f.a.q.
You have questions. wE have answers.
Here’s a list of our most asked questions
We can be found inside Save Point Tattoo located at 645 Wynnum Road, Morningside. Just look for the giant hawk and gold lightning decal.
There’s plenty of free street parking around the studio and you’ll usually have no trouble finding something within the block.
jTo book an appointment we prefer you to visit the studio first to discuss the work with your technician. If it’s difficult for you to drop in to chat or maybe you just don’t really like people that much, feel free to complete our Enquiry Form and we will contact you ASAP to book a consult and/or laser appointments.
Cash is the preferred method of payment but we also take EFTPOS payments (surcharge applies) and also through our booking platform.
We do recommend making an appointment but are more than happy to do walk-ins. If you’re planning on coming down without an appointment, however, give us a call first to make sure a technician is working that day and at the time you plan on coming past.
Monday: By appointment only
Tuesday: 10am-6pm
Wednesday: 10am-6pm
Thursday: 10am-6pm
Friday: 10am-6pm
Saturday: 10am-6pm
Sunday: By appointment only
Pastelle Q-Switched ND: YAG laser unit and a Cryo-Jet Air Cooling System for pain relief.
Jobs are quoted per session unless negotiated otherwise with our technician. The minimum charge is $80 per treatment. Each job is priced according to how much needs to be lasered, the location on the body and multiple other factors. Our technician will give you an exact price before commencing treatment. All consults and quotes are obligation-free.
If you can’t make your appointment we require at least 2 trading days’ notice by phone, email, or in person or you will forfeit the booking fee. If you don’t show up for your appointment, you forfeit the booking fee. If you cancel with more than 2 trading days’ notice, we can roll the booking fee over to a new appointment time. Please give us as much notice as possible if you need to cancel.
Laser sessions are very quick, most jobs take less than 5 minutes to complete. Larger tattoos can extend to 15 or 20 minutes.
Yes, it does. Think of it as a painful reminder to choose your design and tattooist better next time.
Numbing creams can be sourced from chemists and/or prescribed by your GP. These help to bring the level of pain down to that experienced in the original application of the tattoo. Talk to your local chemist to find out what creams they stock and recommend.
Our technicians also utilise a localised cooling treatment that helps to ease the discomfort level both during and after treatment. Think of it as a big air conditioner, used to blow cool air onto the treatment area. Great for pain relief and those hot QLD summers!
Yes. Depending on the area of the body being treated, some tattoos are too large to be lasered in one sitting and are best broken into several. The technician can walk you through and advise on the best course for your circumstances. In these instances, the pricing of the work is quoted per tattoo, even when the work is split across multiple sessions. Please note however that these circumstances are rare and most clients can have the entire piece lasered in one session.
It’s certainly a possibility, though ultimately will depend on two factors: the level of discomfort you can stand for extended periods and the technician’s assessment of the work to be carried out. If they believe the treatment is better managed in split sessions, they will discuss the options with you at your initial consult.
We recommend 8-12 weeks between each treatment.
Your body will begin drawing the old ink out of the area as soon as it gets lasered and will continue to do so for anywhere up to 6 or 8 weeks and in most instances far longer. As such, experience and studies have shown it to be unnecessary and premature to re-treat an area before this time. The time between each session also allows the treated area to heal properly.
No. Black ink is the easiest to lighten…which is good considering it’s the hardest to cover up. Colours like green, blue, and purple are more stubborn and usually require more treatments.
If treated properly, by a qualified professional, you should experience no visible scarring. Your technician will highlight any potential issues with you if they feel there’s any cause for concern after visually inspecting the area to be treated at your initial consultation.
If you’ve had it tattooed, it can be lasered. Your technician will tune the equipment and adjust the procedure to suit the area being lasered, but essentially, anywhere that can be tattooed can be treated with laser removal.
You may see immediate results on grey wash and black shading, but most ink requires a few weeks to see the effects of the laser treatment. The vast majority of tattoos require several sessions before they are light enough for a successful cover-up. We can discuss the projected results and anticipated number of sessions at your initial consult, taking into account such factors as the colours in your old work, the new work to be tattooed, etc.
Each client will have different needs depending on both the tattoo being lightened and the new work that will be tattooed in its place. For instance, if you have a black tribal armband that you want covered with a realistic B&G portrait, then you will need to lighten the tattoo considerably more than if you were covering it with, say, a traditional rose or a Japanese dragon. In most instances, you could expect an absolute minimum of 2 to 4 treatments to facilitate a successful cover-up.
We will happily quote based on emailed photos but reserve the right to re-evaluate the work at the first appointment once the tattoo in question can be properly sighted.
No. We’re a very busy studio and receive a large number of emails and messages all day, every day. We aim to reply to each within 24 hours of receiving but we’re only human and now and then have other work that needs to be done (crazy, but true). Please be patient. Emails are generally a time-consuming method of communicating. If you want more immediate attention, come into the studio and talk to us in person. Also, please allow for a delay if you email during our closing times (IE: if you email us on Saturday night, it may not be read until we open the studio again the following Tuesday).
