Everyone makes mistakes, right? And this is America goddamn it, a country that has perfected the notion and practice of covering up blunders. So after living with a tattoo that I have hated for the past 8 years I finally decided to exercise my God-given American birthright… And get the thing lasered off.
My intention with the lasering is not complete removal but to lighten it enough to allow for an easy cover up. Luckily for me the tattoo is all black, the easiest “color” to remove.
I chose to go to Bethany Cirlin, owner of Forever Yours Esthetics in Westbury Long Island, because I have been hearing for years that she is the absolute best in the business. If you’ve ever looked into laser removal you’ve probably heard the horror stories about how painful and expensive it is and how you need 20 sessions blah blah blah. The truth is that every tattoo is different and people’s experiences will vary greatly. Some may need more sessions than others, some may find it more painful than others. The key is to go to someone like Bethany, she knows her shit and will talk you through the whole thing.
I am pretty heavily tattooed and don’t scare easily anymore… But I’ll cop to being scared shitless right before my appointment. It wasn’t so much the pain that was making me nervous, more the idea of what would be happening to my skin… The thought of getting punched in the arm by a burning laser that is moving at the speed of light is not a comforting one. Bethany put me right at ease by going over everything that was happening and was savvy enough to pretend not to see my hands shaking.
The lasering took literally 5 minutes. It certainly didn’t feel good, but it wasn’t the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Imagine a poisonous, flaming rubber band snapping your skin 1,000 times per second. I consider it punishment for all the pain I’ve inflicted on my own clients for the past 8 years. The bonus for me is that, only hours after my treatment, the tattoo has already lightened considerably. The bonus for you is that when I go through a painful experience like getting tattooed, lasered or Rolfed it gives me more empathy for my clients… for a little while anyways. Everybody wins!
This picture was taken only a few hours after having the treatment done so my skin is a bit red. The grey has almost disappeared and the black is a lot lighter. It will continue to lighten over the next few weeks and I’ll post more photo’s as the difference grows more dramatic.
