Botched in the Past 48 Hours?
PSA: If you or someone you know has a botched tattoo, schedule an emergency saline tattoo removal NOW! You have 48 hours from your procedure date to complete this removal.
What is a Botched Tattoo (and What Isn’t)?
A botched tattoo is the worst case scenario for both client and artist. In fact, botched work can be so egregious that it makes the news.
In Kansas City, Missouri, 42-year-old Jami Ledbetter purchased a Groupon for microblading [link to microblading vs nano brows], only to end up with an inexplicably misaligned set of two extra eyebrows, hovering firmly above her natural shape.
“I was devastated,” she told fox4kc.com.
Before we go further, let’s dispel a myth. Botched tattoos are not nearly as common as what the headlines suggest. We aren’t here to fear-monger. In fact, you might be both shocked and relieved to hear that the majority of “botched” cases we’ve corrected aren’t actually botched at all!
A tattoo is considered to be “botched” when it cannot be corrected with tattooing alone, and a professional tattoo removal must be completed first.
Bad PMU comes in all shapes, sizes, and severity levels. After 6 years of corrective tattoo experience at Hyper Real Academy®, I can say that I’ve seen it all.
Here are examples of mistakes that are not considered botched:
Loss of Color: By far the most common mistake in PMU. If your tattoo is completely gone after 6 weeks, it’s not “ghosting”’—it’s gone. In the event of complete loss of pigment, the tattoo is implanted too shallowly, leading to most or all of the pigment to disappear once healed. This is a mistake made by the artist, not a result of your skin “rejecting the pigment”.
Patchy Healing: Similar to color loss, if a tattoo is done with uneven pressure, there is a chance of some areas retaining pigment while others do not. In areas where the artist worked too quickly or utilized inadequate hand pressure, the pigment will end up in the incorrect skin layer. It is also common to see uneven healing at the brows regardless of the artist’s skill, as the eyebrow area is one of the most oily parts of the face. This is why eyebrow procedures often require a 4-6 week touch up.
Discoloration: PMU is a permanent tattoo, but its cosmetic effects are expected to last only a few years before a touch up is recommended. All tattoos fade, however cosmetic tattoos are smaller, shallower, and therefore will fade much faster than body art. PMU pigments fade unevenly, with some colors receding faster than others. Discoloration is commonly seen in PMU as the tattoo ages. This is not considered “botched”, as it is an expected occurrence. Routine PMU touch up procedures often include a color correction.
Slight Misalignment: Slightly crooked or misaligned PMU may be corrected by completing another round of tattooing to adjust the shape. The resulting corrective tattoo is expected to be darker, larger, or both.
Incorrect Hair Pattern: Mistakes in eyebrow pattern designs can be covered up with more hair stroke linework, or powder shading. Similar to corrections in tattoo alignment, completing a corrective tattoo procedure will result in a darker color.
Failed Gradient: A gradient that is patchy, striped, or appears incomplete can be covered with another round of tattooing, resulting in a darker tattoo color. This corrective procedure is recommended for tattoos that are no more than 30% saturated in any area. For example, the darkest part of the brow tails on Ombré Brows should be less than 30% saturated if a correction were to be attempted.
Here are examples of mistakes that are considered botched:
Oversaturation: Any tattoo at past 40% saturation is not recommended to be corrected with more tattooing. Successful PMU results are typically less than 60% saturated. For ideal corrective results, complete at least one round of tattoo removal to reduce the amount of pigment in the skin.
Blowouts: Tattoo pigment will discolor and even migrate when deposited too deep into the skin layer. The resulting pigment spread is called a “blowout”. The only way to correct a blowout is with professional tattoo removal.
Tattooing Past Vermilion Border: Lip Blush cannot be applied past the vermilion border. When the tattoo exceeds the lip skin and enters the facial skin, the color of the tattoo will be different when healed, leading to an unnatural appearance. The only way to correct this mistake is with a partial tattoo removal.
