5 important things to know before choosing that new tattoo.

Permanent Schmermanent!

Think of this as a pre-nup agreement for your new tattoo. Sure, you want to love it forever, but what if...?

Here are 5 important things to think about when planning your next tattoo, just in case things between you and it get a little rocky.

We're not even going to talk about tattooing the name of your future ex on your body, because that one's pretty obvious, isn't it?

The focus here is removability. Safety and other considerations are for a different list.

1. Try to stick with black, blue, and green mineral pigments. They're fastest to remove. White can turn dark when lasered, just so you know, requiring more treatments.

And steer clear of plastic dye-based inks. Those can't be lasered at all. Usually those are the bizarre and awesome new colors, which is a bummer.

2. Always keep it close to your heart--literally! Did you know that the farther from your heart a tattoo is, the longer it takes to remove? That's because your lymphatic system (the one they were too scared to teach in school because it's a little complicated) is less efficient the farther south you go, and that's the system most responsible for carting away the old ink. Blood circulation is a lot more sluggish down there, too. In summary: Shoulder yes, ankle not so much.

3. Whoa, cowboy/girl! The thicker and denser the pigment, the more times you'll be marching back to TattooMedics. Go easy on the amount of ink. Just enough to make it look good. Fine linework and shading are the first to vanish, so more of those!

4. Less is more. If you end up hating a little tattoo, it's a little problem. What about a big tattoo? See what we're getting at? 
5. If you're covering up an old tattoo, think "twice." That is, you'll be left with twice the ink! Consider lightening it up at TattooMedics before covering it. The cover-up will look better, and a possible future removal will be a heck of a lot easier.

Now get out there and love that smart, new tattoo!