What to Know About Colour Tattoo Removal

Best Lasers for Colour Tattoo Removal

Our state-of-the-art Candela PicoWay® (with a wavelength of 730nm) is perfect for removing blue and green tattoos and purple inks as well as their shades of teal, turquoise, lime green, etc. It is also perfect for extremely stubborn shades of black that other clinics cannot completely remove.

Just as every client is different, every tattoo that undergoes laser tattoo removal is unique. Our goal at Removery is to remove all unwanted tattoos, regardless of the colours of ink in the design. To do so, multiple laser wavelengths are needed to get the job done.

Based on the concept of light absorption, some tattoo pigments absorb some wavelengths of light better than others. To provide effective tattoo removal treatments, you’ll want to make sure that your tattoo removal clinic has the appropriate wavelengths that will be well-absorbed by the tattoo inks you’re removing.

Our goal is absorption. Tattoo removal works by breaking up the ink particles in the skin, which your immune system then clears away (i.e. the fading process). To achieve this, the laser is pulsed over the tattoo, directing light energy toward the ink. The energy is absorbed by the tattoo ink particles, which instantly break into microscopic fragments.

If the ink doesn’t absorb the laser light because an ineffective wavelength has been used, the ink doesn’t fragment and the tattoo won’t be removed. It’s as simple as that.

Which Lasers  Remove Blue, Green, and Purple Tattoo Ink Colours Easy?

At Removery, we use both the 1064nm and 730nm wavelength to treat blue, green, and purple inks. The 1064nm wavelength clears away any darkness or “mud” in the tattoo. Blues and greens will often contain darker pigments, especially dark blue tattoos, and we want to clear those away with the 1064nm wavelength because darker pigments absorb that wavelength best and we also want to use the appropriate level of energy that is safe for your skin. We will then use the 730nm wavelength to target lighter shades of blue and green. At each appointment, we will determine which wavelength is best based on the response on your skin.

As you progress through removal, tattoos often change colours. Sometimes they appear darker at first because we have turned the larger ink particles into “sand”, and then they gradually fade as you progress through your 8-12 treatments. On average, it takes 3-5 treatments to fade your tattoo. If you’re interested in fading your ink for a coverup, check out our tattoo coverup page here.

A Note About Other Wavelengths

There are some other wavelengths used for tattoo removal – namely 585nm and 650nm. While these wavelengths would be potentially good choices for removing blue and green inks in theory, they cannot be produced with the same energy as the wavelengths mentioned above.

Removal Laser Wavelengths

The 585nm and 650nm wavelengths are created through the use of dye-impregnated hand-piece filters (read our article on why this is inferior technology here), which cause the energy levels to pale in comparison to those produced directly by a laser.

Beware of clinics telling you that they can remove your blue/green/purple tattoo with these wavelengths when they really can’t. They might be able to start the removal, but they won’t be able to complete the colour tattoo removal. We have many clients who have gone down this (expensive and frustrating) road only to come to Removery where we actually have the appropriate technology to remove these ink colours completely.

Colour Tattoo Removal Works at Removery

At Removery, we are the tattoo removal experts. Book a free tattoo removal consultation to decide if removal treatment is right for you.