by Melissa Smith | co-Editor-in-Chief

“Wow, what a cute butterfly flying out of your pants. What does it represent?”

“It represents what a mess up I am.”

Everyday that I wear low rise jean and crop top, (which is quite often), people notice this large butterfly that appears to be flying toward freedom from my skin tight jeans..,and every time people notice it, my face turns red out of embarrassment. In fact, I even dress classier now to avoid this, which is saying something.

Many people fall victim to spontaneous tattoo failures-unfortunately, I am one of those victims. A month after my 18th birthday I got a teal butterfly on my lower abdomen, in which I quickly came to despise. I don’t even care for butterflies, so why would I want one staring at me when I look down?

The tattoo cost $125 to get on, and will cost around $2000 to get off. Totally not worth a fun Friday night if you ask me. The money could have been put to better use, like a Baskin-Robbins blow out or a giant pazooki from BJ’s… mulitple giant pazookis! Well now I really want a pazookie… anyway.

Not only is the laser expensive as heck, it is also not the most delightful experience. Think about it, it’s a LASER zapping deep into your layers of skin in order to get out that regretful tattoo. Also, it’s burning up your hair so it smells pretty nasty. In order to fully get out the tattoo, a person must go to at LEAST four sessions at about four-hundred bucks a pop. Ouch, that’s just as painful to hear as it is to feel.

Not only that, but sometimes the laser can’t get all the pigments of color out. I’m probably going to have to get it surgically cut out because, lucky me, green pigment is practically impossible to get out. And, it will definitely scar.

Getting a tattoo isn’t always a horrible mistake; I have three other ones that I love, and not going to lie, I barely thought beforehand on two of them. But trust me, you don’t want a constant permanent reminder of how much you screwed up that one Friday night. Think twice before you ink, or get ready for some sessions of physical and financial pain.