33 replies to this topic

[Quilt Fairy]

From Spike.com:

Real people with really bad tattoos, ranging from hilarious to downright disturbing, seek the help of three of the best cover-up artists in the business to fix them – Tommy Helm, Big Gus and Jasmine Rodriguez. The stakes are high as the regretful clients go under the tattoo gun a second time to see if the artists at Tattoo Nightmares can work a miracle and turn their disasterpieces into masterpieces. Reenactments allow us to see how the bad ink was born.

Tuesdays after Ink Master


I've been watching this show for a few weeks now. I've been impressed with the quality of the tattoos, especially after seeing some very poor ones on Ink Master. In fact, there are some people who could go right from that show to this one. But one thing I've noticed is that the cover-ups end up being 5-10 times bigger than the original tattoo. I understand the reason for this, but damn, those are some huge ass (and very dark) tattoos that are walking out of the shop.

[eliza422]

The little bald guy (I can't remember his name) was a finalist in season 1 of Ink Master!

[kemon]

I call bullshit on some of the stories given by some of the participants on how they ended up with the tattoos to begin with.

[CoyoteBlue]

I'm always amused when the customer is all "This tattoo gives people the wrong impression of me, I want my kids to be proud!" Um, Felon!Mom? I think the shitload of other tats, including a NECK TAT, do a lot more to make people think you're a gang member than that relatively faint star tattoo on your upper arm.

I do agree that the cover-ups tend to be just huge and dark.

[Quilt Fairy]

Um, Felon!Mom? I think the shitload of other tats, including a NECK TAT, do a lot more to make people think you're a gang member than that relatively faint star tattoo on your upper arm.

I thought EXACTLY the same thing! And I have to say, I thought the coverup tattoo was absolutely hideous. On this particular episode, I thought all of the original tattoos were not that bad, and all of the coverups were ugly.

I call bullshit on some of the stories given by some of the participants on how they ended up with the tattoos to begin with.

Well, that's a given. Have you noticed how many of the stories start with 'I was shit-faced drunk.....'?

Edited by Quilt Fairy, Nov 29, 2012 @ 1:10 AM.

[DeeNice]

Anybody caught the episode with the female tat artist who helped a dude transform the ex-girlfriend on his back into a lion? I was wondering why the editors/producers ignored the elephant in the room. The tat artist and the dude were attractive, and looked mighty cute together! Is the female artist married or sumthin?

I dig the show, but only when nothing else is on. Can't see tuning in, cause the stories get redundant, and the "characters" aren't all that interesting.

[Hezadelsol]

I'm always amused when the customer is all "This tattoo gives people the wrong impression of me, I want my kids to be proud!" Um, Felon!Mom? I think the shitload of other tats, including a NECK TAT, do a lot more to make people think you're a gang member than that relatively faint star tattoo on your upper arm.

Her sob story was so freaking stupid. Those crappy shooting stars were the least trashy of her tattoos. It looked like she was covering a tear drop or something with that ugly eye piercing. I know she said she was saving up for laser to get the neck tattoo off but let's be real, it's never coming off. If you're so concerned about what the other moms at your daughters school think of you take the face piercing off and wear a turtle neck.

[Galloways Cave]

I'm having a dime-sized tat lasered off my inside ankle and it is a horrible process. Lots of pain and blistering. FelonMom is in for a world of hurt trying to remove the three rows of writing on her NECK (I cringe just thinking about it). And really, the faint star tats were the least offensive of all the tats she had. The face tats scream prison.

Most of the cover-ups have been pretty good, but large as everyone has said. But I find it fascinating how they are able to create designs that cover some pretty hideous and dark tats.

This show has tat artists that are pleasant, funny, non-douchy and talented. The "artists" over at Ink Master need to take a hint.

[misterbfd]

Ok, the Halloween cover-up was awesome.

[bilgistic]

I assume that the cover-ups are paid for by the show/Spike. I doubt that "Tattoo Nightmares" is actually the name of their "shop", the facade of which they show on the program. They do great work, for sure, but some of the smaller black tattoos would have been much simpler and probably cheaper (if they were paying customers) to get removed. Does anyone know?

[Galloways Cave]

some of the smaller black tattoos would have been much simpler and probably cheaper (if they were paying customers) to get removed. Does anyone know?

