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It seemed like love but now its just his (or her) name staring at you, taunting you...
People get tattoos that they regret every day. The question is what do you do about it? You could spend the time and money to have it laser removed, or you can cover it up.

First thing you must know is that your cover up tattoo will be larger and darker than the original tattoo.Also most successful cover ups have a textural element to them that makes it easier to hide the lines of the previous tattoo. Think feathers, fur, and flowers. More organic designs tend to hide old tattoos well because they have more variation in them.

There is a tendency to just walk into the shop and say "Cover this up". It is obvious that the person doesn't want to look at that particular design any longer and wants it to go away, no matter what, right now. This can lead to two unfortunate conclusions.

One, they have a lazy tattoo artist that just slaps a big black blob over it and tries to call it "tribal".

Two, The artist tells them to come back when they have some idea of what they actually want (after giving them the spiel I've already given you) and the customer goes away unsatisfied.

My message is this- covering up a tattoo is a pain in the butt. Covering up a cover up is extremely difficult to impossible. Don't make the same mistake twice. Research is the key to a good tattoo. Take several designs or ideas for designs with you so that you have something to show your artist. Cover up tattooing is a skill, make sure your artist is capable of doing this type of tattoo. Finally, be patient, in order for your design to perfectly fit over the tattoo that is already there your artist will have to do some work to trick the eye. Don't necessarily expect that you will be able to get tattooed that day. It may take some time.

Learn more about this author, Lela Simon.
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