Tattoos are created by implanting thousands of micrometer sized ink particles into the dermis of the skin. After a tattoo is applied some pigment that is not fully implanted into the dermis or oversized particles will be ejected by the skin. Ink particles which are too small are able to be foraged by the bodies own immune response. The remaining particles will remain in the dermis indefinitely.

Tattoo Particle Size.

This forms an inorganic alkaline solution with a pH of around 12.5. Skin has an acidic pH of around 5.5, while neutral pH is 7 (water). The removers alkaline pH therefore can effect the skins acid mantle (the skins own defence from infection), proper hygiene is important throughout treatment and in the aftercare process to avoid infection. Untreated infections can cause a great deal of damage to the healing skin and can greatly increase healing times and can lead to permanent scarring.

The remover is engineered on a molecular level to bind with the captured ink pigments forming much larger particles which as the skin heals is easily able to eject to the skin surface taking the captured pigments with it. This design also causes the remover to key into the skin quite firmly, forced or premature removal (picking, rubbing etc.) can also damage the reconstituting skin and introduce infection.

Rejuvi tattoo remover has been developed specifically for the purpose of removing body tattoos and permanent cosmetics. It has the benefit of being a relatively low cost method of tattoo removal and is effectively able to address all professional tattoo ink colours without alteration or adjustment. Usually removal can be effected in less treatment sessions than all other methods bar surgery. It is also able to be used in circumstances where laser is not suitable or where other methods of tattoo removal have proven to be ineffective. The remover is not destructive to skin tissue or pigment and is formed of common inorganic cosmetic ingredients. However the remover must be applied by a skilled and experienced tattoo or micro-pigmentation artist as it requires physical contact with the ink particles to function. Aftercare can be slightly more complex for this method than others with the risk of infection being of most concern.

When used correctly excellent results can be obtained with minimal risk. While the remover itself has no ingredients or formulation that can cause scarring the remover is more abrasive in use than a tattoo ink thus overworking the skin, excess puncturing or puncturing at excess depth can cause excess trauma to the skin leading to permanent scarring. Combined with different individuals tolerance to skin trauma or from incorrect aftercare means that there can be a risk of permanent scarring (hypertrophy) occurring. The rate of scarring is less than 5% and with newer more conservative application is typically less than 1%. It is important to note that there is always a risk when puncturing the skin and there are many circumstances that are outside our control. For more information on potential scarring and treatment please see the relevant section.

Tattoo removal itself is relatively simple and there are many accepted methods to remove unwanted pigment, however the difficulty is in attempting to minimise the damage to the surrounding skin while doing so. Unfortunately there is at this time no perfect system which can handle all possible circumstances without risk.

Laser.
Laser systems are expensive to run and maintain, problems of both scarring and incomplete removal are well documented. Lasers use very high energy, with very short pulses to superheat the ink particle causing it to explode in the skin, the ink particle sized is reduced and the bodies immune response can forage the particles, and the resultant small particle size becomes less visible. This particle detonation can damage surrounding skin cells leading to permanent scarring or pigmentation change. Even with the latest laser systems and multiple laser types certain ink particles reflect much of the laser light energy meaning the particle cannot be broken down sufficiently for removal. The skin only has capacity to withstand a certain amount of energy thus it becomes impossible to increase the amount of energy required to destroy difficult colours without causing severe skin damage. Certain pigments (permanent cosmetics) and areas are also not suitable for laser treatment.

Surgical or mechanical.
There are many surgical methods including excision, skin graft and abrasion techniques to remove the particles, however while these methods can guarantee complete colour removal they are very destructive to the skin and will nearly always lead to heavy scarring.

Chemical Removal.
Chemical removal has been used for centuries to effect tattoo removal, unfortunately many of the chemicals that have been used can be highly acidic or only partially effective. Most methods either attempt to destroy or bleach the pigments, or disrupt or destroy the skin tissue. However the ink pigments can be quite resultant to attack and are typically much tougher than skin cells and the damage to the surrounding skin is often excessive and permanent. As the particle builds up skin attachments over time they can also be difficult to dislodge.

There are other methods of chemical removal such as the use TriChloroacetic Acid (TCA) or Gylcolic Acids. These work by reacting with the the epidermis, weakening the binding properties of the lipids that hold the dead skin cells together. This allows the outer skin to dissolve or peel away revealing the underlying skin. TCA is usually applied to the surface of the skin while Glycolic is often applied with a tattoo or permanent makeup machine. While these methods can be successful they are not designed for the purpose of tattoo removal. The removal of the epidermis can pull ink upwards in the skin from the dermis which may get caught in the reforming epidermis. However there is no guarantee that the ink will raise sufficiently if at all. Incorrect use or poor formulations can be potentially harmful.

At home remedies, such as tattoo fade creams.
There are now also a number of systems that use home applied creams or devices to act upon the surface of the skin claiming to effect removal. Unfortunately the epidermis (top layer of skin) is extremely effective at preventing any substances from penetrating the skin especially into the dermis. Sometimes these are used with scrubbing or abrasion techniques or equipment to remove or thin the epidermis, however as with the mechanical techniques mentioned above to grind off the epidermis is potentially damaging. To then effect the actual pigment particles massive quantities or very strong chemical formulas would need to be utilised, which in reality would probably result in other adverse health effects first. There seems to be no independent research that substantiates the claimed results for these products.

By comparison Rejuvi Laboratory manufacture a wide range of cosmetic products utilising the latest technological and scientific research and development available, including pentapeptides etc. Rejuvi also have lactic acid based skin peels which can safely remove substantial layers of the epidermis (for professional use only). Thus if surface based products that could be applied at home were possible then we would already manufacture it. But we don't !

New types of tattoo pigment are being developed based on polymer technology. This is where organic pigment is encased in an inorganic polymer shell. When exposed to the high temperature of laser the polymer shell melts releasing the organic pigment which is then easily broken down by the body.

Unfortunately the only colour of polymer ink available is black while other colours are in testing, it may be some time before these are available and how well they compare to traditional inks. These inks are also substantially more expensive than the normal ink in use and generally do not fit in with the typical culture of the tattoo industry where many consider a tattoo is for life and not a fashion accessory. As far as we are aware this type of ink is only currently available from one manufacturer worldwide.

Rejuvi tattoo remover is not designed to function on these types of pigments.