Top Tattoo Removal Factors

1 The tone of your skin

There are six different Fitzpatrick skin types. Lighter skin types one, two, three and four we are able to treat with no issue at all. Five and six, the darker skin types can cause older, less effective lasers some trouble. But not the PicoWay lasers that we use. It’s FDA cleared for all Fitzpatrick’s skin types so we are able to safely treat dark skin too.

However, dark skin is one of those areas that can, in the wrong hands, go wrong. Mainly through lack of knowledge and application. Just another reason to choose the world’s tattoo removal experts, hint hint.

2 The color of your tattoo

In short, there are some colors that are harder than others. Black, dark blue, purple, red – the standard colors that were probably the only ones available 20 years ago we can be fairly confident of removing.

The newer colors – orange, yellow, white, sky, blue, light green are a different story. They’re much harder to remove. White in particular behaves very strangely when the laser hits it, it can actually make it darker. You have multiple colors? Well then, yes they do present more of a challenge when we’re trying to do laser removal.

The right wavelength for the right color

Finding a provider that knows which wavelength to use for each color is really important. The PicoWay laser has all of the wavelengths. You can treat almost all the colors of the rainbow with it. With the exception of white, which again is very difficult for any laser to remove confidently. It can be done but it’s going to take time and some magical Removery expertise.

3 Where the tattoo is placed

With our advanced laser technology, we can remove tattoos from nearly anywhere on the body, so placement of the tattoo doesn’t impact if we can remove it (we can!) — only how long it will take.

Tattoos in high blood flow areas can be removed faster than those on extremities.

Extremities like fingers have low blood flow, which can take longer, while the chest and upper back have high blood flow and can generally be removed more quickly. Look at the image here, the farther away from the heart the longer the removal will generally take.

It’s important to remember that every individual is unique and while the general timeline for tattoo removal is consistent across different locations on the body, there are always exceptions.

4 How much ink is in your tattoo

Or as they call it in the trade, ink saturation. This can vary depending on the style of each tattoo. Below you’ll see a range of different tattoos – the ink saturation increases left to right.

Low ink saturation

High ink saturation

Typically, tattoos with higher saturation will take longer to remove, while low saturation tattoos require fewer treatments.

At Removery, you don’t need to worry about the number of treatments affecting the cost — with our Complete Removal Packages, we will continue working on your tattoo until all removable ink is gone, regardless of the number of sessions.

5 Who created the tattoo

The difference between a tattoo created by a professional tattoo artist and an amateur one is a big one. Professional tattoo artists intend for their tattoos to last. Ever heard a tattoo artist say ‘Bold Will Hold’?

Experienced artists use ample ink placed deeply and expertly under the skin with just the right amount of pressure so that your tattoo doesn’t fade or experience blowout over time.

An amateur artist might use less or more ink than they should and might be light-handed or heavy-handed, which may prolong or shorten the average timeline for tattoo removal.

Knowing this before we treat your tattoo will help us make a more accurate estimation about how long it will take to remove.

6 The age of the tattoo

The short cut here is this – an older tattoo has had time to naturally fade and so could more likely be removed faster than a newly inked tattoo.

Here’s a bit more of the science behind that: A new tattoo prompts a natural response in the body, where the immune system attempts to absorb the foreign particles (the ink) and flush them out. The body can’t break down the large ink particles, which leave behind the tattoo design.

10 year old faded tattoo. You can see the ink has faded and the edges are blurred. Less ink to break down. Shorter time required.

2-3 months old tattoo. Fresh ink, zero fading. More ink to break into smaller particles. Longer time needed to remove.

Over time, your body slowly chips away at the larger particles, which leads to your tattoo naturally fading. Your body can never fully process the ink on its own. However, a tattoo that’s older may be removed faster with laser tattoo removal than one that’s only a year or two old.

7 Whether you smoke or vape

Really? Whether you smoke or vape can affect how long it takes to remove a tattoo? Yep, it sure can. Nicotine narrows the small blood vessels that normally bring oxygen and nutrients to the treated areas to help them heal. So there are less blood cells there to flush away the ink particles – slowing down the body’s ability to aid the tattoo removal process.