you want it covering with will depend on if laser is necessary or not

If you have scarring and have laser, you will be left with the scar still, laser can't remove scars unfortunately but if it's done right and your skin wasn't damaged underneath, changes to the skin would be very minimal, I had one of my face tattoos removed recently and you can't tell it was there at all, not even the slightest bit of pigment change to my skin 

After doing alot of my own research I was able to see the fads and facts of laser, alot of places will just want to get your money regardless of the outcome

The way I see it is sometimes the idea in your head doesn't come out in real life, I had an idea with my throat and I even had it all drawn up on me to make sure it looked right and once it was done I hated it, even months later, some tattoos I've just got bored of, I've wanted something else in their place or I've just simply had it done and been like oh shit 😂 I had 5 face tattoos I loved until I got another then had to remove 2 of my old ones because it didn't look right anymore, whatever you decide I'm sure you'll decide what's right for you, whether that's a cover up, laser or you may warm to the tattoo eventually but you definitely learn a lesson once you experience laser removal, it isn't the nicest of experiences, I get nervous everytime I book a new tattoo now to make sure I'm never going through laser again, it's painful & bank draining 😂

I've been having laser a long time in all different places and had different kinds and remember also, everyone's system and skin is different! The laser does some of the work but your body does most of it after 

I've had laser removal multiple times and still having some, not sure what kind of laser surgery is available in different places of the world, I'm in the UK and currently having it done by photodynamic laser removal, my skin is the exact same underneath, can't even tell it was there at all, not even the slightest pigment change & I had one removed on the side of my face and it's completely gone, to the point my skin is exactly as it was, the laser used on mine is what's used by the NHS to remove things like birthmarks etc

The process was long, pricey and painful but worth it, however if you can avoid it, then I say avoid it, cover up or just in your case, give yourself some time to adjust to what you're seeing, I'm head to toe in tattoos and everytime I get a new one I cry for a few days like I don't like it but I suffer anxiety so I know it's just because of that, the ones I'm removing are being removed because they're on my neck and the artist fucked up big time and I'm getting something different once it's done

I did have a different type of laser done at the beginning and it wasn't budging after a while and was more tough on the skin, it was the thermal treatment, was cheaper but more damaging once I did the research

If you do go ahead with laser, just do some research first and on the companies because all will do anything to get your money, that's how I fell into the first trap and remember you get what you pay for, just like with tattoos

But the main point is give yourself some time to settle into your new tattoo, by the time it's healed enough to start laser, you'll know if you're okay with it or not

7 hours ago, Hogrider said:

Why would they admit they did anything wrong? What's the upside for them?

You're only about three weeks in and it takes up to eight weeks to heal normal tattoo. I wouldn't be surprised if that continued to improve for three or four months. Just keep taking good care of the skin, a little cocoa butter ever day, but not too much. You might even want to try some liquid vitamin E.

Guess I was just hoping for some sort of apology after being blamed for it happening but seemed it wasn't going to happen

Everything's still healing, it's taking longer than usual as expected, I'm still keeping it clean and just putting a small amount of cocoa butter on it twice a day 

I've found a new artist after explaining to them what happened, waiting a good few months before even attempting to continue the tattoo & making sure it's fully healed 

Update on this, I went to the tattooist once the skin had began to heal & they said they didn't over work my skin or anything, tried to say it was because of my poor after care when I had proof of daily pictures of the after care and a witness to how well I took care of it, ive had hundreds of tattoos, I know the aftercare routine apparently the skin showed no signs of too much trauma.. even with the amount of blood & swelling, plus my constant remarks of how much it absolutely killed me off with the feel of it, they said they would of never over worked the tattoo or been heavy handed.. in the end I just gave up trying to get a recognition of what happened.. the main thing it's on the mend & I have alot of scars from the heavy scabbing despite not picking at a single one but I'm just glad my arm works again..

I have several face tattoos, I get abit of oily skin and clean my face with cleansers etc but when I got my face tattooed I would just treat the tattoo like a regular tattoo, as for using the stuff on your face a few days before, maybe just avoid using them in the area you're having it, I had no problem using face cleaners even the day before but I don't know what products you use, after getting it I just cleaned the tattoo as I would a tattoo anywhere else on my body avoiding any face cleaners near it etc, just using mild or antibacterial soap on it & moisturiser, just basically doing the same aftercare for a face tattoo as one on, say, my arm, all of my face tattoos healed pretty quickly, I have 5

On 1/4/2022 at 4:29 PM, oboogie said:

I wouldn't put anything else on it. Just keep it clean and let it heal. That is horrendous. I'm sorry that happened to you.

