My First Ever Tattoo - 26th Year of My Life

There were a few times in life where I thought about getting inked, but never did.

#1. During my secondary school days - the time where everyone wanted to look & be cool. Ended up, I got myself piercings instead 'cuz they're much easier/convenient to remove so I thought was a better choice.

#2. Still during secondary school after I already had gone into different types of piercing - was just a day where I accompanied a school mate to get a tattoo. We were supposed to get one together and I ended up choosing till the shop had to close. Case closed, my friend got a little mad for feeling stood up after she got her chinese initial on her middle finger.

#3. 16 - An acquaintance who wanted to be a full sponsor for my ink if he won a soccer bet. Nope, didn't win, didn't get inked.

Okay, let's just cut this short... I could go on about the list of events that I would have but could have not.... (lol)

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I finally decided to get one when I was 26.. (merely last year)... There has been a few placements which I super like..

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1) The Wrist - My Brother has his name on his left wrist, I simply love that placement. I've been wanting to get one on the insides of the wrist since I was a kid. I find it such an "intimate" area to have names of special ones.. I would have gone with my name (I love my name btw) or "hevinvan" (stands for my Dad, Bro, Me) + a little infinity symbol.

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2) This one was favored in the recent years. I like the meaning of it - to me, its a reminder to keep breathing and not worry about things (too much). I used to have bad anxiety & depression problems, breathing actually really helps. 

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3) Cross on finger - I love the cross symbol, and I love tiny/delicate tattoos. Its a tough symbol yet feminine. And its a symbol of my religion.

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4) This one caught my eye instantly - the details... heart + le (meaning "smile" in Swedish). <3 p="">

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5) Love the middle (spine) placement. What caught me was the words on the side.....

"A beautiful life does not just happen, it is built daily by prayer, humility, sacrifice and love. May that beautiful life be yours always"..... How beautiful?

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 5) (Placement) - need I say more? Sexy as hell. 

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(same as the above) This one belongs to Miley.

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And Ta-Dahhhhh.. Mine. It says "Just Breathe".. Decided on this placement 'cuz its sexy, and its the area of our lung so it matches well with the meaning of the tattoo. (And I wanted something small for starters) This photo was taken right after the inking session. The whole session was fast.

1. Tattoo artist shows you the actual art on a paper (to be transferred) onto your skin.

2. After approving of the art, it is being transferred onto the placement you choose.

3. Inking begins. Thats about it..... Its fast, and definitely theres pain (but bearable). I would say, a 4/5 when the needle was dragged thru the rib area. Yes, it is true boney areas hurt more.

#instainked

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One day, after I get married.. I would love to have a nice matching art with my other half. 

How sweet. <3 :="" p="">

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For now, hmmmmmm....... thinking of my next body art. :P

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My Experiences on Eyebrow Laser Tattoo Removal

Why did I decide to get my eyebrow embroidery (tattoo) removed?

It was a week before CNY and I wanted to get my brows touched up since I have left it alone for a year or so. I've been recently into "Korean" brows that look straighter and more demure in a way, less fierce than an arched brow. I wanted to have a friendlier and more approachable look so I decided to look up online for beauty shops that offer a more natural eyebrow embroidery technique.

The last time I did my brows, I went to Irene in Toa Payoh (went because of QiuQiu's blog). Irene does Korean 4D embroidery but it was friggin' ex.. $488 for one time eyebrow embroidery + one touch up. Well maybe it was ex for me as I did my brows previously at Salon #1 (Bishan) and prices were a fraction, thou disclaimer was that Salon #1 did normal embroidery not the 4D type.

Thus I looked on coupark.com hoping to get a deal for 4D embroidery and I found a $68 deal for Best Beauty Salon. I decided to try only because it was cheap and near my place. But I didn't buy the coupon because I was told I could head down to the shop for a consultation first to make sure Im suitable for the service.

I went down, excited & nervous to try out the new place....... The manager of Best Beauty took one look at my brows and said that they're "spoilt", that the previous beautician had recked my brows. By that I think she meant that the colour of my brows had turned slightly off...like to a slight greenish-black kinda colour (tho it was not the "auntie-green-tattoo" kinda colour). She said that if I wanted to get new brow I should laser the old colours off first before getting new ones because if I did new colour over the old brows, the spoilt colour would still show under my new brows (like a double tone).

Example of 2-toned brows.

(Taken from http://www.laser-tattoo-removals.info/ )

Obviously you would have agreed to do a tattoo laser first right, it only makes more sense. I've never done nor enquired on laser tattoo removal ever, so I didn't know how much was the market price. I was quoted $388 which includes tattoo laser removal for my brows (unlimited times till the colour totally washes off) + a normal eyebrow embroidery after. I took the offer thinking that price was good, tho I was skeptical about getting another embroidery after. Well, laser first, decide later.

(So this was me on the way to consultation)

(Look at my arched browsssss.)

The Process...

I was first sat down onto a chair and the beautician applied numbing cream onto my eyebrow, it was exactly the same "prepping" step you get from before getting eyebrow embroidery done. Waited for 30 minutes or so and was brought into a room for the laser session.

I was given a pair of sunglass-looking-shades to protect my eyes from the bright laser beams, and the total process took a mere 10-15 minutes. 

Pain Factor

I would say between 3.5 - 4/5.... (?) 3.5 for the pain, 4/5 because of the discomfort.

Okay... I have a pretty high tolerance for pain but I would say this was pretty darn uncomfortable.. It was like having someone constantly shoot rubberbands onto your brows which caused me to get a shock everytime although I was anticipating every shot, and FYI was not comfortable at all since its an area close to the eyes. You'd smell burning smell (Chao Ta smell), and have your brows all turn yellow-white after... The pain was overall tolerable but it was definitely uncomfortable and looked weird after.

Here's a vid of the process I found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=NYpcAzDIO14

(see my Ah-Pek brows. Lol)

(I bled a little but not so much 'cuz it was a week before CNY and the beautician didn't want me to have bad brows thru the new year so she did "light settings" on the laser for mild removal.)

You would have to go back for laser every month and depending on individuals, the number of times may vary between different people. Up to date, I've went for 3 sessions and I think this may be the end of my sessions as the colour is almost gone.. 

(This was immediately after my 2nd session, where the beautician gave me a "powerful" removal session since the first was rather mild.... and yup, bled more tho pain factor was pretty much the same)

(At the end of the day my whole brow was pretty much covered in dried blood...You are not advised to put on any make up during the first few days, better still for a week to let the skin recover first.)

During my 3rd session, the beautician told me that you can do more times but each session has to be done in a controlled manner by a skilled beautician. That the light strength should not be overly strong or else it'd kill the hair follicles. So better be careful choosing the place you go to for this service.

So far for me it has been very good.. Colours slowly going away and my hairs are all growing out. I would say overall Im okay with the service provided at Best Beauty, the only complain is they're the kind who can be a little hard selling at time (also depending on which staff). I'm now on a regime of applying lash & brow serum, and all Im hoping for is that my hairs can grow out on its own so I do not need to do new embroidery again... 

*keeping fingers crossed* :P