A woman who was ‘addicted’ to getting tattoos reveals why she is now bringing them removed – with people constantly assuming she’s a ‘bad girl’ because of her extensive ink.
Lauren, 30, from Australia, got her first piece – a set of roses on her stomach – done when she was just 18 years old after becoming inspired by Lady Gaga’s floral back tattoo.
In the years following, she added more ink to her collection – getting 18 more, setting her back around $20,000.
But despite initially enjoying the art, the now 30-year-old has begun to ‘hate’ her tattoos and is getting them removed one by one – having already lasered off nine and is removing a further six.
She initially got the tats as a ‘coping mechanism’ while struggling with depression but ‘regretted every single one’ and is removing them as she is fed up with public scrutiny.
She was ‘essentially covered’ by 25 when the appeal wore off, and the heavy inking attracted comments in public and criticism from her family members.
She said: ‘I feel like they are the first thing anyone sees when I’m wearing shorts or a dress, and it makes me feel incredibly insecure.
‘People make assumptions about me and my personality based on my appearance – especially the older generation.
‘I’ve heard whispers of snarly remarks and been looked up and down in public, which hurts.
‘I’ve found that because of my tattoos, men interact with me differently. They immediately assume I’m a ‘bad girl’ or a ‘biker girl’, which isn’t the case.
‘They also assume I’m promiscuous and often over-sexualise me because of the way I look.
‘I also come from a family of ‘clean skins’ – neither of my parents have a single tattoo, so you can imagine their shock when I started getting heavily tattooed.
‘My mum warned me [and] she knows me better than I know myself. She knew I would regret them, but I couldn’t be reasoned with them.
‘I was in my rebellious era. In hindsight, I wish I had listened.
Now, she plans to have ‘spotless skin’ within the next few years, with the removal process costing her an estimated double what she originally spent.
Lauren added: ‘I’ve been in the process of removing these tattoos my entire adult life, so it’s become defeating.
‘I don’t expect I will have spotless skin until I’m in my mid-30s, and that makes me upset that I wasted my 20s in a body I didn’t feel comfortable in’.