Your tattoos reflect your personality and mentality. So in case you get a bad tattoo that can negatively impact your appearance. We all make mistakes, so making a wrong decision while choosing a tattoo is not that big of a deal. You can always correct such mistakes by covering up that tattoo with a new one. If you have a black-inked tattoo that you want to cover up, you may wonder if it is possible to color over a black tattoo or not.
People cover up their tattoos for many reasons. They may cover up to rectify a mistake, or the meaning of the old tattoo does not resemble their choice anymore or they simply want to get a new tattoo and replace the old. Regardless of the reason, you can easily cover up your tattoo. But what if you got a black-inked tattoo, can you cover it up? In this piece, I will explain everything you need to know regarding the topic.
Key Takeaways
- Deep colors such as black, brown, purple, and blue can be a better choice to cover up a black tattoo rather than choosing bright colors such as orange, yellow, etc.
- Even though white is a bright color, still it works really well over black pigments.
- Coloring over a black tattoo can be more painful as it will be bigger and bolder compared to the existing one and we know bigger tattoos hurt more than smaller ones.
- You should fade the tattoo, choose a professional tattoo artist, and choose the right color and design before coloring over a black tattoo.
- You may choose to color over your black tattoo to rectify a tattoo mistake or just want to get something new over the old one.
- It may cost around 100$-300$ to color over a black tattoo.
- It may take 28 days to months to get the coloring over a black tattoo done, heal, and see the final result after healing.
Coloring Over a Black Tattoo
Simply put, yes you can color over a black tattoo. Coloring over an old tattoo is called covering up. And tattoo artists love to cover up black-inked tattoos. Covering a black-inked tattoo with a different design of the black-inked tattoo is the easiest way to cover it up. You can also use other colors but the option of using other colors over a back tattoo is limited.
Coloring over a black tattoo can be challenging or relatively easy considering the color you choose. The thing is, you should pick a color that contrasts well with the black ink tattoo you have. Because black ink is one of the most prominent color pigments, it can push through the new color you put over it. So choosing the right color to put over a black tattoo is crucial.
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4 Colors to Use to Color Over a Black Tattoo
Black tattoo pigments are rich in color, so it is a bit difficult to cover up using some color. The colors you should choose to easily apply and color over a black tattoo are:
- Black
- Brown
- Purple
- White
I have to put the black color first because it is the easiest color to use over an existing black tattoo to get a different shade of black or get a new tattoo over the old one. The brown color comes in second as it is also deep and rich so it can work decently to cover up a black tattoo or change its shade. The third color is purple, now some artists may face difficulty using purple over black tattoos. But a professional tattoo artist can use purple color tattoo ink to create a new tattoo or color over the black one. And the fourth color is white. It may come as a surprise to you that white color works well to create shade or over a black tattoo. Many artists use white color to create balance or shading to create a new design over the old one.
That said, am not suggesting you should not use any other color to cover up your black tattoo. A professional tattoo artist can use deep colors such as dark blue over a black tattoo pretty well.
Colors You Should Not Choose to Color Over a Black Tattoo
The list of colors you should not use is long. Any bright color will be difficult to use over a black tattoo.
Some of the bright colors you should avoid using to color over a black tattoo are:
- Orange
- Yellow
- Red
It is not forbidden to use bright colors over a black tattoo. But it will be super difficult for the tattoo artist to create a good outcome from it. Bright colors may create a shade that you did not plan to get. And it increases the chance for the old black pigment on your skin to push through and appear dark.
How Does Coloring Over a Black Tattoo Work?
When you get a tattoo the artist inserts tattoo ink into the second layer of your skin which is the dermis layer. So the ink gets inserted deep into your skin. Now when you try to color over an existing tattoo let’s say a black tattoo, then the artist will again put ink deep into the dermis layer of your skin. So coloring over a black tattoo is not like you will color the skin over the dermis layer, no. Coloring requires putting ink into the same skin layer where your first tattoo ink resides, which is the dermis layer.
Now you may put temporary makeup over the black tattoo to hide it for a certain amount of time. It is similar to painting over your skin to hide the tattoo. But it is not a permanent way to cover up. To cover up a black tattoo or put color over it permanently you will have to go through the same process as getting a tattoo. After putting a new tattoo ink into your skin, it won’t just sit over the black pigments. Choosing the right color is important to cover up or it might blend and create something you didn’t want or a different shade of black tattoo. But if you want to use black color over a black tattoo to get a different shade then it becomes much easier as the blending process eases the work for you.
5 Things to Do If You Want to Color Over a Black Tattoo
You can follow the suggestions below before you color over a black tattoo.
1. Fade the tattoo
It is very difficult and next to impossible to use some color over a bright relatively new black tattoo. And it is much easier to use color over a black tattoo that is a bit old and faded. So if you have a bright black tattoo consider using a laser treatment to fade it. You do not have to necessarily remove the tattoo, just get a few tattoo-removing laser sessions done to break the black ink pigments and make the tattoo fade a bit.
2. Choosing a professional tattoo artist
Coloring over an existing tattoo special if the tattoo is a black tattoo then without a doubt it is a complex tattooing procedure. The tattoo color that should be used, the shape of the new tattoo design, the size of the new tattoo design, and there are more similar factors that an artist has to take into consideration before coloring. A newbie or amateur artist won’t be able to pull it off and may ruin the tattoo for you. So choosing a professional tattoo artist who did plenty of cover-up tattoos is crucial.
