The seven variables that decide your number
Your tattoo is like nobody else’s, which is why the range is so wide. This is what is assessed at consultation:
- Ink colour. The number-one variable, by a distance. See the next section.
- Amateur or professional. An amateur tattoo carries less ink, laid shallower: fewer sessions. A professional one deposits more pigment, deeper: more sessions. It is counterintuitive — the “good” tattoo is the harder one to remove.
- Density. A fine line clears sooner than a saturated black fill.
- Age. An old tattoo has already lost pigment naturally and tends to respond somewhat better.
- Size. Obvious, but it affects cost more than session count.
- Location. This one surprises people: anything far from the heart drains worse. Ankles, feet and hands are the slowest areas of the body. A tattoo on the ankle can need twice the sessions of the same tattoo on the chest.
- Your phototype. On darker skin, more conservative energies are used to avoid pigment marks — and that means more sessions. Speed is traded for safety, and it is worth it.
Colour: the table almost nobody shows you
If you read only one section of this guide, read this one. Your ink colour determines, more than anything else, whether your tattoo will disappear or merely lighten:
- Black and dark blue — the best. They absorb the energy well. They usually lighten markedly and come closest to a “clean” result.
- Red — good. Responds reasonably.
- Green and turquoise — the difficult ones. Notoriously stubborn. They consume many sessions and frequently leave visible residue.
- Yellow, white and pastels — the worst. They frequently do not clear completely. And white can darken under the laser, making it look worse.
- Cosmetic ink (brows, lips, eyeliner) — a separate case. It contains metallic oxides that can turn grey or black on the first pulse. Never treated without a small test patch first.
Why it cannot go faster
It is the question everyone asks, and the answer is biology, not scheduling.
The laser does not dissolve the ink: it shatters it. What carries the fragments away is your immune system, gradually, over weeks. The real work is done by your body, not the machine.
So sessions are spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart: that is how long your body needs to clear what was fragmented. Bringing the next session forward speeds up nothing — the pigment has not gone yet — and it does raise the risk of scarring and permanent colour change.
The consequence is hard but it must be said: a large, professional, multicoloured tattoo can mean more than two years of treatment. If that does not fit your expectation, it is far better to know now than after the fifth session.
The question that can halve your sessions
Do you want it removed, or covered?
A great many patients ask for complete removal when what they actually want is a new tattoo over the old one. A cover-up does not need full clearing: considerably fewer sessions will do, and the saving is substantial.
Say so at the consultation. It changes the plan, the number and the cost. Nobody will ask you if you do not raise it.
And a warning that is not about the tattoo
If there is a mole or a pigmented lesion inside or beside the tattoo, it is assessed medically before anything is fired.
A laser aimed at a lesion that should have been studied destroys the evidence: if it was a melanoma, the chance to measure its depth is lost — and depth is exactly what decides treatment. See how to tell if a mole is dangerous and tattoo removal.
Frequently asked questions
Can it be completely erased?
Not always, and that is the honest expectation. Black and dark blue usually lighten a great deal; green and turquoise are stubborn; yellow, white and pastels frequently do not clear completely. In many cases a shadow or colour residue remains.
Why wait two months between sessions?
Because what removes the fragmented pigment is your immune system, and it needs weeks to do it. Bringing the session forward does not speed up the result, because the ink has not gone yet, and it does raise the risk of scarring and permanent colour change.
Does an amateur tattoo come off faster?
Yes, usually. It carries less ink, laid shallower, so it tends to need considerably fewer sessions than a professional tattoo of the same size. It is paradoxical: the better the tattoo was done, the harder it is to remove.
Does it hurt more than getting the tattoo?
It is usually described as more uncomfortable, though far shorter: small sessions last only a few minutes. Topical anaesthetic and cooling are applied, and the sensation is compared to rubber bands snapping against the skin.
Can I get a new tattoo over it?
Yes, and it is a very common reason for treatment. If your goal is to cover the tattoo with new work, full clearing is not needed and far fewer sessions will do. Mention it at the consultation, because it changes the plan and the cost.
Every case is different. Get your questions answered in a personal consultation.
Book a consultation on WhatsAppEvery figure published on this site is approximate and is not a quote. Any procedure or treatment first requires a private assessment consultation with Dr. Arístides Arellano —$800 MXN, charged separately— and it is at that consultation that the definitive cost of your case is determined.
Educational content; it does not replace a medical consultation. Results may vary from person to person.