Why You Should Not Get a Tattoo Until You're 25
To date, I have removed thousands of tattoos and in my time removing tattoos I have seen EVERYTHING!!!!! In fact I can date a tattoo nearly to the year and with the amount of Chinese symbols I’ve had, I should be fluent in Mandarin.
So why would someone that makes her living from the regrets from that weekend in Magaluf want the tattoo age to change? Because I have children….children that have been so good that no doubt when they rebel they will do it in a monumental way. I’m sure my son will come home with a bright green tattoo to make a point, because Mummy’s lasers can’t remove green!
Tattoos that were done before the age of 25 make up 90% of my business. If the laws were to change, not only would it put me out of business but tattoo parlours in Magaluf would be over….and that can’t be a bad thing.
The fact is that the person we are before we are 25 is so fundamentally different to the person we are in our 30’s and 40’s that there is very little chance that you will love that “meaningful tattoo” when you’re 40.
I have had to remove symbols from former skin heads who today are family men and gentle souls. With their rebellious years behind them, the symbols of white supremacy are simply out of place when their entire world now revolves around the every whim of an adored mixed race grandchild.
Although the above may seem extreme, the fact is that today alone, I’ve lasered a unicorn, a dolphin, a little devil and a chinese symbol. All which in their decade were the height of tattoo fashion in Magaluf at one time. But with time, the dolphin turned into a whale and the unicorn now more closely resembles My Little Pony.
By contrast I see very few people who have chosen to get a tattoo when over 25. These tattoos are usually well thought out and represent a place where people are going as opposed to where they’ve been.
My dream of changing the law will never happen as the adult age is 18. The silver lining is that I will continue to remain in business and I will continue to teach others how to use lasers so that may continue to erase the memory of that night in Magaluf.