'I wanted a Marilyn Monroe tattoo... but I was left with a dodgy blow-up doll': Girl, 16, left with 'horrible' inking by conman tattooist

 

A teenager's 16th birthday wasn't so sweet after her hopes for a glamorous tattoo didn't go to plan.
Siobhan Fields, from Hamilton, Scotland, wanted to have silver screen siren Marilyn Monroe etched on her arm. But instead she was left with
an 'embarrassing' botched drawing that 'looks more like a blow up doll'.
The hairdressers' assistant had previously taken to social networks to warn others against rushing into getting a tattoo in light of her experience.

Regrets: Siobhan has appeared on Extreme Beauty Disasters to warn others not to rush into getting a tattoo

Spot the difference: The picture of Marilyn Monroe that the teen wanted etched on her arm, left, and what she got, right, which she said looked like a blow up doll

Now she's appearing on TLC show Extreme Beauty Disasters to see if their experts can rid her of the 'horrible' tattoo for good.

She explained how she wanted the tattoo for her 16th birthday but was misled over the expertise of the tattoo artist she found.
She said: 'I looked on the internet for pictures of Marilyn Monroe. Then I found the tattooist on a social media website, I had a look through his work and they all seemed really nice. But I later found out they were someone else's work that he'd stolen.
'I could see that it looked awful (as he was doing it) but I was too scared to say anything. It definitely wasn't a success, it looks horrible.'
As a result of the tattoo, Siobhan has stuck to wearing long sleeved tops and said 'knowing that it's there forever is a horrible thought'.
She applied to Extreme Beauty Disasters to see if they could help her.

The show's resident skin expert, Dr Sam Bunting, admitted the tattoo was one of the worst she'd ever seen.

'I've learnt a lot from this experience - one that laser treatment is absolute agony and two, not to rush into getting a tattoo'

She said: 'It looks like it was etched by a three-year-old. I haven't seen a worst looking tattoo in a long time. Blurry around the edges, facially indistinct, it looks nothing like it's supposed to.
'I feel sorry for Siobhan as she wanted something that would looks cool and glamorous on her arm but she's ended up with a real mess.'
Siobhan admitted that she wished she hadn't rushed into getting a tattoo but the show revealed that she's not alone in having tattoo regrets.
According to their statistics, a third of people opt for tattoo removal with 70 per cent of these young women with black ink tattoos. Reasons for removal included disliking the design, breaking up with a boyfriend whose name was featured in it or finding they couldn't wear the clothes they wanted because of the tattoo.

Hope: The teenager hates her 'horrible' tattoo but it's finally getting fainter after painful laser treatment

Siobhan was told she would need painful laser treatment in order to remove the tattoo but she said she was prepared to 'go through anything to take this away.'
She had to endure a number of laser sessions where the tattoo was bombarded with light energy to breakdown the ink into small particles that could then be absorbed by the body.
Dr Bunting pointed out that one advantage of Siobhan seeing an amateur was that it would make it easier to remove. She explained: 'Amateur tattoos are easier to remove as the pigment lies higher in the skin so is more accessible for the laser.'
After having the laser treatment Siobhan admitted: 'It's far more painful than getting a tattoo. I would advise people feel what this is like before getting a tattoo.'
After her first treatment, Siobhan returned to the TV show to show off the results. The tattoo was already looking much fainter but she would need further sessions to rid herself of it for good.
She added: 'I've learnt a lot from this experience - one that laser treatment is absolute agony and two, not to rush into getting a tattoo. I'm looking forward to saying goodbye for Marilyn Monroe.'