Aussie mum's huge regret after Margot Robbie face tattoo fail: 'I'm judged'
Lily Wright, 28, is eager to move away from a negative chapter of her life and is looking forward to having her tattoos removed.
After years of living life with tattoos on her face, one mum is now desperate to have them removed — eager to strive towards positive change and leave judgement behind.
Lily Wright, 28, has a love heart, a cross and the word 'rotten' inked on her face, with the tattoos inspired by the comic book character Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie in the Suicide Squad, who boasts similar ones.
Wright's tattoos were once a symbol of her prior criminal activity, yet now they represent a life and community she wants to leave behind, finding that people often see the tattoos and make assumptions about her before she gets a chance to say or do anything.
"I got in some criminal trouble in 2016 and I decided to get my face tattooed," the Melbourne mum explained to Yahoo News. "I feel like I have been judged a lot for them... I feel like the tattoos hold me back."
After removing herself from criminal activity and spending time in rehab, Wright is now eager to move on with her life and find employment, with the tattoo removals a big step in this transition.
"I now massively regret getting my face tattooed. I need to get rid of them," she said.
Tattoo removal is growing in Australia, expert says
Tattoos were once seen as a permanent markings on the body, but tattoo removal services are helping previous bad decisions disappear, Jason Erwin from tattoo removalists Removery told Yahoo News.
"I think over the last 10 years people thought tattoos were a permanent thing... we're going down a trajectory now which is trying to normalise tattoo removal, and educate and excite people around if you've made a bad decision, if a chapter of your life needs to close, you can move forwards," he said.
More than one in four Aussies experience regret over their decision to get a tattoo, data insight website McCrindle reported, and many are turning to tattoo removal to get rid of artwork that no longer represents them.
In light of this, Removery has funded tattoo removal for 150 patients in need of the treatment ahead of World Tattoo Removal Day on Wednesday, with Wright being one of them.
"We have done 50,000 treatments since we began in Australia [three years ago]," Erwin said, explaining people either get their tattoos removed because patients "aren't that person anymore" or "they've got a bad tattoo".
Wright relates to both reasons and is "excited" to start her tattoo removal next week, with the process requiring a "12 to 24 month" commitment.
"To remove a tattoo, first we need to see that tattoo to see if there is any scar tissue… we then talk about the laser for removal… [and] we talk about a long-term commitment [to the process] between 12 months to 24 months," Erwin said.
Two tattoo removal facts, according to Erwin:
"In terms of the pain, the best way to explain it is like rubber bands hitting your skin multiple times, quite quickly, without any kind of break."
"The better the circulation and closer to the heart, the quicker the tattoo will be removed."
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