Moderate to Severe Misalignment: Moderately or severely misaligned PMU cannot be successfully corrected with more tattooing. This can be determined by observing and comparing the existing tattoo with the client’s aesthetic goals. If parts of the tattoo must be removed to achieve the correct shape, then this is exactly what must be done. A partial tattoo removal is often the only removal needed to achieve a successful correction.
Incorrect Hair Pattern: When a Nano Brow hair pattern is too saturated, or if the appearance of individual hair strokes cannot be successfully disguised, blended, or hidden, the tattoo is then considered “botched”. A full tattoo removal is recommended to ensure the success of any follow-up procedures.
Failed Gradient: Gradients that are more than 30% saturated are not good candidates for corrective work. While it may still be possible to complete successful corrections on saturated tattoos, this largely depends on where the gradient is located. Failed gradients at the fronts of the eyebrows are unlikely to be correctable without first completing a tattoo removal.
Skin Injury: The chances of skin injury are much higher when a PMU procedure is completed incorrectly. When a blade or needle enters too deep into the skin, it will cause excessive tearing that can lead to scarring. Scarring is common with microblading, even when the procedure is completed with care. Tattooing can camouflage the color and reduce the texture of scars, but the most effective way to treat scarring is at a dermatology clinic, not a PMU clinic.
Why Microblading is Awful
Microblading is by far the most common cause of botched tattoos. At Hyper Real Academy®, we’ve covered up more microblading than any other type of tattoo. To make matters worse, we’ve seen the most severe cases of botched work from this technique, including scarring, hair loss, and severe ink blowouts requiring multiple tattoo removal sessions.
PMU procedures done by a machine are far easier to correct, cover up, and remove with either saline or laser. It is extremely rare for clients to end up with scarring from machine work, even in the event of a botched tattoo.
Common Methods of PMU Corrections:
Too Thin
Difficulty: Easy
Solution: When the PMU shape is too small or thin, simply tattoo a larger shape. A successful correction requires an accurate color match.
Too Thick
Difficulty: Not Possible/Removal Required
Solution: It is not possible to successfully tattoo a light color over a dark color. The only way to fix a PMU shape that is too large is to complete a partial or full tattoo removal.
Discoloration
Difficulty: Medium
Solution: If the discolored tattoo is lighter than 30% in color, a color correction can be reliably completed without first completing a tattoo removal.
Misaligned With Anatomy
Difficulty: Hard/Removal Recommended
Solution: Misaligned tattoos are extremely difficult to correct. Most cases should not be attempted without a tattoo removal first. If the misaligned tattoo is faint or small, there is a higher chance of a successful correction. Common botched misalignment correction cases involve brows with double tails and lip shapes with double lines.
Patchy Results
Difficulty: Easy
Solution: If the darkest parts of patchy PMU are not oversaturated, we do not consider it “botched” work and will tattoo over it like a routine touch up. When the PMU is patchy with parts that are saturated, the corrective tattoo must be matched to the darkest part of the existing tattoo. A successful corrective result will likely be much darker and more saturated than before.
Poor Shape (Crooked)
Difficulty: Hard/Removal Recommended
Solution: Similar to PMU designs that are misaligned with the client’s anatomy, crooked designs may be covered up by a new, larger design. The old tattoo shape must be assimilated into the new shape to avoid double lines, resulting in a larger shape.
Incorrect Hair Pattern
Difficulty: Hard
Solution: If the hair strokes are less than 30% saturated, a tattoo correction may be enough to revise an incorrect hair pattern. Powder shading may be added between hair strokes to blend with, cover, or disguise them, changing the result to Combination Brows. The end result will be darker than the original tattoo.
Tadpoles
Difficulty: Medium
Solution: The tadpole shape is a result of arches that are thin, with heavy fronts. This can be corrected by adjusting the brow shape to be more uniform, matching that of the fronts of the brows. Both Nano Brow and Powder Brow techniques are often used in “tadpole brow” corrections.
