Tattoo regret becomes the latest trend

TATTOOS might be all the rage but tattoo regret is just as common.

A drunken night out in Sydney's Kings Cross left Rachel Vance with a tattoo on her arm - two tiny stars and a spade. The experience cost her $100 and she regretted it instantly.

Louise Smith got five tattoos at different stages throughout her twenties. One was a butterfly, another commemorated a friend's death and the rest just seemed like a good idea at the time. Until now.

Both women are part of an emerging trend where people are paying upwards of $100 a pop per session of laser treatment to remove tattoos. Oh, and apparently it hurts like hell.

"I got them done when I was very young and definitely believed that I would love them forever and would never regret them. I didn't think about my future and how I might change my view on my tattoos as I matured," Louise Smith said.

According to Sue Salmon of the Wollongong Tattoo Removal Service in New South Wales, the majority of their increasing numbers of clients are young women between 25 and 40.

Tattoo removal is a slow process - much slower than getting the tattoo in the first place. Plus, it sounds like it hurts just as much.

"I'm expected to need 6 or 7 sessions," said Rachel Vance. "It's pretty similar to laser hair removal, you go into the room, remove any clothing around it, put on a pair of glasses to protect your eyes and then the technician starts the laser.

"It only takes about a minute to do each tattoo (about the size of a 5c piece each) but it feels like much longer because the pain is close to unbearable. Once the laser is finished she rubs some burn cream on it to sooth it, but it still continues to bleed for a bit. The tattoo will then start to blister in areas over the next few days and scab. The scabs then fall off over the next few weeks and the colour falls out a bit with it," she said.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/tattoo-regret-becomes-the-latest-trend/story-fneszs56-1226684253823#ixzz2aLA23WB7