Niki Taylor on her painful tattoo-removal process
Who knew a pretty face wasn’t enough in the fashion industry — especially when you’re Niki Taylor! But that’s the case for the supermodel who has quite a few tattoos on her 5’11” body, so she’s in the very painful process of removing four of them, including a fairly large cover-up piece on her right arm, which she says is the one that is often the “deal breaker” to potential clients. “I am removing it because it is stopping me from getting some work I think,” Taylor tells omg! of the ink on her right forearm, which is a hodgepodge of cover-ups over the years. As reported on OMG by Yahoo.
She got the original, “Amor Vincit Omnia,” Latin for “Love conquers all,” in 2002 to match one belonging to her then-boyfriend Keith Urban, who has since covered his as well. “People’s eyes go right to it. It doesn’t matter how acceptable tattoos are or how many people have them, [attention] goes right to this one on my arm so I’ve decided to remove it, although I still do have tattoos in other places.”
In addition to the Polynesian-inspired band on her arm, Taylor, 37, is also lasering off a tattoo on her left wrist and two on her back. The pain of the process, she says, exceeds that of childbirth — and she delivered twins! “I’d rather give birth than have my tattoo removed, that’s how painful it is,” says the mom of four. (In addition to Jake and Hunter, 17, from her first marriage, Taylor also has Ciel, 3, and Rex, 8 months, with hubby Burney Lamar.) “It’s quick, but going through it is so … it’s like a burning, snapping shock through your whole body and you’re just like [screams] ‘Is it over yet? Why did I ever put this tattoo on my arm?'”