The teenager who asked tattooist for THREE stars on her face and ended up with FIFTY-SIX

[baldguy]

Scarred from life: Kimberley Vlaminck shows her tattooed face. The 56 stars will cost £8,500 to remove


A teenage girl is suing a tattoo artist for £8,500 after she allegedly asked him for three stars on her face - but ended up with 56.

Eighteen-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck paid £55 for 'the graffiti that has ruined my life' in her Belgian home town of Courtrai.

She claimed the Romanian tattooist who performed the artwork misunderstood her French and English.

She claims she fell asleep while he was doing his work... and awoke to 'this nightmare'.

more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1193384/Teen-suing-tattoo-artist-8-500-asked-stars-face--ended-56.html

[eyepaddle]

1. Wait, what?

Fell asleep! Is that possible?

Anyone with ink care to chime in here?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. The girl is lying

There is no way to fall asleep getting your face tattooed.

She made a stupid decision, and now she's going to try to sue the tattooist.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. Yep

No way she slept through that

[LostinVA]

24. Exactly

[Deep13]

45. Seems like it.

As far as the language difficulties, would anyone get a tattoo is there was any doubt at all that the artist did not completely understand what she wanted?

[Xithras]

51. That, or she was drugged out of her mind.

I know more than one person who awoke from a drug or alcohol induced stupor to find a tattoo that hadn't been there the day before.

[AwakeAtLast]

62. That would be the only explanation

:wow:

[Robeson]

58. Agreed.

[MineralMan]

60. Looks kinda cute, really. 3? 56? It's just a number thing.

If you're going to have stars on your face, you might as well go all in.

[MineralMan]

65. I'd think a career as a club bartender would be enhanced

by her tats. They'll never be completely gone from removal, so she might as well embrace them and develop a strong "fuck you" attitude. I kinda lke the look. If I were a younger fellow living in Belgium, I'd probably try to get to know her.

[NJmaverick]

2. LOL! Rules to live by

1) Never go to a Romanian tattooist who doesn't understand english

2) If you violate rule one, never take a nap during the procedure (athough I can't imagine one being able to sleep through the pain)

[nuxvomica]

4. Nice work, though

I didn't know it was possible to fall asleep with all that pricking going on but I've never had a tattoo myself.

[LostinVA]

26. It isn't, unless someone knocked you out

[Roon]

5. There are two kinds of face tatoos (DUer quote)

One that ends your job
One that ends your career

I think it's so stupid to get your neck and face tatted.

[eyepaddle]

9. BAM!!

Roon FTW.

[gmoney]

31. Yeah, I'm not sure 3 would have been any better, actually

"Oh, wait, you only MEANT to get 3 tattooed on your face? Well, that's very different! Welcome to Tiffany's!"

[grace0418]

7. She fell asleep while he was putting 56 tattoos on her FACE?!

I find that very hard to believe. There are a lot of nerve endings in your face, and I'm told that tattoos in areas without a lot of padding (like her jawbone and nose) hurt more.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. I've gotten my nose pierced (a few times actually)

It hurts like hell. Couldn't imagine getting it tattooed, let alone sleeping through it.

Plus a tattoo artist isn't going to let somebody sleep, because a sleeping person can't control their movements. You can't move getting tattooed.

They also outline the tattoo, before actually tattooing you, and you sign off on it.

[scheming daemons]

16. Maybe it works differently in Romania?

:shrug:

[AlCzervik]

21. when she went home her boyfriend and father went nuts so that's why she's

claiming she feel asleep or was drugged.

[LostInAnomie]

57. Not only that, but 5 of them are on her nose.

I'm damn sure you aren't sleeping through that.

[Shell Beau]

8. Yeah, I am having a hard time believing she fell asleep.

[grace0418]

11. I'm so glad I didn't get a tatto at 18 years old. Not that I would've gotten 56 of them

on my face! But still, I'm such a different person than I was at 18, I'm pretty sure I would now hate whatever tattoo I got at 18. Not the idea of the tattoo, just the subject matter. I like well-done tattoos and often consider getting different ones, but just can't decide on what. I guess I'm too fickle.

