Laser Tattoo Removal Before and After: Real Results

Full Transcript

Complete tattoo removal. Is it possible? And will my skin be damaged when the tattoo is gone? Those are the questions that we get all the time. This was a big script tattoo across the back of the neck. Seven sessions later, it's back to bare skin. But not every tattoo ends up like this one. So I'm going to show you what it really looks like after one session, in the middle and towards the end of the tattoo removal process. My name's Billy DeCola and these are real before and afters from Studio Kiku.

Let's start at the beginning. Right after the laser hits the tattoo, you'll see a white film that forms on top of the tattoo. What that's called is frosting. Just because it frosts, it doesn't mean the tattoo is disappearing. Usually after 10 to 20 minutes, the frost disappears and the tattoo will look exactly like it did when you walked in the studio. So the next time you see that frosting online, just know that the tattoo is not disappearing immediately. It's just the initial reaction to the laser.

After the first couple days, you're probably going to look at the tattoo and wonder if anything happened at all. Laser tattoo removal is not an instant process. It's a long, drawn out and slow process. This is a big dragon tattoo on the arm after two sessions. This snake, two sessions. It's a little bit lighter, but it's definitely still there. After the first couple sessions, you're not going to notice much of a difference at all. The laser is really fast with breaking up the pigment particles, but your body's lymphatic system is what takes all of the time. It takes weeks and months for your body to start breaking down that pigment. So don't get discouraged right away. The more patient you are, the better.

Permanent makeup is different. We often see results after the first and second sessions. Here's some brows after one session. These lips, one session. Why does permanent makeup pigment fade faster than regular tattoos? Well, the pigment's not usually placed as deeply into the skin as a body tattoo. So the more superficial, the easier the pigment will lift. And even though you see results right away when we're removing permanent makeup pigment, that's not the extent of what's going to happen. It's going to continue to fade over the next weeks and months. But not all brows and permanent makeup are able to be lifted completely. So don't come in thinking it's going to be one or two sessions and it's done.

Here's what the middle looks like. This little cat, three sessions. This floral piece, also three sessions. Same number of sessions, very different result. A very light, thin tattoo is going to fade a lot quicker than a deep, dark, saturated tattoo will. Somewhere between three and six sessions is normally when we start seeing the pigment really break up and start to move.

In tattoos, they don't fade evenly. Light shading normally goes first. The deeper, darker, more saturated areas tend to stick around a lot longer. This revolver, six sessions in. It's faint, but you can still see it. Some of those deeper, more saturated lines are still there.

At the end of the day, it's your body doing most of the work. The laser, it's just getting the party started. That's why we space sessions out a minimum of two months apart. The more time you put in between sessions, the more fading you're going to see. Some of our clients wait a year in between sessions. And when they come back and we look at the progress, we're always like, "Wow, look at that. That thing faded a lot."

So, does it ever fade all the way? Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. This was a name on the side of the finger. Six sessions. And the neck you saw at the start, that was seven sessions, but it was spaced out over a span of four years. For a dark, saturated tattoo, the honest answer is anywhere between nine and 12 sessions for complete removal. Some tattoos need fewer than nine sessions, and some need more.

But the big question we get all the time is, "Can I remove the tattoo 100%?" And that's one we just can't answer. We know the laser works. We know the pigment particles are going to break, but we don't know how your body is going to absorb those pigment particles. That's the variable that is the big unknown.

Sometimes the fading stops, and there's still a faint shadow remaining. This chest piece was dense and dark. 11 sessions later, it's down to a faint shadow. Is it gone completely? No, but we're very close. This script on the forearm, nine sessions, and it's nearly gone. Now why am I telling you this? I'd rather be upfront and honest and let you know exactly what to expect. So don't expect 100% removal. You can hope for it, but don't expect it.

So with the complete removal package, we never guarantee complete removal. We do stop if the tattoo's gone completely or if we've reached a point where your body is not breaking down the pigment anymore. And once we get down to the very last bit where you can still see a little bit of pigment, whether it's a shadow or just a couple spots that are a little bit dark, that is when you want to wait even longer in between sessions.

With permanent makeup pigment, sometimes we reach a plateau and the laser just isn't working anymore. It's at that time that we do recommend trying saline removal instead.

If you want to get a tattoo light enough to cover it up, then on average it takes anywhere between three and six sessions. How many sessions you need will be determined by the new design and the artist doing it. So figure out what design you're going to cover your old tattoo with and speak with your tattoo artist about it. Check in and see if the tattoo's light enough to cover it up. And after your very last session of laser tattoo removal, we recommend waiting at least three months before applying a new tattoo.

Colour is a different story. Look at this heart. Six sessions. The black outline is almost gone, but the red is still there. Black is the easiest colour to remove because it doesn't reflect any of the energy. It absorbs it all. And no matter what the manufacturer of a laser says, there is not a wavelength for every single colour out there. This full colour portrait took about 10 sessions to get to this point. It's faded a lot, but you can still see a lot of the colours in there.

Any colours that are mixed with white, like baby blue, pink, lavender, even light yellow, any peach, any of those colours, they're very difficult, if not impossible to remove with the laser. Why? Because they contain white. White has a tendency of oxidizing, and it does not come out.

Now let's talk about your skin. We never try to brag about how fast we remove the tattoo. Speed is not our number one priority. We're more concerned about the integrity of your skin when you're done the whole process. If your skin is nice and clean and clear, then we've succeeded. We've seen it so many times when clients come from another studio and they brag about how fast or how few sessions it took to remove a tattoo. But if you look closely, you're most likely going to see damaged skin, whether it's hypo or hyperpigmentation, or whether there's actually scar tissue there. The goal is not speed, it is keeping the skin intact when the tattoo is gone. Who wants to trade a tattoo for a scar in the same shape as the tattoo was?

If a tattoo is overtreated and there's too much heat underneath the skin, then the tattoo will have a tendency of blistering. And blisters can pop, they can get infected, and they can create scar tissue. So that's not what we're looking for. So if anything, we're going to err on the side of caution. And especially if you have darker skin, anything over Fitzpatrick 3. So we're talking Fitz 4, 5 and 6. We have to be very careful with the settings that we use. If we overtreat darker skin, you're definitely going to have a hard time. It's even that much more dangerous. So the goal is to treat it properly and not treat it over aggressively.

And you have to follow the aftercare to a T. If we do a perfect job here in the studio and you don't follow the aftercare, then you're asking for trouble. So just remember, laser tattoo removal is a team effort. We do our job here at the studio, and when you leave, it's up to you to take care of your tattoo.

But let's talk a little bit about scar tissue. Some clients come in and they show us their tattoo, and there's already scar tissue there. But a lot of the time, scar tissue is caused by the tattoo application. If I can feel lumps and bumps in your tattoo, then that scar tissue is most likely going to be visible once the tattoo pigment is removed.

After your consultation, we'll take some before photos. It's always a good idea to take some pictures to know exactly where we started. Then we can look back and see what type of progress we made over the course of the removal process.

If you want a quote for your tattoo, then send a photo in using the form at studiokiku.com/faded. And what we'll do is we'll take a look at the photo and we'll give you some honest feedback based on what we see. If you're not near one of our studios, then ask the studio you're going to if you can see some of their before and after photos. And you can see more of our before and after photos on our website.

Thanks again for checking out the Faded Podcast and we'll see you again next time.