Ink has allowed an Irish teen to recover from self-harm and here’s her story. Aoife Lovett (19) had been struggling with mental health throughout the years, and even though she got better, the self-harm scars brought back memories she wanted to forget. Aoife wanted to cover up them with tattoos, but all artists she reached out to refused to work with scarred skin. Except for one.

Aoife’s mom came across Ryan Kelly’s project Scars Behind Beauty, an initiative that helps people leave self-harm behind with cover up tattoos. “It’s tough when you’re a couple of years clean from doing it, and every day you’re constantly reminded of what you did,” Aoife told the Independent. “It brings back memories of how you felt then. There’s a lot of shame that comes with it and guilt, especially when you’re around your family.”

Ryan launched his tattoo cover up project in February when another woman contacted him for the same reason Aoife did. “A girl just randomly came in looking for a tattoo to cover up some scars and I got talking to her, and she started telling me her story,” Ryan said. “At the end of that, it didn’t really feel right to charge her. It kind of felt like the self-harm tattoo cover up meant more to her than that.”

“The best tattoo cover-up is putting something beautiful over something ugly,” Aoife praised Ryan’s work. “It gives you a new sense of freedom and you get your confidence back because it’s tough to go into jobs and wear t-shirts with scars because you get looks and you get questions a lot about it.”

Ryan wasn’t quick to judge other tattoo artists. “Understandably to a certain degree because obviously if you want your best piece, it’s going to be better on flat skin. It can take a little bit more time sometimes, but for me, it means a lot more than that because you’re helping someone move on from a difficult time.”

(h/t)

19-year-old Aoife had been struggling with mental health throughout the years, and even though she got better, the scars brought back memories she wanted to forget

“It’s very hard when you’re a couple of years clean from doing it and every day you’re constantly reminded of what you did. It brings back memories of how you felt then”

Aoife wanted to cover up them with tattoos, but all artists she reached out to refused to work with scarred skin. Except one

After taking a look at Aoife’s scars, Ryan Kelly began covering them up for free

In the end, Ryan was able to put something beautiful over something ugly

“It gives you a new sense of freedom and you get your confidence back”

Ryan launched his project Scars Behind Beauty in February when another woman contacted him for the same reason Aoife did

“A girl just randomly came in looking for a tattoo to cover up some scars and I got talking to her and she started telling me her story”

“At the end of that it didn’t really feel right to charge her. It kind of felt like it meant more to her than that”

Ryan is not the only one dedicated to this great task, Poppy Seger is a tattoo artist from the UK who has helped many people already

Image credits: Poppy 

“Tattooing over self harm scarring can be triggering. It can bring tears, memories, flashbacks” says Poppy

Image credits: Poppy 

And Whitney Develle has done similar work in Australia

Image credits: Whitney Develle

People were reacting strongly to these artists’ great work

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