[City of Mills]

12. No way

I only count 55.

[scheming daemons]

13. Let that be a lesson to all the self-mutilators out there.....

;-)

[gmoney]

34. Remember the motto of "Akbar and Jeff's Piercing Hut"

"Remember, it's not self-mutilation if we help you do it!"

From a brilliant cartoon in Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" comic.

[gratuitous]

49. It's the answer to a multiple choice question

Would you rather have:

(A) Inks and dyes injected under your skin by a stranger in a very painful procedure, resulting in a permanent alteration of your appearance that you might regret in a very short time; or

(B) Money.

A person's answer to that question pretty much sums them up in my mind, and I take care to speak slowly and in small words to one of those groups.

[AlCzervik]

14. this part here i believe is the actual truth-

The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.

no doubt.

[Deep13]

47. +1

[mainegreen]

15. The stupid.

it burns.

[Symarip]

17. Holy shit, that's awesome

She should get a crescent moon on the other cheek and then get 'Mack The Knife' in cursive on her neck.

[Withywindle]

18. Do we even need to call "bullshit"?

Falling asleep while getting your face tattooed?


Yeah right.


:rofl:

[PVnRT]

19. That gives Daily Fail a whole new meaning

[RetroLounge]

20. Smells like BS, but nice belt buckle...

RL

[Tangerine LaBamba]

73. But, but, but,

she looks like such a SMART girl.

This must have been a terrible accident.

Ahem.

How different is it in Romanian when you hold up three fingers? I mean, is it different from English?

[RetroLounge]

77. That's romanian for "disfigure half my face"

everyone knows that...

:hi:

RL

[Tangerine LaBamba]

81. Ohhhhhhhhh.......

I suck at languages. Really.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

:yourock:

[TK421]

22. I smell a new reality show in the works n/t

[LostinVA]

23. She is such a liar her nose should be a yard long

I smei-dozed when I got my armband, because I was so bored, but I was totally aware of what was going on. However, my back tattoo nearly killed -- I thought I was going to start whimpering any sec, and almost passed out (literally) when he went over my spine for teh first time.

[Orrex]

38. I keep having to revise my mental image of what you look like

[LostinVA]

41. I ahve a tribal full arm-band, and on my back a Celtic dragon tat

I posted a photo of the latter on here in Feb. 2008.

I may get the Japanese character for "ki" on my one upper bicep.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

48. But then he gave you a lollipop and you felt better

[LostinVA]

53. Correct

[InternalDialogue]

25. If she said "I want three stars on my face"

and the guy didn't understand her and put a "3" in stars on her face, then he did a nice job. They're arranged just that way.

Moral: Get a tattoo artist who speaks your language.

[grace0418]

If anything, I would think the language barrier would cause a problem with the name

of the object pictured in the tattoo more than the number of objects. Romanian is a romance language, so the number for 3 can't be too terribly different than the French "trois". Or how about three fingers held up?

I think the real moral is don't do something stupid and impulsive then lie about it later when you regret it.

[Lucian]

27. How can anyone fall asleep while getting a tattoo???

I have six of them and there's no way in hell I would have fallen asleep getting them.

[vadawg]

37. depends how drunk you are, though i agree, i got my first tat when i was 15 and it hurt like a beatc

[Lucian]

44. My tattoo artist refuses to tattoo anyone who may be drunk.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

50. That's because you have a real tattoo artist

[vadawg]

28. i like it, shame its not what she now wants, nice work in fact for 55 quid

[Blue_Tires]

29. she'll have to become a performance artist or musician now...

or maybe be a superhero?

[mainegreen]

32. WiN!

:rofl:

[fizzgig]

30. i don't know who is stupider here

the girl or her dad and boyfriend for believing her.

[BarenakedLady]

33. I highly doubt it.

I got a tiny one in a pretty fleshy place and there is no way in hell I could have fallen asleep.

[Orrex]

36. We need pics for comparison and analysis

In the interest of objective discussion, of course.

