Cover Up Tattoos
By Baan Khagee Tattoo Chiang Mai, Thailand
So, you’ve looked at your tattoo and one day you go… “Hmm, I want to cover up my tattoo”
We all have our own reasons and that’s totally fine. However, your cover-up tattoo options might be limited more or less depending on what kind of tattoo you’d like it covered.
Aun is our long-time friend from 84 Tattoo Chiang Mai. He is not only a good friend who’s been sharing us his knowledge but he’s also really good at covering up tattoos himself. So let’s go through what’s possible with him then.
1. Can a tattoo be covered up completely?
- Yes…in some cases.
It mainly depends on what color you’d like to change into and how old your tattoo is.
Basically lighter colors will get covered nicely by darker colors. Black or deep/dark colors are usually great options to go for.
Older tattoos also get covered easier than fresher tattoos. Tattoos fade over time, which means the older tattoos gets, the lighter colors will be. And lighter tattoos get covered easier than darker tattoos as mentioned.
2. Can a black/dark colored tattoo be covered by a lighter colored tattoo?
- This one is tricky, and it usually takes more sessions. What we normally do is we will lighten the old tattoo first, then put a light color on after it’s healed from the 1st session.
3. What tattoo style that is not good for cover up?
- Obviously forget about line/ geometric work.
Realism is hard to achieve as well but it’s still much possible if we use dark contrast ,like hair, to cover your old tattoo.
Watercolor is also very challenging since it’s normally a soft-shading colored tattoo, so it will be difficult to use it to cover a darker tattoo.
4. Is it possible to get a tattoo cover in 1 session?
- It’s possible but normally it takes more than 1 session especially when you’d like to cover a dark tattoo by a lighter tattoo.
5. Does it hurt like the first time I got a tattoo?
- It will hurt more especially if your tattoo is only a couple of years old.
6. Will it take more time to heal then?
- You bet it will 😅
7. What is your advice when it’s time for cover up tattoo?
- Make sure you really like the cover up tattoo you’re going for
- Choose a tattoo artist who has experience in cover up tattoos.
- If a customer hasn’t had any ideas for a cover up tattoo yet, maybe touching up or adding something into it could be a great idea. Because a big issue for covering up a tattoo is sometimes the old tattoo is still visible more or less but if you just get it touched up or add something into it, it will look like you just get a tattoo. Not to mention that it will take less time and cost. Also hurts less and heals faster too.
- If a customer already has some ideas, that’s great. But it’s also a good idea to listen to your tattoo artist advice too.
Hope this information is useful for you when you'd like to cover up your old tattoo.
If you’d like to get a cover up tattoo, feel free to shout out to Aun from 84 Tattoo Chiang Mai. He’s really experienced and definitely happy to help you achieve your cover-up tattoo goal.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/84tattooshop
Website: https://84tattoo.net/
So, “Does Baan Khagee do cover up tattoos?”
- We normally don’t unfortunately, but only accept for some cases. Please feel free to send us your ideas, and we will answer honestly if we can or can’t do. We hate to turn down customers but our goal is to give the best result to everyone.