Tattoo is a permanent mark on the body for life. However, it can be removed by laser and often it can be changed or covered, but not always!Tattoo can be covered if it is old and faded. Fresh tattoo ink is too strong to be covered with colours, so the best option is black. If the tattoo is quite small and you want to cover it with a bigger tattoo- then there is no problem. The only thing you need to do is to find a right artist, one who enjoys doing cover ups and has a portfolio with lots of them in it. You may go to the nearest or cheapest shop, they will say that they will do it for you and it will be cheap. But you know what happens next, don't you? You end up having a bigger tattoo to worry about that is not easy to cover anymore! Best cover up tattoo advice I can give you: Find somebody who knows what they are doing and follow his advice!
A tattoo is OK to cover with color if the image is faded and is at least 8-10 years old. Fresh tattoo ink can be covered with black over it only. If somebody tells you that they can cover black with red- beware!
The colors that work best as a cover up are blues and browns, not reds, oranges or yellows...
The new tattoo will always be bigger than old one. Otherwise the corners would be sticking out or you would end up with black square. I doubt that this is what you want! A good sign of a successful cover up is when no one can tell that it is a cover up at all. If you see some lines showing through or corners sticking out- you will know that something was underneath and other people will notice that too! And you will still get asked "what was there?" A good cover up looks as though there was nothing there before.
If you choose your tattoo wisely you will not need to worry about cover-ups. Do not get something that in the future you may want to change. Girlfriends/ Boyfriends and Husbands/ Wives names are the biggest danger if it's even in Chinese or Arabic. The ex is gone and the name stays! How many times have you seen that? There are no guaranties in life what concern your love life. Another thing to avoid is fashion! Notice what the most popular tattoo is and do not get it. What was popular ten years ago looks silly now. So will this year's too sooner or later. Good idea is to ask your tattooist for information on what is the most popular. (I tell you one word- "stars").
The main tattoo cover up advice I can give you is this: choose what you want to get and find a person who is good at covering up tattoos. They will be honest with you and tell you what works and what doesn't. If there are no cover ups in the artist's portfolio it is better to find somebody else who does have pictures of successful work rather than being a canvas for experiments. Remember, your ideas may not work so be open for suggestions. The most important thing here is to get the mess sorted and replaced with something that you will enjoy. Do not think that you old tattoo can be covered with anything just as long as it is covered! It has got to be something that you like. You will have to live with it.
In some cases tattoos can not be covered and laser treatment is the only option. It is well worth to go for a few sessions and make your tattoo fade until it can be covered with anew one. In the end you will be happy with the result!
Choose careful and think before you get inked!
You have one chance to get it right. Respect your skin and expect the best for yourself. If you like to know more about how to get a successful tattoo please read my full tattoo advice.