When Evelyn was fifteen, she decided she wanted a self-portrait on her back. She had her street name tattooed across the top and decided to have the portrait done when she turned 18. “That’s a dreadful tattoo,” she laughs. “And now I’m almost 40 with this big tattoo on my back.”
“People stare; it’s very uncomfortable, especially in the summertime. I think it makes me look like I went to prison, and it’s not even a prison tattoo,” she says.
Evelyn has worked with Removery to remove several of her street tattoos. Evelyn began treating her leg tattoos at the same time. Each tattoo is being removed at a different rate due to differentiating ink colours, tattoo locations and density of ink. While we just started working on her extra large full back tattoo, Evelyn is encouraged by her progress.
As a teenager, she also had tattoo work done on her legs. “They were street tattoos—money, guns,” she says. Today, however, she works as a bus driver and has left that life behind. She felt deeply uncomfortable with the tattoos. It was hard to cover them up when she went out in public. They no longer represented how she wanted people to see her. She’d undergone a total mindset change—it was like night and day, she says.
“They were just not the image or the person I was anymore, so I had to get rid of them,” she explains. “My husband works for Boston police, so I can’t have these gang-related tattoos and street tattoos.”
Removery is helping her remove her tattoos to support her in achieving a complete transformation of her life. We’ve started removing two other tattoos she’s had serious regret about: one from her thigh, and one from the inside of her calf.
At first, Evelyn felt nervous about how laser removal would feel, but the temporary discomfort is well worth it, she says. “It’s worth the confidence it gives you; it’s worth being able to not be pre-judged.”
“The biggest challenge for me was following the right aftercare process. I like to go in the sun and I just forgot that I even had the tattoos, nevermind remembering to cover them after my laser sessions.”
The tattoo on her left calf is almost gone, while the one on her right thigh is completely gone. She’s experienced a little hyperpigmentation in that area, meaning the skin turned a slightly darker hue, because she laid out in the sun in between removal treatments. “Your body’s natural healing response is to try and send melanin to the area because melanin is what protects you from UV rays,” says Chelsea Labreque, clinical operations and safety manager at Removery, explaining why clients should avoid the sun.
That hyperpigmentation is going to go away. In fact, it’s already disappearing, and Evelyn is just thrilled that the tattoos are gone.
“Now that we’re working on my back tattoo, I’ve been really super cautious, always keeping the back covered,” Evelyn adds. Because she’s vigilantly following our aftercare guidelines, she is not experiencing any hyperpigmentation with that one.
“I’m absolutely happy; that’s why I keep coming back,” Evelyn says.
We’re on a mission to give you the most straightforward, easy and efficient laser tattoo removal experience. Your estimate will be entirely bespoke to your tattoo; the size, the colours, the ink. It won’t take long and afterwards you’ll have a plan to finally get rid of your unwanted tattoo and get back to being you.
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