[Orrex]

35. Oh, you can hardly notice them

Which three do you suppose she wanted?

[LostinVA]

42. lol

[latebloomer]

39. Maybe she fell asleep under IV anesthesia?

:shrug:

[NJmaverick]

40. I wouldn't let a tattoo artist administer IV anesthesia

if I were you:scared:

[latebloomer]

66. Um- you make sense!

[baldguy]

43. Dr Jose Cuervo?

[Deep13]

46. He did a good job, BTW.

Very well done. I wouldn't want them on my face, but still, very tasteful.

[LostinVA]

54. I think so, too -- and for about $100

[MrSlayer]

52. Like 56 is any less stupid than 3.

Whatever.

[SKKY]

55. Who the hell falls asleep during a tattoo????

:wtf:

[LostInAnomie]

56. Right... the tattooist misunderstood 56 for 3. And, not only that, but 56 of different sizes...

... with some filled in and some not. I guess he did it all free hand too without tracing them on her face or getting design approval beforehand.

Someone is full of shit, and that person should be sued by a certain tattooist.

[MineralMan]

70. Yah, well "three" sounds pretty much the same

in French and Romanian. Even it English it doesn't sound a bit like "fifty-six"

In all three languages, it's one syllable, not three. Never mind.

[TK421]

59. I can barely make out the big dipstick n/t

[AwakeAtLast]

63. *giggle*

:rofl:

[Robeson]

61. More like Daddy has threatened to cut off the purse strings.

[AwakeAtLast]

64. Doesn't the artist SKETCH it first, then get an O. K?

That's where I see a problem for her. Whether she fell asleep or not, she had to have given her O.K. to the preliminary sketch.

[Robeson]

67. They always have with me.

[XemaSab]

78. They sketch it, then put a transfer on your skin

to make sure you're totally sure about where it should go.

[RagAss]

80. Yup..always....I smell a rat !

[MineralMan]

68. She needs to change her name now to

Etoile and make her tats a feature, not a bug. It will only ruin her life if she lets it. If she embraces it and makes it part of her personality, it'll do her no harm. Lots of people will be intrigued.

[TK421]

69. I'm telling you....she can make something out of this, she has star quality n/t

[Robeson]

71. A star is born?

[TK421]

72. More like a star is worn......

she should be on Dancing with the Stars

[Iggo]

74. Aw. Poor baby.

Now let me email this story to the 20 yr old and the 14 yr old.

[Mr. Ected]

75. Her parents must be in shock

Yes, I'm sure she can make the best of it.

But I can't imagine the pain her parents are feeling at the moment.

[gmoney]

76. Shell Beau seemed to like the idea...

:hide:

Sorry... saw those two shots in proximity and I couldn't resist. :)

[XemaSab]

79. .

:spank:

[hibbing]

84. Oh My!

Hi,
That is sooooooooo funny! Thanks for the laugh!

Peace

[Shell Beau]

108. OMG!!! My poor litttle innocent sweet angel!

x(











:rofl: :P

[jmowreader]

82. Romanian tattoo artists don't use stencils?

Come on.

Many DUers have no tattoos, so here's the basic procedure:

You tell the artist what you want.
In the case of a fairly straightforward piece like this, the artist will draw a picture of what he thinks you want. If what you think you want and what he thinks you want aren't the same, you work with him until you like what he's doing
The artist uses a machine to make a stencil
The artist shaves the area to be tattooed, cleans it and transfers the stencil to your skin
You inspect the stencil to be sure it's what you want, and that it's exactly where you want it
Once everything's agreed on, the artist uses a tattoo machine to complete the design

That's at least two places where she could have looked at the thing and said, "how come there are 53 stars too many?" I think what actually happened is she got the 56 stars she wanted and her mom threatened to kick her out of the house until she got them removed.

[XemaSab]

89. I'm counting three places

The third place being when he comes at your face with the gun for the FOURTH TIME. :o

[jmowreader]

106. Well...

According to the story she made up when she got home and Father joined with Boyfriend to go postal on her ass, she asked for three stars near the corner of her eye and wound up with this constellation across the whole left side of her face. This is where the story falls apart for anyone who's ever gotten a tattoo.

