Tattoo Removal

A half moon with my best friend in Ibiza was my first tattoo…

Of course, we were a little tipsy — just 18 — and decided, “Let’s go get a tattoo” in this random tattoo parlor. We had to walk what felt like a hundred stairs to get to the place, and when we were finished and had to walk all the way back down, my friend fell at the very end of the stairs.

But, legend that she is, once she landed safely on her bottom in front of a bar full of people, she stood up and took a bow like she had just finished her first stunt in an action movie. The whole bar applauded her, which made our entire tattoo experience even more special and memorable.

That was the start of my collection of 12 tattoos.

The second one was a huge lettering tattoo that said “Serendipity,” which means “a happy or valuable discovery that happens by chance — finding something good unexpectedly.” I loved the word because I was obsessed with the movie of the same name starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!

Just as a side note — I think I’ve watched almost every movie from the ’90s. When my parents separated, my dad and I used to spend entire weekends watching movies together, but I’ll get to that in a later blog post.

So, back to tattoos. “Serendipity” was tattoo number two, and then it continued with two hearts and the letter “M,” which I told my now-husband stood for “Mom.” Obviously, he wasn’t stupid and knew it was actually for a former boyfriend of mine.

Then came another lettering tattoo above my elbow that said “Ode alla Vita,” which means “A tribute to life.”

After that came a little heart on my ankle, a bird on my shoulder, my husband’s nickname underneath the little half moon, our wedding date, another lettering tattoo that said “Fleur,” a little lightning bolt, another lettering tattoo with a rocket that said “Rocket Man is in Space,” which was a tribute to Elton John’s song Rocket Man (a must-listen, by the way), and then two bigger ones — a huge lion’s head and the word “Lovers.” The very last one was a winking head of Mickey Mouse.

Before my husband and I got married — this year will mark 10 years — I had already removed the “Serendipity” tattoo because I didn’t want to get married with a tattoo. So I already knew how painful the removal process was, but that still didn’t stop me from getting nine more tattoos afterward.

Currently, I’m almost done removing all of them. There are still three that need a few more treatments, but most of them are already almost completely gone.

As for the removal process — I’m suuuper lucky because my stepfather is a dermatologist, and he gifted me the treatments.

Haut- und Laserzentrum an der Oper

Is it painful? Yes, yes, yes! However, you can use a numbing cream before your treatment, and that actually helps quite a lot with the pain.

After the treatment, you might feel a little burning sensation on the treated areas, but it’s not too bad.

In general: if you don’t plan on keeping your tattoos forever, don’t get them in the first place!

Thankfully, there are now amazing treatments available to remove them, but it takes time and definitely isn’t a walk in the park.

But in case you do want to get your tattoos removed, I can highly recommend my stepfather, Dr. med. Wolfgang Niederdorfer.

Have you ever had a tattoo removed and want to share your experience?

Can’t wait to hear from you.

Lots of love,

Alisa