The chances are we’ve all made choices that we regret in life, all followed through with decisions that we’ve later wished we hadn’t.
Fortunately, not many of said decisions have such permanent ramifications as, say, tattoos covering 95% of your body.
In recent decades people have grown ever more creative with what they opt to ink on themselves, not to mention ever more ready to push the boundaries with regards to the levels of expression they’re willing to engage in.
As such, it’s not all that strange these days to see people covered, quite literally, head-to-toe in tattoos. Some do it as a method of expressing creativity, some because they want their body to tell a story or carry a message. One thing’s for sure though… not everyone is satisfied with the decision to so drastically alter their appearance forever.
Leandro de Souza is one such individual. Once labeled Brazil’s most tattooed man, Leandro first got inked back when he became a teenager.
His obsession with tattoos hit fever pitch after a break down of relations with his ex-wife, accompanying a period of excessive substance misuse.
Eventually he decided to call time on the life he was living, realizing that it was neither productive nor sustainable.
“I couldn’t stand the life I was living anymore,” he said. “I was an attraction at an event, and I felt like a circus animal.”
Leandro spoke of his routine of cigarettes, booze, and stronger substances as a “captivity” he was forced to live in until he moved to a municipal shelter in the town of Bagé, Brazil. There, he met a woman who introduced him to religion.
“I entered the municipal shelter in Bagé. Within a week, there was a lady who referred me and started to evangelize me,” Leandro explained.
At the time, the now-36-year-old had 170 tattoos, spanning 95% of his body.
“In 2023, I won the award for most tattooed man in Brazil at the Santa Rosa International Tattoo Expo,” he told Brazil’s OGlobo.
“I lived off the flesh, had a life of s*x, d**gs, and rock ‘n roll.”
After reckoning with himself and his choices at the aforementioned municipal shelter, Leandro made the call to undergo extensive tattoo removal. Due to the amount of tattoos he has, he must go under a laser every three months.
The Sao Paulo-based Hell Tattoo removal studio offered their services for free after a video of Leandro’s struggles in applying for work went viral.
“My face is getting clearer every day, after the fourth tattoo removal session,” he said.
“If you imagine that a person goes there to remove one from their finger and already complains of pain.
“Imagine a session on the entire face, which involves three types of laser.”
The process reportedly involves three stages, including ink removal followed by the use of carbon dioxide “to rejuvenate and not leave a stain.” Finally, there’s a third part, described as a “type of seal[ing] process.”
“It hurts a lot, no matter how much anesthesia they use,” Leandro admitted. “The pain is horrible. But that’s part of the price for the things I did in the past.”
What do you think Leandro’s before and after? Let us know in the comments.
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