Is tattoo removal cream effective? An honest look

What is tattoo removal cream and who sells it?

It is a balm you apply to the skin with light massaging movements. Several brands are on the market, available from ordinary online retailers, with eye-catching prices and slogans such as: “effective tattoo elimination”, “effective and pain free”.

They claim to contain “natural” ingredients, the result of “advanced scientific research” that the brands somehow never disclose. One of them is said to be made from toad venom and a red resin called dragon's blood. Oddly, despite the supposedly extraordinary virtues of their tattoo removal ointment, sellers sometimes forget to state exactly what is in it.

If you believe the internet, for less than €20 you can erase a tattoo with a cream that is natural, hypoallergenic and painless, leaving the skin "soft" and "smooth", as though it were a miracle moisturiser. You already know that miracles are worth treating with suspicion. If this product were so effective and so cheap, how is it that it has not replaced every other tattoo removal technique?

What do specialists think?

Specialists are far more reserved about how well these substances work. In their view, removing a tattoo with a cream is not a miracle but a mirage, for two reasons:

1. the active product would have to penetrate as far as the dermis
2. this “treatment” would have to be able to stimulate macrophage cells so that they break down the ink.

In reality, these ointments generally contain lightening agents, which act only on the epidermis, and salicylic acid, an ingredient used to remove warts. You are therefore exposing yourself to the risk of burns, scarring and skin depigmentation.
The before and after photos shown on these sites are also often photoshopped: they are cynical, dishonest adverts that play on people's credulity and desperation.

Not only can tattoo removal cream be considered pure quackery, it is also not without risk for your skin. The only creams of any use in tattoo removal are the numbing gels applied before a laser treatment.

It is true that in 2015 the press reported on the experiments of Alec Falkenham, a Canadian student who developed a tattoo removal cream called Bisphosphonate Liposomal Tattoo Removal, but that story turned out to be a lot of noise about very little. The cream has yet to prove itself and is not on sale at present. The student's aim was to fade tattoos gradually by drawing new macrophages towards the pigmented cells, in order to carry them to the lymph nodes and eliminate them.

What are the credible alternatives?

Laser

When it comes to tattoo removal, it is best to turn to recognised methods such as laser, carried out only by trained skin therapists. Contrary to what some cream sellers claim, laser tattoo removal is minimally invasive and has fewer side effects than the other processes available. The pigments are fragmented into small particles which are then cleared by the body.

There are 2 types of laser:

1. The nanosecond laser, the older of the two. It takes a little longer to work with and is a little more painful.
2. The picosecond laser, of which the PicoWay® used by Ray studios is the most advanced version.

Surgery

Surgical tattoo removal involves taking away a design in an operation under local anaesthetic. The tattooed section of skin is cut out and removed. The thickness taken out depends on how deep the ink sits. Once the operation is over, a fine scar remains.
The main advantage of this technique is speed: it requires only one single procedure. However, it is heavier going than laser and can only be performed on fleshy areas.

How does tattoo removal work at Ray studios?

At Ray studios, as you will have gathered, you will not find any miracle tattoo removal ointment. What you will find is laser treatment carried out by experienced skin therapists who are trained to select the correct laser settings and work in a controlled environment.

We use the PicoWay® picosecond laser to give our customers effective tattoo removal on all pigments, without damaging their skin. Individual results vary. Beforehand, customers attend an initial consultation during which we check that there are no contraindications to tattoo removal and explain in more detail how the laser treatment they are about to begin works. Our offer is the Full Remove plan: unlimited sessions at a single fixed price.

Sessions are spaced around eight weeks apart, halving the overall treatment time compared with a conventional laser. Healing is also quick, provided of course that you follow the aftercare protocol closely: avoid the sun between sessions, use sun protection if you are exposed, wait 48h before exercising, eat well, drink plenty of water and keep alcohol and tobacco to a minimum.