These days, it’s almost harder to find someone without a tattoo rather than someone who is inked. The number of tattoo parlours is still rising at a rate of about 3% every single year, with a recent Pew survey finding that 3 in 10 Australians are now inked – up from 2 in 10 less than ten years ago. In fact, getting a tattoo is now so popular that one of the growing trends is what is referred to as the “blackout tattoo”.
You’ve probably already guessed what it is – the blackout tattoo is a bold, dramatic, sold black area of pure black ink. They’re popular as a full arm sleeve, a predominantly black pattern, the backdrop of a feature tattoo, or a cover-up of an unwanted tat – and some people have taken the striking and powerful visual effect so far that they’ve had most of their entire body ‘blacked out’.
But in this post, we’re not going to dive any deeper into why do people get blackout tattoos – rather, we’re going to talk about whether it’s possible to get them off! Because while some blacked-out individuals absolutely love their blackout tattoos, others predictably say “oops” at some point in time.
The good news is that if you’re in the latter category, it really is possible for your friendly and skilled laser tattoo removal specialist to help you say ‘bye-bye forever’ even to your bold blackout tattoo. It might take quite a few more sessions, but the secret is in the word ‘black’ itself – the easiest colour of ink to remove because black absorbs more wavelengths of the laser light than any other colour by far.
As we’ve said already, there’s no need to stress that your blackout tattoo will be any less successful for laser removal therapy than any other kind of tat. Sure, it will mean more sessions and therefore more money, but what else do you need to know before proceeding?:
If it’s been several years between getting your blackout tattoos and today, that’s actually a good thing – because time, the sun and your body have already started to work away on that black ink. These smaller and partially broken-down ink particles are then more responsive to the laser. If you’ve only recently got your tattoo, here’s more information on how soon you can have your new tattoo removed.
Something you have to bear in mind, however, is that because your tattoo artist has gone over your skin with that gun over and over and over and over again to create the fully blacked-out area, it means the ink has gone very deep into the skin layers.
The good news is that the laser is also able to penetrate those deeper skin layers – with skill, patience, repeat treatments, recovery … and repeat.
If you’re lucky, a small tattoo can be completely removed in as little as 2-3 sessions. But for a blackout tattoo, you might only be needing to double that amount of sessions, even though you should be prepared for over a dozen separate laser treatments depending on the tat itself and other factors like your skin type.
In other words, you’re going to need it – as well as full commitment to the process. Laser therapy is gradual in the best of circumstances, so if you get a few sessions done and you’re not happy with the results yet, don’t judge it. Stick with what your laser therapist is telling you, trust in the process, don’t skip sessions, and you’ll be fine.
Part of that process of patience and commitment means religiously adhering to the pre and post-treatment instructions given by your therapist – whatever they may be. On top of that:
Probably the best thing you can do to maximise the success of your blackout sleeve or other blackout tattoos, however, is to choose your laser tattoo removal specialist wisely. Here at Disappear Laser Clinic + Tattoo Removal, our skilled experts have lots of experience working with blackout tattoos – and we have the happy customers to prove it! Our ‘weapon’ of choice in the tattoo removal process is also the latest generation Quanta Systems Discovery Pico+ Laser System, which is renowned for being the industry standard for blackout tattoos because of its:
Just want those blackout tattoos gone? Give yourself the best chance of success by getting in touch with the friendly and helpful team at Sydney’s leading laser tattoo removal specialists right here at Disappear Laser Clinic + Tattoo Removal today.
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