A tattoo to remember...
HAVING an elaborate design tattooed on your body is usually a long-considered decision, but what happens when the tattoo goes wrong?
Experienced tattoo artist Nigel Barden of Suns & Roses Tattoo and Piercing Studio in St James Road, said a rise in the use of home kits has meant he is seeing increasing numbers of people seeking help from him to sort out badly performed tattoo work.
Because Suns & Roses has taken the unusual step - for a tattoo studio - of offering a tattoo removal service, using laser technology.
Owner Nigel Barden, who has worked in tattoo studios for 30 years, said: “There is so much bad work these days with people doing it from houses, I though this would help our business.
“We are the first tattoo studio in Northampton to have been registered with environmental health for tattoo removal. There are many places where it is very expensive so I thought we could offer it at a more affordable rate.”
Nigel believes one problem is the way in which tattoo equipment can be purchased so easily online.
He said: “There are people with this equipment who are untrained so they make a mess of it and they might not have the necessary sterilising equipment at home.
“My concern is people doing it out of their houses and not being trained tattoo artists; the quality of their work can be very bad.”
He continued: “You have to have a health authority licence to tattoo people and people in their houses can actually get fined for not having a licence.”
The tattoo removal is carried out using laser technology and is done in a process of stages.
Nigel explained: “You can only do a certain amount of skin at a time and once the laser has been used on that piece of skin you can’t go back on it for six weeks.
“It explodes in the skin to make the particles smaller so your immune system gets rid of the ink.”
According to Nigel, the lasers he uses do not scar, although some skin pigmentation can be lost in the healing process, but in most people this will eventually come back.
With celebrities such as Robbie Williams and Lady Gaga known for their multiple tattoos, it seems that tattooing has also become very popular among the general public.
Nigel said: “Now professional people are having tattoos, even people like doctors and lawyers. Whatever a celebrity does will have an impact on people, everyone looks up to celebrities.
“But although people used to come in and say ‘I will have that design displayed on the wall,’ nowadays people really think about what they are going to have done.
“A lot of it is to mark births, deaths, marriages or important changes in their lives.
“Religious images are also used a lot, with religious icons it will still mean the same in 50 years time, it won’t mean anything different.”
Tattoo artist Dan Gold, who appeared in the TV series London Ink, will be working at Suns & Roses between April 25 and 29.
For more information, log onto www.sunsandrosestattoos.com
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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