Yeah I'm keeping it clean, my entire forearm just feels so tight, all the scabs have come off, some scarred where it was bad, lost some ink too but the main thing is I avoided any bad infections etc, just leaving it to do its thing and heal, it's been a horrible 2 weeks but it's going in the right direction rather than the wrong one.. won't be going back 

3 hours ago, Simong said:

It doesn’t sound like he’s a good tattooist at all. If you have many tattoos you know what’s normal so for the pain to be that much he was obviously overworking the skin. When you were asking for breaks you would think he would ask how you were and whether you wanted to carry on. I understand what you mean. You don’t want to be a pain but you want to get the tattoo finished. They really should have said come back another day, it really does sound like they need to learn to tattoo with a different technique. The way it was said makes it seem like he’s proud to be heavy handed, that’s not really a good thing especially for the people getting tattooed.

Yeah, looking back I wish I'd of just said I'll have to come back but I just wanted to get it done, thinking they would know how much is too much I trusted them to know it would be okay but clearly that wasn't the case.. I have alot of scars, it's been 3 weeks, my entire forearm just feels tight as hell right now, it's at the dull rough stage, hoping it heals okay, it's just going to take a while.. the tightness was worrying me but it was such a brutal tattoo it's just healing as best it can

On 1/2/2022 at 8:53 PM, Simong said:

I can’t see how it’s your fault that you had a big area covered. If you told them that the pain was too much you would expect your artist to try and assist you in some way or let you have a break. Yes I definitely would go somewhere else next time, they don’t sound very good at all.

They actually said to me they've been told by everyone they're heavy handed when I said I couldn't handle anymore, then I got offered numbing, I remember watching them do it at one point and it was like fast paced colouring with no technique just shovelling it in over and over in the same area, which in those areas I've now got bad scarring from the scabs, I kept them as cared for as I could but unfortunately still have scars, I asked for so many breaks, the artist didn't seem too concerned about how much I needed to stop, I've had all of the most painful places tattooed & I even said I don't think I should be struggling to cope with my forearm.. it was difficult because I wanted it finished & I suffer with anxiety so it can be hard to come fully forward but looking back I should of tapped out from all the signs but to be blamed from the studio for that when I'm the customer seemed ridiculous when they could also see the signs it was too much

9 hours ago, SStu said:

looks to be someone who has had minimal training and no supervision . . . 

Weirdly they've been tattooing a long time but like you said I don't think they had proper training regardless.. a week later I still have some monsterous scabs 

2 hours ago, Simong said:

Yes that definitely looks to be scabbing way too much. As you said you have had work done before and it didn’t feel like this so it must be your artist to blame. I wouldn’t go back to him again!

Honestly I was so upset, especially when I was told by them it was my fault for having such a big area done & not speaking up that it hurt even though I did & they just carried on, they've done alot of work so I trusted them but seems I was in the wrong hands.. 

43 minutes ago, Hogrider said:

I've never had scabs like that. I hope you're not planning on going back. That is brutal.

At this point, I don't think it matters what you do. I'd probably put a little cocoa butter on it every day. Emphasis on a little.

I'm definitely not going back, the artist tried to say it was normal for me amount of work and because I chose to sit it, was my fault 🙄

I luckily don't have any signs of infection but I'm keeping it as clean as I can just cleaning it makes all the scabs soggy so I have to be so careful 

Hi! New to the forum!

Wanted to upload for some advice about a week ago I got the bottom half of my sleeve tattoo started, the artist was brutal I've never felt pain like it, I've had so many tattoos but never experienced this before, I must have lost about a pint of blood during the tattoo in session, my arm swelled to 3 times its size, even my hand and where the tattoo finished all swelled and bruised heavily, I ended up in hospital because of how bad the swelling was, the doctor said he didn't think it was infected but gave me antibiotics as a precaution anyway which I'm still on, I started getting quite thick scabs, I had bubbling in places when I was trying to clean it, I let them dry out before putting a small bit of cocoa butter on, I wash it twice a day and only put a thin layer of cocoa butter on once it's dried after washing, I just want to know if these scabs look normal for a very heavy-handed brutal session and if so if it's better to let them dry heal or keep putting on a small amount of lotion 

It's been a week since I had it done I still have some swelling and bruising in areas but the worst is over with now the scabs are the worst part

There's no bad smell, redness, oozing or bad pain, just a soreness from the scabs 

Thankyou!