Tattoo regret: Australian woman calls to raise the legal age of getting tattoos after she became heavily inked at 19 and now ‘absolutely hates’ them
A young Australian woman has urged Gen Z to think twice before getting tattooed because, like her, they may regret it later.
TikTok user @clandestine_dncr shared her story of tattoo regret in a viral video simply titled “Should have listened to mom.”
She explained how she became infected at the age of 19 as a ‘coping mechanism’ to deal with her mood swings and depression.
But fast forward ten years and she “absolutely hates” her tattoos.
“When I was 19, I stupidly started getting tattooed every time I had a mood swing,” she told her 31,000 followers.
A young Australian woman has urged Gen Z to think twice before getting a tattoo because, like her, they may regret it later
“So I got very heavily tattooed very quickly. It became such a coping mechanism for me. Every time I had a depressive thought or feeling, I thought, “I’m getting a tattoo.”
“And I loved them at the time. Ten years later, I absolutely hate things.
“I love them on other people; I think they’re beautiful. About myself? They make me physically recoil. They are by far my biggest regret.”
When she was a teenager, the young Aussie naively believed that removing tattoos was a simple process.
But they have Laser removal has proven to be long and painful.
She even became a professional tattoo remover in part so she can laser herself and save money.
“I was one of those ignorant people who was like, ‘Oh, well, if I don’t like them anymore, I’ll just get them removed. I’ll just get lasered,'” she said.
‘No! It’s not that simple!’
She further explained that she has had tattoos removed from her neck, hands and legs over the past eight years.
So far, she has been able to completely remove about eight tattoos, but many more remain visible on her body.
She has had the tattoos on her neck, hands and legs removed for the past eight years
The process of laser removal involves twelve to twenty sessions for each tattoo, she claims.
“It feels like you’re being burned by a blowtorch,” she said of the painful process.
‘Half the reason I do it [tattoo removal] for a living is because it’s so damn expensive when I have the laser [equipment] and I do the laser, I can just do it myself,” she added.
She concluded the video by saying that she believes the legal age to be tattooed in Australia should be raised from 18 to 21.
‘I’m such a supporter of the legal age… to be 21. Because I didn’t know what I was thinking [at 19]. I got my knuckles tattooed, I got my neck tattooed…” she said.
‘I just want clear skin. It’s all I want.’