Show Notes
Billy breaks down the six variables that determine how quickly a tattoo fades during laser removal, from saturation and depth to pigment type, scar tissue, application, and personal health. He explains why some pigments shatter cleanly while others resist the laser, and how the location on your body affects lymphatic clearance. He also shares practical steps you can take to speed up the process, including hydration, nutrition, exercise, and sleep.
Topics Covered
Why saturation matters
The amount of pigment placed in the skin has a direct impact on removal time. Light black and grey shading clears quickly, while dense, heavily saturated pieces like tribal or dark script take much longer to break up.
How depth affects fading
Pigment sitting near the surface comes out faster than pigment placed deep into the subcutaneous layer. The deeper it went during the tattoo, the longer it takes to shatter.
Scar tissue as a shield
Scar tissue from the original tattoo or a previous removal attempt can block the laser from penetrating the skin. It can also encapsulate pigment particles, making it harder for your lymphatic system to clear them.
Pigment type and plastic particles
Some pigments shatter into fine dust when hit by the laser, while others reflect, burn, or oxidize. Certain pigments contain plastic polymers that melt rather than break apart, which can leave them in the skin.
Location and lymphatic flow
Tattoos on the torso, thigh, or shoulder fade faster because more lymph moves through those areas. Tattoos on fingers, hands, ankles, and feet clear more slowly due to reduced lymphatic flow.
Your health and daily habits
Removal is a team effort, and your body does much of the work once you leave the studio. Staying hydrated, eating well, exercising, and getting good sleep all help your immune and lymphatic systems break down pigment more efficiently.
Full Transcript
Some pigments even have little particles of plastic in them, and when they are hit by the laser, instead of it shattering it, it melts it, and it stays in your skin. We see tattoos every single day. We laser tattoos, we laser permanent makeup, we even put tattoos on, so we understand the process. My name's Billy DeCola.
I'm the owner of Studio Kiku. We're one of the most trusted and well-known laser tattoo removal studios in the world. What we're going to talk about are the variables that will determine how quickly or slowly your tattoo is going to fade. So, let's jump into it.
Number one, we have saturation. And what saturation means is pretty simple, how much pigment was placed in your skin. You can look at a very soft black and gray tattoo that doesn't have much saturation, it's just some very light shading. That's going to come right out.
But if you look at a very dark tattoo that's super saturated, like a tribal or some deep dark script, that is a saturated tattoo, and it's going to take a long time to break that pigment up. Number two, depth. How deep was the pigment put into your skin? Is it just on the surface, or is it deep in there down to the bone?
If it's just on the surface, that pigment's going to come right out. But if the pigment was placed deep into your subcutaneous layer, that's past your epidermis and your dermal layer and down into your subcutaneous, that's going to take a long time to break up. So, depth is a big factor. Let's talk about another variable, scar tissue.
If there's scar tissue on your tattoo, and that would come from when you got the tattoo, or if you tried some type of removal process, whether it's laser or saline. If you have scar tissue that we can see or feel, then chances are it's going to be much more difficult to break up that tattoo than if you didn't have scar tissue. Why is that? Well, the scar tissue acts like a shield.
It does exactly what it's supposed to do. It protects your skin, and it's acting like a shield, and it's preventing that laser from penetrating your skin. And sometimes the pigment particles will actually get encapsulated in that scar tissue. And once those pigment particles break up, if it's encapsulated in the scar tissue, then your lymphatic system is not going to be able to clean it up as easily as it would if it wasn't in scar tissue.
So, if you have scar tissue, it's definitely going to slow down the tattoo removal process. Another factor would be the type of pigment that was used. There are some pigments that the laser just shatters into tiny little dust particles, and there are other pigments that when they're hit by the laser, it may reflect it, it may burn the pigment, or oxidize the pigment. Some pigments even have little particles of plastic in them, these little polymers.
And when they're hit by the laser, instead of it shattering it, it melts it, and it stays in your skin. So, depending on what type of pigment was used, that will determine if and when and how quickly the pigment particles will be shattered by the laser. Sometimes it's possible, and sometimes it's just not possible. Another factor would be the location on your body.
Where is that tattoo? Is it on your torso, where your lymph is just flowing like a cold mountain stream, or is it in your fingers or your feet or your toes or somewhere where your lymph isn't really moving that well. The more lymph that's traveling through a body part, the quicker the pigment particles are going to get picked up. So, if you have a tattoo that's on your torso or your thigh or your shoulder, those tattoos are going to fade much more quickly than if you have a tattoo that's on your finger or your hand or your ankle or your foot.
The more lymph traveling through your body part, the quicker the tattoo will fade. And last but not least, your health. Are you a healthy person? Are you immunocompromised?
Do you exercise? Are you a couch potato? What is it? There are some things that you can do to help the removal process.
Number one, stay hydrated. If you're drinking lots of water, your body is going to flush out that pigment a lot quicker. Number two, eating healthy. If you eat healthy foods, your health is going to be boosted and your immune system is going to break down that pigment.
Your lymphatic system is part of your immune system. So, the more nutrients you put in your body, the better your immune system is going to be firing and it's going to break down that pigment quicker than if you were not healthy. Another thing is exercise. Getting exercise will definitely boost your immune system.
So, moving your body, going for a jog, going for a walk, doing some jumping jacks, jumping on that rebounder, you know those little trampolines that you see people jumping on? That really gets your lymph moving. So, doing that, exercising, moving your body, all those kinds of things definitely helps with the tattoo removal process. Another thing, get good sleep.
Sleeping well will help boost your immune system. Laser tattoo removal is a team effort. We do our job here, and once you leave the studio, it's up to you to keep your body healthy and to make your lymphatic system work as efficiently as possible. So, let's just recap the variables that have an impact on your tattoo and how quickly it will be removed.
Number one, the saturation level. Number two, how deep the pigment was placed in your skin. Number three, the type of pigment that was used. Number four, if there's scar tissue there or not.
And number five, how the tattoo was applied. Number six is your personal health. All of those factors that I discussed, you have control over. So, if you're looking to remove your tattoo quicker, if you're tired of looking at that old regret, if you don't want to see that tattoo anymore, then what you have to do is make it easy for your body to break down those pigment particles.
If you do that, you're going to help me help you. So, that's what we want to do. Let's work together to fade that tattoo and get it gone. All right?
I hope this episode was helpful. I hope after watching this, you now know the factors that play a part in how quickly that tattoo is going to fade. Thanks again for watching the Faded Podcast, and we'll see you again next time.