Ink etched into your skin. Sounds pretty permanent, huh? Well, people often make mistakes when getting a tattoo. They break up with a loved one or stop liking their once-favorite band. And now they face the choice of undergoing laser removal or trying to cover up the error with a form of tattoo camouflage.
Adam French, owner of Carmel Tattoo Ink, on Main Street in the Arts & Design District, said he’s seen plenty of cases of “tattoo regret.”
“People come in all of the time,” he said. “They grow up. Their beliefs change. Relationships change and now they want to change the tattoo. We try to help find a great way to cover it up so nobody knows it was ever there. It’s something we do really well.”
That’s why Carmel Tattoo Ink is running a photo contest: Send them a picture of a tattoo you regret and the best one will win a free cover-up.
Entries can be e-mailed to [email protected], with your name, phone number and a photo of the tattoo. The tattoo shop staff will judge the entries and the photos will be posted on the shop’s Facebook page.
According to a Pew Research Center poll from 2013, about 17 percent of all people who get tattoos say they have some regrets. About 5 percent of the U.S. population has covered up a tattoo with another tattoo.
There are many reasons to regret getting a tattoo and a quick google search shows some funny and interesting mistakes. Some people didn’t use spell check before turning on the tattoo gun. Some people thought that Chinese symbol meant “hope” when it’s actually a dirty joke.
French said it’s more common to see a bad design than anything else. Just the other day he saw a girl come in with a tattoo she had done by a home artist.
“It was supposed to be Ying-Yang symbol, but it was horrible,” he said. “The circle wasn’t round. The lines were crooked. In some places, the ink was barely visible and you can see where the artist was trying to fix the mistakes.”
French said he tries to prevent “tattoo regret” by having a conversation with someone before starting on a tattoo. Several drafts and drawings are shown before the process. And, of course, French said he doesn’t allow people under the influence to go under the gun.
TATTOO STATS
Annual amount of U.S. spending on tattoos – $1.65 Billion
Total percent of Americans (all ages) who have at least one tattoo – 14 percent
Total number of Americans that have at least one tattoo — 45 million
Number of tattoo parlors in the U.S. – 21,000
Percentage of U.S. population who have covered up a tattoo with another tattoo – 5 percent
Percentage of people who have some regret after getting their tattoo – 17 percent
Percentage of people with a tattoo who are getting or have had one removed – 11 percent
Source: Pew Research Center December 2013
