In March I posted here asking the ladies why they had tattoos. One lady (presumably under 50) responded that they were "trendy". (I believe that is the first time I heard that adjective. My only attempt at being "trendy" is to wear laundered clothes.)
The article below on tattoo removal notes that inks are not regulated and some have been found to contain heavy metals.
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Tattoo-removal shops make their own mark
Annual customers number in the tens of thousands
By Kate Shellnutt
BLOOMBERG NEWS
September 1, 2007
FRANCIS SPECKER / Bloomberg News
Ines Marcial's black-and-blue dragon tattoo wraps around her calf.
Ines Marcial is sick of wearing pants to her office in Los Angeles. A black-and-blue dragon, wrapped around her calf and shooting flames across her foot, has kept her out of skirts and sandals.
Marcial, 24, an administrative aide for the Directors Guild of America, paid more than $3,000 for a dozen laser treatments to begin removing the tattoo, once a “permanent” memory of her stay in Japan as a Marine Corps logistics specialist. Without the dragon, she'll look more professional and make amends with her disapproving parents, aunt and uncle, she says.
After the tattoo boom in the United States, ink-work removal is likewise surging, with tens of thousands of patients a year.
Erasing tattoos, at a cost as much as 10 times the original work, long was more painful than obtaining them. Doctors couldn't guarantee that treatments would work on certain ink or skin colors. That's all changing with improved lasers and inks.
“The industry has come a long way, from early methods with side effects and worse results,” said Alex Kaplan, a dermatologist in Los Angeles who sees 50 to 85 tattoo-removal patients a week, most of them white-collar 20-and 30-somethings. “And the future holds promise for better effectiveness.”
At least 62,000 people across the nation had tattoos removed in 2003, the latest statistics available, up 27 percent from two years earlier, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery in Rolling Meadows, Ill.
The future for tattoo removal could be bright: Nearly one in four U.S. adults ages 18 to 50 has one or more tattoos, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, based in Schaumburg, Ill.
Getting rid of a tattooed name is the top motivation cited for removal, a Harris Interactive survey found in 2003. Health concerns also were on the list, as patients removed artwork whose inks migrated or faded under their skin or caused an infection.
Tattoo inks aren't regulated, so doctors don't know exactly what chemicals might be entering people's skin or their lymphatic system and bloodstream, say chemists at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff who found heavy metals in some inks during a 2005 study.
Tattoo erasing is part of a $1 billion annual market for cosmetic procedures involving lasers, according to CIBC World Markets in Toronto. Specialty laser clinics, such as Kaplan's Tattoo MD, are cropping up nationwide. Los Angeles resident Marcial says her foot-long dragon's scales have faded after being treated with light to destroy the ink.
Lasers, once effective only on dark inks, now have settings that adjust pulsed beams, allowing them to dissolve almost any color. The lasers no longer scar darker skin and are less painful than older methods of cutting, sanding or burning away unwanted artwork, dermatologists say.
“I was afraid it would scab over, but my skin's healing well,” Marcial said after being treated with a MedLite laser.
More than 2,000 clinics worldwide use the MedLite, at least four times as many as a decade ago, says Timothy Gehlmann, chief executive officer of Hoya ConBio, a division of Tokyo-based Hoya, which makes the equipment.
U.S. sales of tattoo-removal lasers, costing more than $100,000 each, will double to $27.2 million annually by 2011, according to Millennium Research Group in Toronto.
It takes six to 10 laser treatments, each usually priced at $100 to $700, depending on size and ink colors, to obliterate most tattoos. The costs for each square inch of skin treated are higher than for any other laser treatment because of the number of visits required.
The total usually tops that for getting the art in the first place. A tattoo the size of a matchbox might cost around $75 to apply. The price for removing it would be about that much for each treatment, totaling $500 to $750.
Matt Hough, a 29-year-old surfer and skater with thick-lined, brightly colored ink work of flaming stars, a demon, the Grim Reaper and others across his body, paid about $200 for an artist to shade about a half-dozen tattoos, including a thorny flower with a skull in the center and an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, on his left arm. Then he laid out $1,000 to have the shading removed when he didn't like the effect.
“I knew pretty much immediately after he finished with it,” said Hough, who performs risk management for Wells Fargo's San Diego office, where his tattoos are tolerated. “Within a week I said, 'This has got to go.'
