‘I want to reclaim my skin’: Why these people are removing their tattoos

Help Me Hera: Should I get a new tattoo?

I have three awful tattoos I got as a teenager. Now I really want a new one – but I'm scared I'm going to change my mind again.

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN When Zach Gilyard, an art director in Brooklyn, got his first tattoo as a senior in high school, he did what most teens do: He didn't tell his parents. But not for the reasons you might think: Gilyard's father and older brothers have a lot of tattoos, and Gilyard, like his mother, thought he'd never join them. Still, in 2006, on a whim, he got a winged foot on his ankle to represent running, and kept it from his family. “I…

‘I want to reclaim my skin’: Why these people are removing their tattoos

Tattoos may not be forever anymore, thanks to improved laser technology and easier access to technicians trained to remove them. But they can take years — and thousands of dollars — to fade. Four people share why they are saying goodbye to their tattoos.