¡DISAPPEARING INK!

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/9000/title/Disappearing_Ink

A tattoo, something formerly associated with the image of a 'bad boy' or rebel, now having made it's way into reality TV and onto the skin of many people who don't fit the typical image.

"Tattooing has almost become a right of passage for young people."

Tattoos have increased in popularity over the past several years, so has the business of tattoo removal. Many people wait many years and carefully plan their tattoo, but many other's also get a tattoo on a spur of the moment feeling crazy type of day. There are many reasons that people choose to have their tattoos removed you could probably guess them all. Nobody wants the name of a former lover engraved on their arm after a horrible breakup, sometimes people get a tattoo removed because it has faded [with time] and for some people, it's just "stupid".

Tattoo removal is and has been possible, but it's 1) expensive, 2) painful 3) a multiple visit process 4)not going to take you back to the original unblemished perfection of your skin's pre-tattoo days.

Finally, there has been a new innovative way to get a tattoo without being committed and binded to it for life! A company called Freedom-2 in New Jersey has come up with the recipe for an ink that can easily be removed with only one laser treatment.

Tattoos are an ancient form of art coming from all over the world and made from many different natural substances [charcoal & plant extracts]. In today's world we have no idea what is in the ink of the tattoo formula, although the FDA is supposably in charge of testing the ink it has fallen in the cracks of state and local government and is not regulated at all. on the website it even says that some things in the formula are ok for cosmetics, but "none is approved for injection under the skin... many pigments used in tattoo inks are not approved for skin contact at all." The suppliers will not let out their secrets or ingredients at all. A chemist and her students decided to study the ingrediens of a few inks and while they chemically broke down the substances they "found that some contained heavy metals, such as lead, while others had carcinogenic compounds."

If this isn't enough to make you think twice about getting a tattoo, good, it's not even the biggest health risk, it's the possibility that your tattoo artist has not sterilized the equipment.

Although the removable tattoo ink seems a relief for consumers, artist's may not be quite as adaptable in thought that their work may be removed by someone who hasn't thought through their decision well enough. One artist said, "we are not in the business of creating temporary tattoos.. we urge everyone who is thinking about tattoos to think of them as a permenant decision."

I really like the thinking behind the creators of the Freedom-2 ink, I'm glad they collaborated and came up with this ink. As a potential tattoo consumer, I would like to know that what they are using needles to put into my skin is approved as healthy and not full of carcinogens. I think it's good and people who may have always wanted a tattoo will be more likely to go for it, knowing that it is a decision that is important, but if someday for some reason they need to get it removed it is possible and won't be the most painful experience of their life! I can understand the artist's not completely accepting this, it might lower their esteem as an artist, knowing that their client is maybe not fully trusting them and their work. Overall I think the artists will have more customers because people who were scared before are probably a bit more likely to get a tattoo with the freedom-2 ink than before!