I will admit that I have watched the "ink" reality shows because I really wanted to understand why people deface their bodies with so much "art" that they begin to look deformed. Almost none of the reasons make sense to me and that's just me. Some tats and their artists are amazing. The majority however are just hideous and as you can see from many pasts posts on the board that they are only adored by their hosts. That being said, I think they are here to stay. For the record, I think titty tats are the worst. I hope they come up with a remover that is quick and painless. As one provider told me, "I was drunk and using lots of drugs when I got this stupid thing."
but I agree with you. I do not undertand the widespread popularity of tats among women. To me it's reached epidemic levels, and most tats I see are large and unattractive. I recall when women first starting getting tattoos, they were usually quite small and on some part of their body only accessible to their most intimate friends. Now, it's become something else entirely.
I wonder, people get face lifts, skin abrasions, Lasik surgery for their vision, liposuction, all manner of very expensive reconstructive and cosmetic dental work, they lift weights to develop muscle, exercise and diet to lose weight, etc... amostly in pursuit of the goal of improving their physical appearance. But then they have artwork permanently inked onto their bodies. I'm missing something here. But in the end, it's their body and their choice.
I sometimes think it ought to be illegal to have a tattoo unless you're a 20-year Marine or a 25-year veteran of the other srvices. And you had to have seen combat as well. No ink for REMFs! Just another silly notion.
I love my titty tats.
I don't think mine are hideous. I was sane when I got 'em.
Only one would-be client had an issue. He told me that he doesn't like tattoos on women.
Oh well, his loss.
Best tatto I ever saw in a magazine: A snakes mouth tattooed around a girl's pussy and the snakes body around her waist. you are putting your dick in a snakes mouth when you have sex with her..........A GREAT VISUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in college that was the way a gay guy described sex with a woman.....maternal issues
One of them had a butterfly on her butt that had to be "fixed" because the amateur at the party, who was as drunk as her, botched it. Another co-worker came to work with a swollen ankle and one of those "chain" tattoos. It looked like she was getting a raging infection but she said she couldn't complain, she got it for free. The antibiotics weren't free, and it might have killed her otherwise.
People should think long and hard before they get tattoos, and even design them over years before they get them "set in stone."
"People should think long and hard before they get tattoos, and even design them over years before they get them "set in stone." "
Some of us did and do...
I know many more people happy with their ink than I know those who are regretful.
.02 from a permanently painted lady.
The kind where you'd feel proud to display in the Louvre. That's where I wish the art of it would go.
When tattoos are good, they can be breath-taking, and . And yes, I like to see some good inkings. I'm certain that I would be impressed with your body-art, Sola, if and when I ever get to view it.
I know of a few women who love some of their tattoos and hate others, but I don't know any women who get one bad tattoo after another-- some guys seem to do that. They seem to think of them as battle scars, or something.
I know one inspired guy who got his name tatted on, reasoning that if he was in an accident or fire, the rescue teams could identify him. Very practical art! duh!
-- Modified on 9/2/2007 12:44:42 AM
Wow. I don't know anyone who got a tattoo while drunk or under any other kind of influence. I also don't know anyone who regrets the tattoos they have. And I grew up in a "Rock n' Roll" atmosphere, musicians and artists, singing in bands for about 10 years! Maybe my type of peeps take their tats more seriously. And alot of my friends drew their own.
I could refer you to a few if you want. The article which started this thread points out that removal is a booming business, so apparently some women do not like theirs. It wasn't news to me. The most likely "failure" area appears to me to be on the breasts. For reasons below, that's highly disappointing to me.
I think there's a lot of women who like all their tattoos except one. How do I find out that women don't like a tattoo? Strangely enough, it has usually been one that I liked. I compliment her on it, and then she tells me that she doesn't like it and is looking in to getting it removed. It has surprised me a few times.
I myself like tattoos, though. I look forward to the advancement of the art. A fantasy I have is to gently suck a woman's nipple while seeing her tat right in front of my eyes. Now, that's an exquisite experience of art enjoyment!
-- Modified on 9/2/2007 1:40:00 PM
Both of my tats are very meaningful to me. I was completely sober when I designed them and had them done, and actually did spend months drawing and contemplating what to get and where. As an artist, they are both my own work and both represent significant times in my life, although the design itself is abstract. I agree that women who get drunk and get ink, or who get a name, heart, or butterfly to be "cute" or "trendy," are not thinking with their big head (lol) however many of us put a lot of thought into the decision.
XoXo
Marea
She thought it said "blood and guts," but it really said "blood and intestines." He thought it said "rock 'n' roll," but it really said "to sway and to roll."
One guy thought it was Chinese sysmbols for something like "strength and courage" but it really said "I like to suck cock".
Calif is full of nonsensical Spanish place names that were probably named by some developer's secretary who thought eg that Los Banos or Manteca sounded too cool.
