# Tattoo Cover Up **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042 "2008-11-10T16:03:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/1 "2008-11-10T16:03:43Z")
I am going to be in a wedding in December and am debating on whether or not to cover a small tattoo on my wrist. The bride has not asked me to-I’m just thinking that it would be a nice gesture as far as photos, etc. Has anyone used tattoo cover up? What brand? Did it look good, or did it look like you just had a blob of make up where your tattoo used to be? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/2 "2008-11-10T16:13:39Z")
What color is your ink? Unsurprisingly, light colors are easy to cover, but blacks are tricky. The pros (movie makeup artists and the like) use airbrushed makeup, but the best I’ve found for home use is [Dermablend](http://www.dermablend.com/). It’s just makeup, only with a lot more pigment and a lot less carrier. I wasn’t happy with it on the dark purple tattoo on my chest when I stood up in a wedding, but for a wrist, I would have been fine with it. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/3 "2008-11-10T16:24:13Z")
I have 3 black stars. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/4 "2008-11-10T16:29:19Z")
Y’know, I was just thinking - they have “airbrush” makeup for your legs now, in an aeresol can. I wonder if that would work? Cheaper than Dermablend for experimenting, anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/5 "2008-11-10T16:37:54Z")
Could you use a cuff bracelet to cover it? ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/6 "2008-11-10T17:14:45Z")
Nope-the bride says no jewelry except pearl earrings. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/7 "2008-11-10T17:23:35Z")
I actually just did some research online for this for the exact same reason–wanted to cover up my ankle tattoo for a wedding. Anyway, the method I found that worked best for me (blue ink) was to start with red lipstick. Sounds weird, I know, but I guess the red neutralizes the blue. Then a darker shade of cover-up, then one that best matches your natural skin tone, then powder to set. Give yourself plenty of time, because you want each layer to be completely dry before you apply the next. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/8 "2008-11-10T20:38:33Z")
you could ask the bride her thoughts. shes might prefer your tattoos to a weird blotchy bruisy photo ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/9 "2008-11-10T21:53:41Z")
I definitely plan to practice well before the wedding to make sure it doesn’t look worse than just a couple of tattoos. Plus, since they are on the inside of my wrist, there’s a pretty good chance that they won’t even show up in the pics. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoo-cover-up/472042/10 "2008-11-11T00:15:55Z")
How small are the tattoos? Use a skin colored bandaid?