It’s only natural that the more people who get tattooed, the more people there will be who want their tattoos removed. While I personally can’t ever see the need to get rid of any of my own tattoos, I guess it can be said that getting rid of a tattoo is sort of like getting one: everyone has their own reasons for doing so.
Which of course means that everyday it seems like some new gimmick or product appears on the market to help people who are desperate to have their tattoos removed. As I said, I’ve never had any of my tattoos removed and actually, I’ve never known anyone who has had their tattoos removed. But, from word of mouth as well as common sense, I’ve learned to fear the entirely painful idea of having tattoos removed from the flesh by burning them out with a laser.
Enter Nuviderm, a liquid tattoo removal agent that is being called “revolutionary” by the makers of Nuviderm. Correction – Nuviderm doesn’t entirely take away unwanted tattoos on its own, but it does decrease the amount of time that one would potentially have to spend sitting underneath the tattoo removal laser. Or so they claim.
‘This liquid is a cosmetic acid that, when applied to the skin, sets up a controlled inflammation that, combined with the removal of the top layer of skin cells, will help to remove the image. Tattoo removal lasers work the same way, with controlled inflammation; however, the laser penetrates the skin and heats the pigments, sometimes to a temperature of over 900 degrees Celsius. This causes the pigments to break down and migrate to the surface in the blister that forms when the water in the skin boils. Effective, but painful. In addition, the laser works best on dark pigments; lighter pigments require more visits, and therefore more pain.’
Hmmm…okay, here’s the deal: calling this stuff cosmetic acid doesn’t make it sound any nicer. I mean, dressing up the word acid doesn’t hide the fact that it’s ACID and that it would hurt like hell. I know that Nuviderm’s angle here is to let you know that any way you slice it, getting rid of a tattoo is a painful process and that by using Nuviderm, one can shorten that process. But man oh man, if Nuviderm’s ad campaign does anything at all, it makes me realise how I never want to be in a position where I want a tattoo removed. If however you are in a position where you want a tattoo removed, Nuviderm might be worth reading up on – although I still think I’d take the laser over the acid if I had to choose.
Good luck.