Microblading
Difficulty: Hard
Solution: There are many challenges to tattooing over microblading. Artists must be mindful of coverage, areas that are highly saturated, color correction, and tattooing over scarred skin.
To Remove or Not to Remove?
A tattoo removal is one of the best solutions that exist for botched PMU correction. Many tattoo cover-up’s and corrective tattoo procedures are greatly enhanced with the addition of a partial or full removal.
The two tattoo removal methods are:
Laser Tattoo Removal: Pigment molecules are shattered by pulses of laser. The body’s immune system purges these smaller particles, resulting in a reduction and eventual elimination of the tattoo. Multiple sessions are expected for a complete tattoo removal.
Saline Tattoo Removal: A saline solution is tattooed over areas of unwanted ink, or the entire tattoo. Multiple sessions are expected for a complete tattoo removal.
Emergency Saline Removal is a reliable method of removing PMU within 48 hours. This method relies on the freshly broken skin that is not yet healed. Saline solution is applied onto the skin to draw out the tattoo pigment. The solution may also be tattooed into the skin to increase the efficacy of the treatment.
If your end goal is better-looking PMU, rather than bare skin, consider a partial removal instead of a full removal.
A partial tattoo removal can be completed with laser or saline, but it is most commonly done with laser. This can also be called a “laser lightening” session. Most of the pigment is removed, while a faint layer remains. It’s cheaper than a full removal and it opens the door for many more designs with better looking end results than with no removal. Many clients choose this option to refresh their old tattoos, with excellent results. This solution involves less healing time while saving the client money, however some discoloration will often appear following the removal.
Artists who intend to work with partially removed tattoos must be proficient at color correction to ensure successful results.
A professional tattoo removal is a great way for clients to purge old ink to get back to a lighter canvas for a sheer look. By allowing more of the skin to show beneath the tattoo, the PMU will appear to be more flattering, blending far more seamlessly with the natural skin color.
How to Find Your Corrective Tattoo Artist
For every artist who produces botched tattoos, there is another artist who is working thrice as hard to fix the mistakes with corrective work. If you have had a botched experience, don’t give up! There are thousands of artists who have trained for years to provide cover-up work, revisions, color corrections, and even scar treatments using microneedling.
Look for artists with the following examples in their portfolio:
Color Corrections: Color corrections are the bread and butter of all corrective work. Ensure your artist has numerous examples of successful color corrections on various skin types and skin tones.
Cover-Up’s: Successful cover-up tattoos will either conceal the majority of the previous work, or assimilate the old tattoo into a redesigned style. It is important to work with artists who don’t attempt to cover every tattoo—a proficient corrective PMU artist will not attempt to cover tattoos that are too large or oversaturated.
Saline Removal: PMU artists may offer saline removal services, including emergency saline removal.
Laser Removal: PMU artists who work in a medical spa may offer laser removal services. In the USA, artists are not permitted to complete laser removal services unless they are operating in a medical facility under the supervision of a licensed physician. In states like New Jersey and Ohio, only licensed medical doctors may operate laser devices.
Scar Camouflage: Many botched PMU procedures involve scarring. Many corrective PMU artists offer inkless and color-matched scar camouflage. This technique utilizes the tattoo machine’s needle entry to stimulate collagen, similar to the action of microneedling. Improvements in the skin texture using this technique will be permanent.
Botched Isn’t Forever
If you have a botched tattoo, take a breath and remain calm. It’s also important to remember that you are not alone.
In 2026, there are many solutions to fix botched work at every price point. At Hyper Real Academy®, we rely on tattoo removals, cover-up’s, color correction, and corrective techniques every day. We’ve learned to improve and enhance work from other clinics, and we know when to defer to a laser removal specialist instead.
If you have botched work, connect with us for a free consultation over the phone or by email. Our artists are experienced with corrective work, and we are partnered with trusted laser clinics in the NYC/NJ area.
See corrective tattooing in action on our YouTube channel!
