Think before ink: Ways not to rue that not so cool tattoo

Nothing screams commitment more than a tattoo.

Once it's there, you expect it to be there for life. But what happens when your euphoria wears off?

You may wake up in your 20s to realise that your tattoo "insert coins in slot" above your bum crack will offend your new mother-in-law.

Lesego Puso, 26, says: "I didn't think about what I was putting on my body. I thought it would be cool. I got my zodiac star sign. Now I look at it and think, 'Wow, that's ugly'."

Ayanda Magagula, 23, wishes she had gone to a better artist.

While you would think removing the tattoo is your best option, the current trend is to "cover it up".

"There is no fun in removing it," says Puso. "It is more fun to see what it becomes once another tattoo covers it up."

Tattoo artist Wayne, of Wayne Tattoos in south Johannesburg, says people come into his parlour weekly lamenting the decisions of their youth and wanting their tattoos reinked to look better.

"Many are names of exes," he says.

But those who do want to remove them are not limited to laser therapy. There is a new chemical procedure called Eliminink.

Ink molecules in the tattoo bind to a chemical injected into the skin and are drawn from the body.

• The fifth annual Cool Inc Johannesburg Tattoo Expo starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. See www.coolinc.co.za