I have a 1/2" diameter tat, blue heart surrounded by red/orange flames, that I am having lasered. It was 20 years old and a black blob from unstable ink. The laser just breaks up the ink and the circulatory system flushes out the ink particles. Believe it or not, the black ink lasers out quicker than the other colors. Average number of sessions is 4-6, more for larger tats. Each of my treatments is $89. So far I have gone through four treatments in 2 years and the red is gone, the black is faint and the blue is halfway gone. So totally not worth it financially since the damn thing only cost $20 to begin with. It will take another 2-3 treatments to completely remove, so I am now at the point where I will do a cover-up (couldn't do it before because the ink was so bad). So some of those busted tats they have shown would be very expensive to remove and they are getting a big chocolate-covered gift from heaven if they are getting free cover-ups. Wonder where this show is filmed? I might have to sign up.....

Edited by Galloways Cave, Nov 29, 2012 @ 5:24 PM.

[misterbfd]

I doubt that "Tattoo Nightmares" is actually the name of their "shop", the facade of which they show on the program.

Madison Tattoo Shop at 10500 Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood.

[lordonia]

Damn, I was going to create this forum last night just to pop off about felon mom, but I forgot. So thanks for that and also for doing my ranting for me. What a goober she was.

I could live without the corny reenactments (in fact, the entire stories) but I like seeing how the work is done and Tommy, Big Gus, and what's her name are chill. It's an easy half hour.

Everyone is sure right that if you go in with a 4" tat to cover, you're leaving with a dark, heavy one that's at least double or triple the original size.

[honybr]

I love this show! Finally a tattoo show where the artists get along and seem to have a real respect for each other. Yes the reenactments are horrible and I'm with the people who think they are making them up. I know my tattoo artist won't touch you if your drunk as well as many other shops in my city.

I couldn't believe that marathon guy really married someone he knew for a day and now they have a kid. I want a picture for proof. Of course any man that gets that tattoo isn't the most logical.

I love Tommy. Did anyone see the episode where a girl came in to get a cover up and she was a fan of his from Ink Master? She was screaming and being a complete fangirl. He seemed so embarrassed which for some reason made me love him more.

[Nena]

Re: Prison Mom. They went so far out of their way to point out those stars were "obvious" prison tat, and yet, I doubt any of the moms at the PTA would know that unless they'd been there, too. Cobwebs and teardrops and things they would've seen on Oz and L&O, maybe. Stripper stars, not so much.

I like the show in general, but at least one out of the three you can spot the coverup when they show the reveal. I give myself bonus points if I spot it right when whatshername is saying "nobody is EVUH gonna see that (xyz)". The burning flag was really bad. The red stripes were still there with no context.

[Fosca]

True, Nena, but you know what to look for "through" the cover-up. It'll be a lot harder to see when it's someone who isn't looking for a flag or whatever; all they will see is the cover-up.

[Rdnzl]

Love Tommy Helm, love the show. The other two artists aren't so bad, either, especially Jasmine. She could give the chicks on Ink Master a run for their money.

[Shadowcat2576]

This show is entertaining, although I think I liked last year's Worst Tattoos better. There you got te story but not the full reenactment.

I do have a question from the last episode about the guy with the "tramp stamp". Is only a cetain style/size of tatoo in the location considered a tramp stamp? All I could really thing is "OK so now you just have a bigger stranger "tramp stamp".

[linderhill]

I remember seeing one of these episodes where a guy had a giant Transformer tat done on his leg to cover up a really bad small one of a witch on his leg that he got as a kid. The Transformer he ended up with was HUGE! It seems to me that some of these new tattoos are unnecessarily large. Some I can see why they are but others, I don't get it.

I saw that episode with the girl's face turned into a lion. That was some nice work. I think that was the episode with a girl that had a boy's name on her back from when she was in high school. She was a teenager and had a crush on the boy and he got freaked out by her getting the ink and totally ran from her. I don't remember what she had put over it but it ended up covering half of her back. Supposedly her husband was thrill to see the name gone.

[bilgistic]

I do have a question from the last episode about the guy with the "tramp stamp". Is only a cetain style/size of tatoo in the location considered a tramp stamp? All I could really thing is "OK so now you just have a bigger stranger "tramp stamp".

To my knowledge, and having such a tattoo, "tramp stamp" refers to the location--lower back. Generally, females have tattoos done there because it's a curvy, feminine, sexy location (I guess). I had basically the same thought that you did. He still had a "tramp stamp".

