TATTOOS might be all the rage but tattoo regret is just as common.

A drunken night out in Sydney’s Kings Cross left Rachel Vance with a tattoo on her arm – two tiny stars and a spade. The experience cost her $100 and she regretted it instantly.

Louise Smith got five tattoos at different stages throughout her twenties. One was a butterfly, another commemorated a friend’s death and the rest just seemed like a good idea at the time. Until now.

Both women are part of an emerging trend where people are paying upwards of $100 a pop per session of laser treatment to remove tattoos. Oh, and apparently it hurts like hell.

“I got them done when I was very young and definitely believed that I would love them forever and would never regret them. I didn’t think about my future and how I might change my view on my tattoos as I matured,” Louise Smith said.

According to Sue Salmon of the Wollongong Tattoo Removal Service in New South Wales, the majority of their increasing numbers of clients are young women between 25 and 40.