Tattoo Prevention and the Obamas?

“What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decided you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo in the same place. And we’ll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo,” Obama said. “And our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel.”

One of the Perks

"While working toward that plan, Zimmerman is having an adventure getting to know her customers. (One of her most memorable clients: the guy who came in to have the word "slumlord" removed from his knuckles.) As she says, "Every tattoo has a story behind it." 
-via CNN.Money

Unemployment and Tattoo Removal

The correlation between tattoo removal and the unemployment rate is a direct one, at least very unofficially from behind the desk here at TRS.  It seems that as the unemployment rate goes up, so does the "rate" of people wanting to get their tattoos removed (or maybe just the desire/necessity.)  It makes sense-if two candidates are applying for one job and have, theoretically, the exact same experience and skill-set, the one with a fire breathing dragon on his neck is probably going to be the one to get the boot.  In fact, a non-profit tattoo removal center in the Bay Area has taken it upon themselves to provide for ex-gang members that want to disassociate from that part of their pasts and look for employment.  Or, as this article from the Times Colonist shows, visible tattoos can have effect on your upward mobility at the job.  Sermonizing aside (and I promise, I still like well-done, well thought out ink) tattoos and their removal can definitely have an effect on your personal prospects in the job market and, I suppose, vice versa.

Photo Credit: New Skin Adult Tattoo Removal

Changing Perspectives on Tattoo Placement

One of the funny things I run across here at TRS is men (and women) that have gotten a certain type of tattoo on a certain part of their body. Now, when they got this tattoo several years ago, the placement of it didn’t necessarily have the connotation that it does now, in the form of a slightly crass slang word, but I’ll let KDWB’s Lucas explain a little bit more below…

Fawlty Removal Lotion

It's good to see that the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has gotten tough with a Scottish skincare firm that was claiming to have a lotion that caused tattoos to dissapear in as little as twelve months. According to the Daily Record, the firm was making false claims that they had tested the product in two studies when in fact, they had not. False advertising aside, most tattoo removal creams are ineffective and in some cases dangerous - the ones that use the same sort of acid that topical wart removers do can cause permanent scarring as they "work" by taking the ink out while taking off thick layers of skin along with it.

Scottish Skincare Firm Rapped [taken to task] Over Tattoo Removal Claim