I read this twice before i realized that "Los Banos" translates as "The Bathrooms" [the absence of the tilde threw me].
Ad slogan ; "Your friends will want to visit you regularly at Los Banos."
I was driving around the valley last week seeing dozens of real estate ads about how cool Los Banos homes were.
I'm too lazy to put the tilde in. Sorry.
George Carlin : "Just because you've tattooed Chinese characters onto your body, that doesn't make you spiritual."
In NYC metro area, the Chinese character tattos seems to have quite a cachet within the minority communities, if my random, non-scientific observations are to be trusted.
a fouled anchor on Popeye the bosun's mate, or the eagle-globe&anchor, or a helmeted bulldog on a gysgt.
Things like "death before dishonor" on some Hell's Angel make me think, "hey, we could arrange that."
If you haven't already, look at another of my posts in this thread, the one entitlted "it's all a question of taste" the last paragraph especially.
Hold onto your hat, Jack0. I can't be certain, but i think "death before dishonor" actually originated from the French knighthood in the late Middle Ages.
-- Modified on 9/2/2007 3:13:26 PM
I am in the 55+ club and view tattoos as similar to the way my generation wore bell bottoms, sandals and very long hair.
Along with other things, I believe they give this generation identity. My youngest daughter likes to write on her hands and arms with a Sharpy. We have had numerous discussions about it ... all of which include the age old excuse "But all my friends do it." To be honest, if I have to choose between the lesser of two evils, I would go with the non-permanent Sharpy drawings. However, neither option is desirable to me.
In truth, if I look at the pics of a provider and see that she has a lot of tattoos it weighs heavily on my determination to see her ... for beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you would hope that most ladies would realize their first impressions (ie their pics) are very important in this business.
That said, I am tainted for the most part by my generations feelings regarding tattoos. To me they mar a person's body. Consequently, I do not like to see young people get them and I believe that many will regret the decision as they get older.
OFF 
-- Modified on 9/1/2007 4:08:12 PM
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with tattoos and prayed every time I opened a Cracker Jack box that I would get one as my special prize. I knew I would get one when I grew up. I loved the idea of decorating the body in various ways. I double-pierced my left ear with a sewing needle when I was 12, just so I could add an extra decoration to my ear. My mom flipped. lol
I'm not sure where this idea came from, as my parents came here from another country and thought that only sailors and prisoners got tattoos. Regardless, I got my first tattoo at 19 and my second at 24, both very tasteful (IMO) and I never regretted them. In fact, I always get compliments on them.
I remember reading a book about body modification in different cultures and found it to be quite interesting. In many other cultures throughout history, body modification is a "rite de passage". In others, it is part of religious/spiritual practice. The Maori of New Zealand use tattooing as a way to tell their personal history, their identity. The tattoo process takes place during puberty along with other rituals.
My "out of my ass" personal theory is that since America is such a melting pot of other cultures, we needed something to mark our own initiation into adulthood. Getting a tattoo after turning 18 was a way to show control over our own bodies and decisions. I think tattooing is more popular than piercing because it can cover larger areas and (as an artist) I also think visual images can be more expressive then a piece of jewelry.
The fact that some people find it distasteful is not surprising. Some religions follow the belief that the body is "pure" in its natural state and should never be marked nor marred. It sounds like alot of that old "puritanical" New England stuff to me. I'm sure no one would argue that most of our opinions and tastes come from social conditioning and that only a small percentage of people were born thinking outside the box.
The story of the young woman removing a tattoo because she thought it would look "more professional" is a testament to social pressure. In England, for example, it's not that unusual for elderly women to dye their hair violet and pink because it's fun, but we'd NEVER approve of that here. We'd think it was "weird" or possibly "unprofessional". But what's the harm, really? It's just colored hair. Or skin.
We're only here for about 75 years, right? I see people stuffing their bodies with chemicals from processed foods, day in, day out. They drink alcohol like it's going out of style, pop Prozac, and spend many a night zonked out in front of the TV, living vicariously through others instead of being present and enjoying the life that they have. And they waste their time worrying about whether tattoos are sexy or not. LOLOLOLOL
BTW, as consumers, people should be asking their tattoo artists what they know about the ink they are using. A good artist knows their ink and will not use inks from questionable companies.
Sorry for the long post...sometimes I "geek out".
Namaste,
Bella
It's great to be happy with your tats but I can't understand why so many take pains to hide them? What is it to be proud, but not show them? I wonder still.
I love the whole experience, but other than they look HOT, I love the whole painful pleasure I receive from each and every one of them.