Tattoos bleed while they're being done. How could they not? The process breaks the skin repeatedly. The artist doesn't want to have blood drip on the stencil and obscure it, so he or she starts at the bottom of the piece and works up. The artist also stretches the skin out so it doesn't bounce up and down while the machine works the area. I think if I'd hired an artist to tattoo three stars on the corner of my eye, and he started stretching out the skin under my chin to apply the first star, I'd be all like "hey! There's not supposed to be anything there!"

[LeftyMom]

83. You'd have to be seriously medicated to sleep through getting 56 stars tattooed on your face

Even fleshy places are uncomfortable, and very thin skin, close to the bone with first a very fine needle and then a wider one for fill? That's going to hurt like a mofo. And bleed a lot.

Seriously, that'd be about like sleeping through unmedicated dental work, on the totally fucking not likely scale.

[Robeson]

87. You'd have to be on the verge...

...of a heroin overdose, with eyes rolled back in their sockets. The girls story is bs.

[jmm]

85. I don't get to use this smiley often enough

:nopity:

[Quantess]

86. It should be illegal to tattoo the face, neck, or hands of anyone under 21.

[Ghost in the Machine]

88. I think it looks cool as hell...

she should tell her dad & boyfriend to get over themselves... and find a new boyfriend...

[scrinmaster]

90. Dumbass.

I really hope she gets nothing at all, or has to pay the tattooist something. Doesn't seem likely, though.

[DFW]

91. Aren't we overlooking the obvious here?

She was obviously BORN with the 53 stars, had the 3 extra added, and now is trying to extort
the £8500 (hope she knows to convert to euros) that she needs to get them all removed, but
couldn't afford on her own.

I'm just terrified one of one thing: she'll meet some guy that finds her wildly attractive
the way she is now, and they have children.

[GCP]

92. The sight of the tatooist would have me running in the other direction

He's a frikkin' nightmare

[jeff30997]

93. In the article:

"I maintain that she absolutely agreed that I tattoo those 56 stars on the left side of her face,' he told newspaper La Derniere Heure.

A witness,a woman who was present,has already been questioned by police, and she confirms it."

"But be that as it may: Kimberley is unhappy and it is not my wish to have an unsatisfied client. There is a way to remove the tattoos with the help of a laser. I accept to pay for half the cost."

Unsatisfied client my ass.

[LisaL]

94. How did she fall asleep when her face was being tattooed?

First of all it had to hurt. Second of all one would think your face needs to be held steady for someone to tattoo on it.

[tekisui]

95. I see the confusion. The 56 stars are in the shape of the number 3.

Simple mistake. Anyone could have made it.

[Blue Diadem]

98. Good eye! They do appear to form a 3.

I still don't know how she could sleep through it.

[AngryAmish]

96. Too stupid for words

She has ruined her life.

[bikebloke]

97. Did she forget how to count?

By the time he started on number 4, she should have twigged on.

[qb]

99. Sensitivity at its finest:

"Jules Clocher, a Belgian psychologist, said: 'The trauma this girl must be feeling is indescribable. She feels like a circus freak - and no wonder, because she looks like one.'"

:rofl:

Two more things:
1. If you tend to fall asleep while in excruciating pain, you need a caretaker with you at all times.
2. If you wake up with unwanted tattoos on your face, find the confidence of Pee Wee Herman and say "I meant to do that!" This is preferable to a lifetime of explaining why you have tattoo removal marks covering half of your face.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

100. I must say, the Lounge thread on this is much more pleasant than the GD one

[LostinVA]

101. JInx -- I just posted the same thing in the GD thread!!!!!

PM Debi about this.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

102. Ha!

[Starry Messenger]

103. Seriously!

[Giant Robot]

104. I think you mis-spoke there

I think what you meant to say was:

The Lounge is much more pleasant than GD.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

105. Well, overall, that's correct

[struggle4progress]

107. They're not really that noticeable, and most guys her age won't be looking there anyway