West Palm Beach, Fla. – There she is, on the cover of US magazine, turning her glorious back to the camera.
Her Nefertiti profile is tilted away from Brad Pitt and her son, Maddox, as they romp on an African beach.
But who cares? All eyes are on Angelina Jolie’s bare back, inscribed with a series of symbols, which she told USA Today that she requested in Sanskrit, because it’s part of her Cambodian son’s heritage.
She has at least a dozen tattoos, according to www.vanishingtattoo.com, which has posted a colorful page of her intriguing body art and calls her “a babe with an edge and a true ink aficionado.” Remember when she had ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton’s name lasered off? (She allowed the dragon below it to continue to inhabit her arm.)
“Usually, all my tattoos came at good times,” she told USA Today. “A tattoo is something permanent when you’ve made a self-discovery, or something you’ve come to a conclusion about.” But as she found out, those who wear tattoos sometimes want them gone.
And that’s a lot easier to do since the development of the short-pulsed lasers.
Lasers remove tattoos by targeting the tattoo
pigment in the inner layer of the skin and vaporizing the pigment colors with a high-intensity
light beam, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
The type of laser used to remove the tattoo depends on the pigment colors. The inks that respond best are black, dark blue, red, some lighter blues and green, so think twice about lavender, yellow and orange hues.
Professional tattoos, which often have elaborate designs or use multiple pigments, require about six to 10 sessions to be removed by laser.
Ouch.
Even the dermatologists warn that can be painful.
But so could Billy Bob’s name if it was still wrapped around her arm.
And what about getting tattooed safely? After all, there is always the risk of a reaction that may require treatment.
Infections may occur either directly after tattooing or later.
There is also a risk of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, although there has been no documented spread of HIV by a professional tattoo artist with experience, says the AAD.
There’s also the possibility of allergies or scarring.
To get the best shot at a clean and well-done tattoo, the Mayo Clinic advises checking for: an autoclave, a heat sterilization machine regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. It should be used to sterilize all nondisposable equipment after each customer.
Fresh equipment: Watch the tattoo artist and make sure he or she removes an unused needle and tubes from a sealed package before your procedure begins. Any pigments, trays and containers should be unused, as well. An unused, sterile needle also should be used for piercings.
Commercial disinfectant or bleach solution: Instruments and supplies that can’t be sterilized with an autoclave should be disinfected with a commercial disinfectant or bleach solution after each use. These include pigment bottles, drawer handles, tables and sinks.
Gloves: The artist or piercer must wash his or her hands and put on a fresh pair of latex gloves for each procedure. And those gloves should touch only you during the procedure. If piercers or tattoo artists open drawers or answer the phone while performing a procedure, they expose you to possible infection.
Also, look for someone certified by the Alliance of Professional Tattooists or the Association of Professional Piercers. Both organizations offer safety training to members.
And check with your city or state health department to see if there are complaints against the studio you’re thinking about using.
