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What to Do If Your Cosmetic Tattoo Has Gone Wrong

It's one of the most common things I see in consultations. Brows that went wrong somewhere else. Colour that's turned grey-green. A shape that never suited the face. Work that looked fine when it was fresh and slowly became something the client has been living with.

Correction is possible. But there are things worth understanding before you book.

What usually goes wrong

• Colour shift — pigments that have faded to grey, green, blue, or orange tones
• Wrong shape — brows mapped without proper measurement, or that don't suit the face
• Too dark or too saturated — overworked skin that holds too much pigment
• Uneven results — one brow noticeably different from the other
• Hairstrokes that have blurred into a block shape over time

Some of these are fixable. Some take longer than others. The extent of the correction needed depends on what's already there — how old the work is, what pigment was used, and how deeply it was deposited.

What correction actually involves

You're not starting with a blank face. You're working with what's already there — covering the ash tones, reshaping what went off, bringing the brows back to something that actually suits the face. This is harder than doing original work. It requires more sessions and more judgment.

Most correction work takes one to two sessions at $599 per session. Occasionally more. I won't be able to give you a precise number until I've seen the work in person.

What about laser removal?

Laser removal can help lighten existing work before correction tattooing begins — particularly useful for very dark or very old pigment. It's not always necessary. In some cases I can work over the existing pigment without it. In others, lightening first produces a better final result. That's a conversation we have at consultation.

Most artists won't take correction work on

Correction is the hardest version of this work. It's time-consuming, technically demanding, and the results take longer to show. A lot of artists don't offer it. If you've had work done elsewhere and it went wrong, that's what I do.

What to bring to the consultation

• The name of the artist or salon where the original work was done, if you remember it
• Any aftercare instructions or records from the original appointment
• Photos of your brows when they were fresh, if you have them
• An honest description of what you were hoping for vs. what you got

The consultation is free. There's no obligation to book. For correction work especially, take that first meeting to look at the work, understand the process, and decide if it's right for you.

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