3. Choosing the right color
Even if your tattoo artist assures you that any color would go well, you still should be cautious in choosing the color that you will use over a black tattoo. Deep colors such as black, brown, purple, and blue go well over black tattoos. Even though white color falls under the bright color category still white is a great color to create shade over black tattoos. And try to avoid choosing bright colors like orange and yellow which would not go well over a black tattoo.
4. Preparation before the coloring process
Coloring over a black tattoo follows the same process as getting a new tattoo. So prepare yourself mentally and physically for the process. Do not drink alcohol or take any blood thinner medicine before the process, and try to stay at peak health condition.
5. Choose the correct design & size
When you cover up an old tattoo with a new one the design of the new tattoo and its size is crucial. The new design cannot be something that cannot cover the old dyeing and the size cannot be smaller than the old one. So the design and size both need to be bigger so that it can cover the old tattoo completely.
How Much Does It Cost to Color Over a Black Tattoo?
If you are thinking of coloring over a black tattoo, then being curious about the cost is obvious. I can’t give a straightforward answer to this as there are a few factors that can affect the cost of coloring a black tattoo.
These factors are:
- Size of the tattoo.
- The fee of the artist you choose.
- The complexity of the design you chose to do over the black tattoo.
- Tattoo fading.
Larger tattoos and tattoos more complex in terms of design will cost you more than getting a simple & small tattoo over the black tattoo. I should include that sometimes you cannot choose a small tattoo or a simple design because your existing black tattoo is bigger in size and has a particular design. So to cover it up you may have to go with a larger size of tattoo. But the fee of the artist can be more or less depending on your choice. There are professional tattoo artists who relatively are less costly compared to other professional tattoo artists. So do your research before choosing an artist to get the job done. Another crucial factor is the fading process. If you choose to fade the tattoo before using color over it, it can increase the cost of your total cover-up process by a lot.
Because the fading factor is not mandatory, so excluding that factor it may cost you around 100-300$ to color over a black tattoo.
Is It Painful to Color Over a Black Tattoo?
Coloring over a black tattoo is a similar process to getting a tattoo, so, of course, it will hurt. But the question is will it hurt more or less? It should hurt pretty much the same as it follows a regular tattooing process but usually coloring over an existing tattoo to cover up existing tattoo is more painful.
Let me explain why it hurts more. When you get a cover-up tattoo, it has to be bigger in size and bolder than the old tattoo. Otherwise, the idea of covering the old tattoo would fail. So making a big tattoo and making it bold by doing repetitive ink injecting will definitely hurt a bit more than regular tattooing. So if you color over a black tattoo it will most probably hurt more than usual.
5 Reasons to Color Over a Black Tattoo
Why color over a black tattoo? When it is costly and might be more painful than usual tattooing. I have listed 5 reasons to color over a black tattoo, take a look.
1. Rectifying a mistake
Getting a regrettable tattoo or a mistake tattoo can happen either because of your bad decision or because your tattoo artist may make a blunder while tattooing. To rectify the mistake, you can color over your black tattoo.
2. Change of heart
It could be that there is nothing wrong with the black tattoo you have, but over time you may have a change of heart. You no longer want to carry that specific tattoo on your body anymore and want to change it.
3. Cost-effective then getting it removed
Does not matter if it’s a mistake tattoo or if you want to get rid of it as it lost meaning to your, if you want to remove it by laser treatment it will be much costlier than doing a cover-up. To save money you can choose to get a cover-up instead of removing the old tattoo by laser treatment.
4. Instead of touch-up
Tattoo tends to fade when they are old. And you may need a touch-up to give it a crisp and new look. But sometimes instead of getting a touch-up, people go for a cover-up tattoo. This way they can experience or have a new tattoo over the old and faded one.
5. Different color
If you do not like the current black color its shade you can choose to change it by coloring over the black tattoo.
Time It Takes to See Results of Coloring Over Black Tattoos
It takes time to heal and see the result of coloring over a black tattoo. So you have to arrange your work keeping in mind the amount of time it will take during this process.
Typically, a smaller-sized cover-up tattoo can be done in 1-2 sessions, but a bigger-sized cover-up tattoo can take up to 2-4 sessions. And you know most cover-up tattoos are bigger in size as their purpose is to cover the older tattoo and create something new. The gap between tattoo sessions can be around 2 weeks and it takes around 2 weeks for your cover-up tattoo to heal. So all in all coloring over a black tattoo, healing time, and seeing the result after it heals may take around 28 days or months.
FAQs
Can I cover up a black tattoo with white ink?
Yes, you can cover up a black tattoo with white ink.
Can I cover up a black tattoo with makeup?
Yes, you can temporarily cover up a black tattoo with makeup.
How long does it take to heal from coloring over a black tattoo?
It may take around 2 weeks to heal the epidermis layer and months to heal the dermis layer of your skin after coloring over a black tattoo.
Which colors are good to color over a black tattoo?
Deep colors such as black, blue, purple, brown, etc. are good to color over a black tattoo.
Final Thoughts
Coloring over an existing tattoo is not something new. This process is called covering and people do this more often than you might think. Covering up a tattoo can be done for many reasons. Such as if you or your tattoo artist make a mistake or you don’t want to wear that tattoo on your body anymore. Regardless of your reasoning, covering up a tattoo is awesome because you will get a bigger and bold tattoo over the old one. And covering up a black tattoo can be easy as any deep color goes well over the dark pigment. But any bright color like orange and yellow might be difficult to work with for your tattoo artist. As they may blend with the dark pigment and create an unwanted shade. And make sure you choose a professional tattoo artist for your cover-up, as it can be a tricky process.
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