MESA, Ariz. — One in three Americans have one and 24% regret getting one, according to Pew Research Center.
No, this is not a story about timeshares.
This is a story about tattoos and a tattoo artist turned laser technician who now helps people get rid of unwanted ink.
Something that felt meaningful at 18 might feel out of place at 30
Not everyone can relate to the ink they got when they were younger.
“They were on spring break with their friends and they were a little inebriated and ex-partners in their life whether it was a husband or wife, those are the two most common ones,” said Adam Dorsett, laser technician at Center for True Harmony, Wellness and Medicine in Mesa.
Dorsett’s dual background gives him an edge: he understands tattoo pigments and blending better than other laser techs.
He also knows what the laser feels like.
Both of his hands used to be 100% inked, now it’s hard to tell they ever were. Dorsett also removed many of the tattoos on his neck because he didn’t feel comfortable in his own body.
“As I grew older I just decided I didn’t want to be covered like that anymore,” Dorsett said. “I wanted to be more conservative in my image.”
'It’s just a little spicy but honestly, it feels like a rubber band snapping on you'
His client, Chantal Norvell, feels the same way. She recently decided to have two small tattoos around her right ear removed; she got them 10 years ago and said the artist was not a licensed professional.
Norvell put on safety glasses Thursday during her second removal session as Dorsett fired up the $200,000 machine, which the med spa also uses for laser hair removal and other treatments.
The laser clicks and flashes as Dorsett moves around her ear, but Norvell doesn’t flinch.
“It’s just a little spicy but honestly, it feels like a rubber band, like a hot rubber band snapping on you,” Norvell said. “I feel like it was the same [as getting a tattoo], maybe a little more pain but not bad.”
The session only lasts a few minutes but the entire process to remove a tattoo can take anywhere from six months to a year, Dorsett said. Blue and yellow ink takes longer to lighten up.
Laser sessions are spaced out between six to eight weeks to allow skin to heal properly.
“We are not burning you but essentially we are going in and putting a lot of heat in your skin so you can be susceptible to infection, you can be susceptible to discoloration of your melatonin if you are not careful with the healing, just as if you were to get a tattoo,” Dorsett said.
Clients are advised to minimize sun exposure to the treated area and to avoid swimming to reduce infection risks. Dorsett said the fall and winter are popular times to get the laser treatment.
“Instead of covering them up with big, bulky, dark colors like you have seen in the past, you can go in and lighten it within six to eight sessions usually,” the med spa’s business administrator Traci Ward said.
The cost to remove a small tattoo varies but most customers end up spending less than a thousand dollars.
“It’s nice to be able to see their process and it diminish and then them, themselves, just being very happy with having that blank canvass again,” Ward said. “Tattoos are part of your story and journey in life and sometimes you don’t want to continue the memory of that journey.”
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