An Exit Strategy For Tattoo-Wearers

New Combustible Ink Is Permanent, But Removable By Single Laser Treatment

(AP)  Having someone's name permanently etched into your flesh is considered by some to be the ultimate testament to a relationship. But wouldn't it be great to make that commitment without really making it ... forever?

A new dye due to hit tattoo parlors this fall will provide an exit strategy of sorts for people who have thought about getting a tattoo, then wondered if they might someday have regrets.

The permanent but removable ink is made by storing dye in microscopic capsules that will stay in the skin for good. But if that butterfly tattoo on the small of your back starts looking lame, it can be zapped away with a single laser treatment that is simpler and less painful than the barrage of treatments now needed.

While the idea might intrigue some — for example, the 36 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 who get tattoos, according to a 2006 study by the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology — some enthusiasts say getting inked without the lifetime commitment wouldn't be appealing. Those in the industry are also skeptical, especially since the company making the dye says it will cost considerably more than a regular tattoo.

"I don't know anyone who would pay more for a tattoo where their thought is, `Maybe one day I'm going to remove this,"' said Jerry Lorito, vice president of the tattoo removal company Tat2BeGone in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The idea was developed in the late 1990s by Rox Anderson, a dermatology professor at Harvard University who founded the New York-based company Freedom-2 in 1999 to bring the product to market.

[patsy2007-2009]

sykosam

I have a tattoo on my lower back and have never heard a complaint about it, I have actually had people come to me and say how cute! A wh0re tattoo what are you talking about? You just criticized half the people you know!! Your insane.

[sykosam-2009]

My cousin got a tattoo on her midriff when she was 20... She had a baby 2 years later and now that cute little kitten is stretched out into an odd shape and has stretch marks throughout it. Not the best move, and this quasi-permanent option would have been good for her.

I have another friend who got married at 19, divorced at 21, but had tattooed her husband's name on her arm. It's still there and she hates it, but it's too much money and pain to get rid of it.

Sure, I know people who just LOVE their tattoos... They're like the person who posted about how they KNOW it will be something they love forever, but they just got it a month ago. "Forever" and a month are considerably different, as many people discover.

I'm not actually anti-tattoo, but I think anyone who gets one should be smart about it. Get a TASTEFUL tattoo somewhere that you can easily hide if you ever want to. And ladies, please don't get a wh0re tattoo on your lower back. I've yet to see one that didn't look trashy, no matter WHAT the tattoo was of.

[rushlimpdrug]

I know a guy that had a tattoo of smiley the dwarf
in mid-life it looked like dopey
now it looks like sleepy.

[xxmorosxx]

I have nothing against this idea, I just think it's kind of silly. I mean, the point of a tattoo is that it is permanent. If you think some day in the future you might regret it, don't get it. It's that simple.

Everything in our society is becoming less and less meaningful. It's sad to say that a tattoo has more meaning to a lot of people, because of its permanence, than marriage does. It's easier to get married and divorced than it is to get a tattoo and remove it. I personally am a fan of leaving tattoos alone, and allowing them to stay permanent, because it keeps at least ONE thing in our society permanent. We change everything else. People go out and get earrings, noserings, belly-button rings, etc. and they can remove them. A tattoo says something about you that is never going to change. I'm not saying everyone should get one. I'm just saying that tattoos are a serious commitment and now people are going to be more inclined to consider them insignificant and meaningless and trivial, because they can be easily erased. Everything about us screams triviality. Sadly, tattoos were the last bastion of defense against us all being shallow, because they were a major decision, because they were almost impossible to get rid of.

[erasmus6]

I have two daughters and they both have MAJOR tattoos on their bodies. I myself, do not know what has possessed them. One of them is obsessed with dinosaurs and has a huge dinosaur bird (I call it a buzzard) across her CHEST! She also as something on her back, around her arm and some other small ones here and there. The other daughter has a sacred heart on her chest. She also has tattoos on her back, both arms and other small ones.

When they were seventeen they were wanting tattoos but they needed a parents signature to get one and I wouldn't allow it. They are in their mid twenties now and no longer live at home, so I no longer have a say.

My mother is always saying that they will regret it but to tell you the truth I don't really think they will. All their friends have tattoos and a lot of people I know also have some small ones. I think if they have a choice they would stick with the permanent ones.

[susanhelit]

I can't see how there would be any piece of artwork that I could never ever get tired of - this is definitely the way to go for a tattoo. Everyone thinks they will love what they picked for life - but tattoo removal is a big business, so obviously sometimes people are wrong.

[MacTrek777]

I would never get a tattoo unless it was removable. When you get older tattoos tend to look bad as the skin sags and the ink fades.

[matisyahu3]

Why anybody would get a tattoo and not think hard about what they're going to get without thinking of the future deserves being miserable with it. I got my first tattoo about a month ago and I was in shock that I actually got one for the first few days but I got something that I'm able to live with no matter how old I become.