When someone isn't happy with the look of a tattoo for any reason, they might attempt to conceal it with clothing or jewelry. While these approaches can work, they can also be limiting. For example, you might feel that you have to wear a long-sleeved shirt to conceal the ink, even when it's hot. If you're tired of this hassle, consider visiting a tattoo shop for a cover-up tattoo. Your artist will assess the ink that you no longer want to be visible and discuss some options for you to consider.

There are several different ways that you can approach a cover-up tattoo, including the following.

Improve It

If you like the idea of a certain tattoo that you have but you're not overly happy with how it turned out, talk to your tattoo artist about improving the look of the design. For example, if you have a butterfly tattoo that has an amateur look, an experienced and skilled tattoo artist can go over the butterfly to give it more of a stylish appearance. This might mean redoing any crooked lines, improving the colors, and making other similar changes. This approach means that you'll still have a butterfly tattoo, but that it will look better than it originally did.

Conceal It

There are scenarios in which you're not happy with the look of a tattoo for any number of reasons and don't want to ever see it again. This might be applicable if you have an ex's name tattooed on you, for example. A popular cover-up method is to come up with a completely new design that will fully conceal the original ink. The new design will often have to be a little darker, and at least as large as the original design, to ensure that none of the original design remains visible.

Erase It

While some people turn to laser treatments to remove tattoos, it's also possible to effectively erase certain old tattoos by having your artist tattoo over them in skin-colored ink. This method is possible when your old tattoo is light in color or very faded; it's hard to cover up dark ink with light ink. Skin-colored tattoos can be a simple way to partially or fully hide a tattoo that you don't want to see anymore, especially if you don't necessarily want a new tattoo that is highly visible. Talk to your tattoo artist about these three cover-up options.

To learn more about tattoo cover-up services, reach out to a local service provider.