Can you cover an old tattoo?

What decides it

Four things, and the honest answer depends on all of them together.

• How dark the existing ink is. Solid black is the hard case; faded line work is the easy one.
• How big it is. A cover-up is almost always larger than the piece underneath, because the new design needs room to hide the old shape.
• How old it is. Ink that has softened over fifteen years gives us far more to work with than something done last year.
• Where it sits. Some placements hold detail better than others, and that limits what can be put over the top.

What a cover-up asks of the new design

The old shape has to disappear into the new one, so the design is chosen partly by what it needs to hide. Dense, high-contrast work covers; delicate fine line generally does not.

That is a real constraint and we would rather say so early than draw you something beautiful that will not do the job.

When laser comes into it

Some pieces need lightening before anything can go over them. Two or three laser sessions can turn an impossible cover-up into a straightforward one, and it is often the difference between a design you settle for and one you actually want.

We will tell you if we think that is the better route, including when it means you do not book with us for another few months.

Send a photograph first

Good light, no flash, straight on, and a second shot from further back so we can see the placement. The booking form takes photographs · putting one in at the start saves a conversation and gets you a straight answer sooner.