There are a few reasons why a tattoo has faded over time. You may not have properly vetted a tattooist or studio and received poor quality work. Perhaps appropriate aftercare was not afforded the tattoo and/or you’ve spend too much time in the sun without enough SPF+ to cover the ink. Or, you received the tattoo decades ago and the wear and tear that comes with the passage of time has done its dirty work and rendered your body art a mere shell of its former self. Whatever the case may be, you’re left with a tattoo that no longer pops, and perhaps requires reading glasses to identify. Is there anything that can be done to return it to its former glory? Are there other options you may not have considered? Yes.
3 Options to Consider When an Old Tattoo Has Faded
1. Get a Touch Up
If you received the tattoo way back in the day and you still have the artist’s contact info in your rolodex (was it really that long ago?) then it’s certainly worth looking them up to see if they can touch up your tattoo. You will still have to pay them of course, but since the original design’s general outline remains it won’t cost as much (inflation aside) as starting from scratch. That said, if the faded tattoo wasn’t originally done that long ago (2 years or further back) and was the result of a poor job, then you may want to avoid going back to them. Instead, find a true professional. While you may have heard that tattooists won’t work on top of someone else’s work, a professional body art studio will understand the sorrows of living with a older and faded tattoo and will more often than not jump in to add a fresh coat of ink (so to speak) so that you can wear it with pride once again. It all begins with a consultation, and the longer you wait the harder it will be to work with the original design. Contact a studio near you right away to nip further fading in the bud.
2. Fade It for Good
A faded tattoo might look bad, but it also presents you with the opportunity to remove an ink job that you no longer want. As the years and decades pass your interests, preferences, and even lifestyle may have changed significantly, and in turn you might not be interested in seeing the old tattoo return to what it once was, nor do you desire to have a tattoo any longer. If this is the case, you can take advantage of the fact that the ink is no longer as prevalent as it once was and seek recourse to have it removed completely. Find a professional tattoo studio (versus a cosmetic clinic) near you that also offers laser tattoo removal and wipe your slate clean, for the time being, that is. Keep reading.
3. Fade It for Cover Up
There’s another and often more favorable option. Opportunity knocks even louder in this case, as you can take full advantage of the old and faded tattoo to get a brand spanking new one that is more relevant to the aforementioned interests, preferences, and lifestyle choices that have evolved over time. Look for a tattoo studio that offers industry leading PicoSure laser tattoo fading for cover up, a specialized skill that few studios/parlors offer. Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you live within or have the opportunity to visit Greater Vancouver BC or Toronto ON, one of our studios can take a tattoo that has faded with time and apply PicoSure laser to fade it even further. This will free up the canvas for one of our expert artists to deliver a fresh new design that will also stand the test of time.
Contact a studio near you today to schedule your consultation.
Written By:
Adrenaline Tattoo
Tattoos, not attitudes. Piercings, not pricks. From the beginning, Adrenaline’s focus has been on delivering the best customer service possible within the body modification industry.
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