When an 18-year-old Olivia Cerda got a vivid tableau featuring a snarling dragon and a grizzling tiger permanently etched across her entire back, there was not much thinking behind the decision. “I love traditional Japanese tattoos but I was just young and wanted my full back tatted,” she says.
Intense regret surfaced immediately. A few years later, she inquired about removing it professionally with a laser but was quoted far more than she could afford. “I figured I was stuck with it for ever,” she adds, “so I got it coloured in, thinking I would like it more if it was vibrant. I still hated it.”