I had my lower-back tattoo (fourth of six total) done over ten years ago, and long before I'd heard the term "tramp stamp", and before I'd seen a lot of tattoos in that location on women (I live in the southeastern U.S.). Now it seems that every young woman and her sister has one there. The term bothers me a little, but people are ignorant. My tattoo is large (about two inches above my butt crack to about 1/3 up my back, and about 1/3 across my back). It was $500+.

To clarify, when I asked before, I wondered if anyone knew if the tattoos on the show were free (because some of the small, black ones the clients came in with would be relatively easy to remove instead of getting a much larger, expensive piece that would likely cost more than removal).

[Sea]

The talking heads of the artists going "I've got a customer coming in. Guess they've got a tattoo they want covered up," are so dumb. Really, you have a customer coming in with a request that the entire premise of the show is based on? Ya think?

[misterbfd]

To my knowledge, and having such a tattoo, "tramp stamp" refers to the location--lower back. Generally, females have tattoos done there because it's a curvy, feminine, sexy location (I guess).

My (late) brother used to call them a "target".

[bilgistic]

My (late) brother used to call them a "target".

Har har. (Sorry about your brother, though!) There's a scene in the movie, "Wedding Crashers", when the crashers spot a female wedding guest that has a lower-back tattoo, and one explains how she would be an easy lay. Clearly, I don't remember much more than that.

One thing I like about Tattoo Nightmares is that it helps erase some of the stigma associated with tattoos. Granted, they are much more accepted now than ever, considering that something like 40% of people under 40 have at least one. Tattoo Nightmares does well to show that tattoo artists are usually intelligent, artistic, creative, professional people who work well with their clients. I wish Ink Master would show that, instead of focusing on stupid drama from a bunch of amateurs.

[berenjena]

I completely agree that Tatoo Nightmares does more to elevate the profession than Ink Master.

This show is a complete 180 from the bitchiness and asshattery I'M subjects the viewer to on a regular basis.
Plus on TM, they show a decent amount of the "what, why, and how" that goes into a cover up. As usual, I would love to see more of the technical presented and less scripted drama, but at least at the end of the day I am watching professionals that also appear to be nice people , doing a job they are clearly loving. Everyone on I'M , including judges, appears to be miserable bastards with chips on they shoulders.

Edited by berenjena, Nov 30, 2012 @ 11:35 PM.

[Quilt Fairy]

I think that was the episode with a girl that had a boy's name on her back from when she was in high school. She was a teenager and had a crush on the boy and he got freaked out by her getting the ink and totally ran from her. I don't remember what she had put over it but it ended up covering half of her back. Supposedly her husband was thrill to see the name gone.

That was a very interesting situation. She had the boy's name, then had that covered up, and now wanted the coverup covered up. What caught my attention was her frequent mention that it was hurting her love life. All I kept thinking was 'Don't you guys ever do it - um - face to face?'

[lordonia]

The flag coverup was the only one where I could still see faint red bars. I don't pause and make a study of the before and after or anything, but most would be pretty well obscured to the average observer.

I'm not a patriotic person by any means but even I grimaced over that burning flag. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I'm also trying to come to terms with tattoo fads -- like, tribal is laughably out now? So all the people who got it in the 90s should be embarrassed? Hey, world! Tattoos are permanent! And "removal" is more like "boiling it off," so it ain't Etch-A-Sketch.

[mooncreek]

Even though, yeah could see the red bars, pretty much anything would be better than a burning flag tattoo. At least if asked, the guy only has to say it was a poorly done American flag (without mentioning the rest).

Not a fan of the "re-enactments" but I do like seeing the three workers get along and actually help each other when it comes to a problem tattoo coverup.

[linderhill]

All I kept thinking was 'Don't you guys ever do it - um - face to face?'

that was one of the thoughts I had too.

[ribboninthesky1]

She mentioned how attractive her husband was, and maybe it's a matter of heightened expectations, but I was unimpressed. He was attractive enough, but underwhelmingly so. Additional mean thought: I could see him being That Guy about doggystyle. As in, that's the only position he likes.

[Hezadelsol]

Yuck, I seriously hated that Halloween themed tramp stamp cover up. I think no matter what you put there it's going to come off gay, and this was no exception. I think the only thing that could have redeemed it is if he turns it into an entire back piece.