More and more French people opt for tank

Sébastien is 25 years old when he decides to get a tribal motive on the forearm. No memory to mark in his flesh, simply a desire of the moment. The young man does not go with a dead hand. He chooses a black dragon 25 cm long. Except that over time, the Vauclusian ends up getting bored. “I’m 43 years old now and I don’t like it anymore,” he argues. I would have preferred that it be more discreet or located on another part of my body. »»

20 % regret at least one of their tattoos

Everyone was able to realize it, this practice was widely democratized. About 25 % of the population under 30 is today tattooed in France, according to the French Society of Dermatology. However, who says amateurs in abundance also says regrets in greater numbers. Thus the High Council of Public Health reports that around 20 % of tattooed people regret at least one of their tattoos.

Impossible to know precisely how much the retail dare, like the stars Angelina Jolie, Pamela Anderson or Matt Pokora. But the market already weighed more than 4 billion euros worldwide in 2021 and should reach 11 billion euros by 2030, according to a study by the firm Strategic Market Research. And the rise of aesthetic centers specifically offering this service or beauty institutes inserting it in their catalog confirms the trend in France.

Over 150 euros not session

In La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), Skin Clinic saw its customers jump in the space of two years, going from five to thirty patients per week. “Some come from afar,” says Vanessa Nicollas, a doctor in the clinic. And they are ready to pay more than 150 euros per session to erase their tattoos. »»

Julien* is one of these. Seven years earlier, during an evening, the 30 -year -old had been tattooed the first name of his girlfriend of the time. Today separated, he continues to wear this brand. “It has become a joke:” Here, you have the first name of your ex tattooed on the ankle “,” he has fun. Three -quarters of people who push the door of Ray Studios retail clinics – in France and abroad – are between 20 and 40 years old, indicates its CEO David Rodriguez. “The twenty-year-old and over 60s remain in the minority,” he adds. Our patients are generally assets whose tattoos no longer correspond to their current tastes. »»

A long process

Going through tank tops becomes an act as simple as spinning or cutting your hair. At 40, Nathalie decided to remove the tribal motive drawn on her ankle: “I didn’t like her anymore. The commercial started the process two years ago. “At first, I practiced my sessions every month and a half,” she explains. Today, after thirteen sessions, it’s every six months. You have to be patient and take it on yourself. So much so that she now hesitates to remove her second tattoo on the shoulder.

The Tatau marks the important steps of a life

Being a tattoo – and retail – is not symbolically harmless either. Of Polynesian origin and more and more widespread since the 1990s, the tatau marks the important steps of a life. “He expressed until then the transition from adolescence to adulthood, an encounter, mourning, birth, or a sign of identity recognition as in the 1970s between rockers and punks …, lists the researcher Clémence Mesnier, author of a thesis on the body representation of the skin. He creates a link between people who were tattooed together. »»

Today, the tattoo and its inverse also come more, or even more, of the simple gesture of consumption. But they remain, one like the other, an expression of oneself: “It is as if we needed to prove that we are able to modify our body in all circumstances. Sometimes the latter escapes us and we must accept it, ”analyzes Clémence Mesnier.

The laser split the particles of the pigments

Being able to remove a tattoo has aroused interest and fascination for a long time. “In Antiquity, the tattoo was the fact of the barbarians,” says Philippe Mudry, honorary professor of Latin literature at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). It was an infamous mark affixed to prisoners or slaves. Many wanted to have it removed to be accepted in society. In these remote times, the methods were far from painless. Salt was used, copper sulfate, scarification. The cantharide, an insect renowned for stripping the skin, also belonged to the arsenal …

Since then, the techniques have evolved well, making the test back backwards easier. Nanosecond lasers, which appeared in the 1990s, then the picoseconds in the 2010s, made it possible to democratize the method. No more burns and scars; The laser split the particles of the pigments via rays of light and only, for some, a pain comparable to an elastic slammed on the skin.

The practice of tank is not regulated

Last June, Sébastien spotted a clinic in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône). After five sessions out of the twelve programmed, he notes satisfactory results. Black ink has already started to fade, leaving only a faded drawing. Only detail and not the least: the price. “I pay 330 euros per session while the tattoo cost me 450,” he sighs. Or 3,960 euros in total.

Another pitfall: the practice of tank – like that of tattooing, again – is still not regulated (Read box). Sébastien also paid the price. Before turning to the Marseille clinic, the forties Vauclusian tested two centers close to his home. It came out of slightly burned sessions, with large red blisters.

Dermatologist Yvon Perrillat is not surprised. According to him, the lack of regulation leads people without medical competence to handle latest generation devices. “This is why we recommend lovers to go into a clinic held by doctors who must know your health book and your habits before,” he recommends.

Some pigments can develop cancers

Dermatologists finally alert on risks, certain lasers that can promote release in the body of metals or organic by-products known to be toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic. For Yvon Perrillat, the danger would not be linked to the suppression of the pattern as such but to the pigments of the tattoo present in the body. “The laser only disintegrates substances that are already in the body,” he insists. Research has proven that certain pigments could develop cancers. »»

In a study published by the EclinicalMedicine online journal, researchers from the University of Lund (Sweden) indicate that the risk of lymphoma would be 21 % higher in tattooed people. So much so think twice before even going under the needles of the tattoo machine.