More than possible. Facebook and Instagram are great ways for us to show you our work and keep you involved in the process of laser tattoo removal and lightening. They’re not, however, where we spend our day. It’s quite likely that any message sent on Facebook may simply be missed by our very busy staff or get buried under an avalanche of comment/like notifications, posts to timelines, shares etc. We simply don’t have the time to sit and check social media all day every day.
Any requests for laser tattoo removal by someone under the age of 18 will be evaluated for suitability based on their merits. We can perform the treatment but require that parental guidance be sought and undertaken.
Other than numbing the area as per the directions of your chemist if you choose to do so, we’d ask that you avoid getting sunburnt. It also helps if you shave the area before you arrive at the shop. More info on this can be found on our Pre-Care and Aftercare page
Aftercare is reasonably basic. Keep the area clean and out of the sun, and apply an after-sun or aloe vera gel twice a day for the first week. More info on this can be found on our Pre-Care and Aftercare page. We will also run through all of this and supply you with a copy of the aftercare once we have finished your first treatment.
Besides the immediate pain and discomfort, you may experience swelling, scabbing, blistering, and in some cases, a general feeling of lethargy.
Yes. A blister is the body’s response to injury or trauma and is intended to protect the underlying skin tissues from any damage during the healing process. Your body will gradually absorb the fluid cocooned under the skin as the tissue repairs itself. Some people will experience blisters, while others will not.
Children are more than welcome at the studio but are not permitted to come with you into the treatment areas. We also do not offer babysitting or child care. Working alongside a bunch of tattooists is the same thing.
We can accommodate one extra adult in the studio with you. Please advise us of this before you arrive for your appointment.
Heaps!!! We have t-shirts, stickers and gift vouchers plus more available in-store and on our soon-to-be-relaunched website.
There’s no minimum or maximum dollar figure that a voucher can be purchased at but as a general guide for those who aren’t sure what to buy the minimum deposit that any client will be required to leave to book an appointment is $80 and the minimum cost of any treatment is also $80, so that is often a good dollar figure to go with. Of course, if you’re feeling generous, go HAM!!!
Not at all. While we want to make it very clear that offering laser removal in no way insinuates that we consider the process of being tattooed as anything other than a permanent life-long commitment and one that should be carefully considered before any tattoo work commences, we are very pleased to provide the service as a way of helping clients get the type of quality work they should have obtained in the first place.
If you’re from out of town and require laser removal services, talk to us at the studio and we’ll refer you to someone who will be able to help.
Hasn’t happened yet, but we don’t think we’d be able to bring ourselves to laser an original Sailor Jerry, Amund Dietzel, Bert Grimm, Matthew Cunnington, Horiyoshi III or the likes of…you get the idea.
In most cases, being older is easier. Of course, sometimes a new tattoo (generally the cheap, “my mate got a tattoo machine on eBay” piece) has been applied so poorly it makes very little difference. Please understand though that laser removal treatment on fresh/new tattoos often shows little results. You may need to sit with your freshly acquired work of genius for some time before it’s going anywhere.
Regardless of whether a tattoo was applied by a mate in your outdoor toilet while you were both blind drunk or a tattooist in a professional studio, the skill with which it is tattooed will certainly play a part in how easy it is to remove. Poorly applied tattoos will not hold in your skin in the same manner as one applied by a skilled, talented tattooist.
With considered treatment by a qualified technician, a lasered tattoo can be covered up with pretty much any design and style you desire. Of course, some new pieces such as B&G portrait work, will require close to blank skin, which may mean near complete removal and as such, a real dedication and commitment (mentally, physically and financially) to see the procedure through to its conclusion. In some instances, you may want to consider putting the new piece in another location on the body.
Straight cover-ups without lasering is certainly an option that can be considered and should be discussed with the tattooist who will be doing the new work. A rule of thumb is that the new work would need to be 3 times the size of the old, and in darker/bolder colours to hide the old work. This style of cover-up can provide great results but often means the design of the new piece is compromised due to the need to adjust/tailor the drawing to the existing lines, colours and shading of the old. Your chosen tattooist will be the best person to advise you on this. Some are happy to do this type of cover-up, while others now insist on lasering to maintain the integrity of the new piece.
Depends on the new piece that will cover it. Your tattooist will guide you in what needs to be lasered and when different areas of the old work are ready to be covered.
We recommend waiting at least 3 months. The longer the better, wink wink, nudge nudge.
Yep, in some cases, much longer. Undertaking laser treatment is a long-term commitment that will ultimately result in you getting an amazing piece of art on your body (we hope) in place of the bog you have there now. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a very short period. Please be aware that it is NOT a quick fix, an easy out, or a reason to take the decision to be tattooed lightly.