Woman Shocked To Find Tattoo 'Fell Off' Her Face Days After It Was Done

A woman shared a video showing that the tattoo she received on her face nearly disappeared just days later.

"I got my face tattooed in Fort Lauderdale and three days later it fell off my face," read the text over @ratqueen412's video, which was viewed nearly two million times.

Dr. Bruce Katz, the director of JUVA Skin and Laser Center who works with tattoo removal, told Newsweek there are a number of reasons a tattoo may fade or the ink disappears.

"If put in too superficially, the tattoo ink will slough off the skin," he said. "That doesn't happen if the ink is put in the skin deeply."

And, there are cases in which tattoo ink is not injected heavily enough––or boldly enough––into the skin, which causes the ink to break down and get carried away by the blood system before it is excreted.

Additionally, a tattoo client may experience an allergic reaction to the ink, causing the ink to be rejected. Katz said red is the most common color of ink to cause an allergic reaction.

Dr. Jeffrey Dover, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and the co-director of SkinCare Physicians, told Newsweek in an email that there are a number of reasons that cause a tattoo to disappear.

"The most common including tattoo ink that is placed too high in the skin, too little tattoo ink placed or trauma to the area soon after the ink is placed," he said.

Healthline reported that peeling typically means that the tattoo is healing properly, but there are some signs that point to a tattoo that is not healing correctly, like rashes, inflammation and discharge.

"In all, your tattoo should heal within a few weeks," the article published by Healthline said. "After this time, you shouldn't see any peeling, swelling or redness."

The first clip in the video shows @ratqueen412 getting her tattoo done, which was on her cheekbone.

However, the photo included directly after that clip shows that the tattoo was patchy and faded.

In the comments section, @ratqueen412 said her boyfriend also got a tattoo and his ink fell out as well.

A viewer suggested she may have experienced an "allergy related rejection," but @ratqueen412 said she believes it was a matter of how the tattoo was applied.

"I honestly just don't think he went deep enough with the needle at all," she said. "It didn't hurt I felt literally nothing."

Another viewer echoed her sentiment.

"Probably wasn't deep enough and your skin healed it," they wrote. "Your skin looks fresh and healthy so I wouldn't be surprised."

TikTok user @ratqueen412 shared a second video showing that she got the tattoo redone.

A viewer asked if she needed to wait for the tattoo to heal before getting it done, to which she said she got the new tattoo a few days after the scab fell off.

In a third video, @ratqueen412 said when she was getting her tattoo done the first time, it felt as if the tip of a pencil was "dragging" on her face.

"I know face tattoos don't really hurt that much, to begin with, but when I tell you I felt nothing, I felt nothing," she said. "So, I knew he didn't go deep enough."

Newsweek reached out to @ratqueen412 for further comment.

Other stories about tattoos have previously gone viral.

A woman faced criticism on Mumsnet after she shared she was "devastated" her 26-year-old daughter got a sleeve of tattoos.

Another post, this time on Reddit, showed a "bad" tattoo, while one video posted on TikTok showed a tattoo artist giving a fellow airplane passenger a tattoo while in the air.

Update 10/11/22 12:13 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Dr. Jeffrey Dover.