That tatt has got to go

There isn’t a pub or club around where you can’t find dozens of tattooed males in their late teens and early 20s.

From entire arms (sleeves) to neck tattoos (search NRL player Josh Dugan), more and more people are choosing to cover their bodies in ink in the name of art, fashion or sometimes regrettably – love.

But the finished product doesn’t always go to plan.

That’s where Matt Harvey and his brothers step in.

The family members/business partners opened up Extinkt Tattoo Removal in Park Central almost a year ago and were recently named the 2017 Campbelltown Local Business Awards best new business.

Mr Harvey said he’d removed tattoos from quirky spots on the body including on the inside of ears and “some spots where people have had to strip down”.

“We’ve also had inquiries about eyelids,” the former Elderslie High School student said.

The types of tattoos people wanted removed also varied from quotes to former partners’ names.

Though poor quality was a common factor in those wanting to part ways with the piece.

“There are lots of amateur jobs that people might get done at a home,” Mr Harvey said.

“You can tell the person (tattooist) had no training – it’s just a blob of ink.

“But sometimes people come in and the tattoo is quite nice and I think ‘why would you want to get rid of that?’.

“But it’s been there for so long and they are just over it or the person that got the tattoo then isn’t the same person they are now.”

One of those people keen to have the ink removed was Brad Caldicott.

The 27-year-old Mount Annan resident’s first tattoo was not the “artistic” masterpiece he had envisaged.

“It was a spur of the moment thing when I was 19,” he said.

“It’s on my right shoulder and it was meant to be a big, black artistic thing – but it’s quite to opposite.

“About a year ago I decided I’d had enough of it – my ‘missus’ has always hated it too.”

Mr Caldicott said he would require about a dozen sessions to get the tattoo removed and the process was half complete.

Mr Harvey knows first-hand what it’s like to have an unwanted tattoo.

His half sleeve of flames and playing cards on his left shoulder was inked by a tattooist “more interested in taking my money”.

While his job may be to remove the pieces, he is certainly not anti-tattoo.

“They can look really good if they’re done properly and people take their time and make sure they go to a reputable provider,” he said.

Mr Harvey said Extinkt Tattoo Removal was the first local business that’s primary service was to remove ink.

The process involves the use of lasers while an air cooling device is used to ease the pain.