Asia Argento is removing all her tattoos with laser sessions, starting with her hands

Treatment under way

Asia Argento, 51, is having all her tattoos removed by Rome plastic surgeon Gaspare Reina, and she has shared the process on Instagram. Reports published on 25 and 26 October describe a treatment that began with her hands, which she says no longer carry any ink, and has moved on to her arms and chest. A first removal operation took place in December 2023, as an Instagram post shows, and she has since returned to Reina to remove more. Fanpage describes a necklace designed by tattoo artist Marco Manzo that stretched over her chest, shoulders and behind her neck, now visibly lighter. Among the tattoos being removed were the name Bob for Bob Dylan and the words Saved and Hope.

Her explanation

In the video, Argento said she had never imagined at 51 that she would want to remove something that had defined her so strongly. She framed the tattoos as a youthful choice and pointed to the warnings she had received at the time from her parents, the film director Dario Argento and the actress Daria Nicolodi.

“It was a youthful mistake. My mother had told me, my father had told me.”

Reina, answering a comment under the clip, said the tattoos no longer belonged to her, that she no longer found them suited to the person she is, and that professionally they had limited the roles offered to her. Argento also described the process as painful beyond the physical level.

“It is very painful, also psychologically.”

Argento added that her choice does not mean young people should stop getting tattoos.

The laser process

The removal is done with a laser, which breaks the ink into particles that the immune system clears. The treatment is medical and has to be carried out in a healthcare facility. It typically takes between 4 and 10 sessions over two months. Older tattoos are easier to remove than recent ones, and the skin can keep lighter or darker patches, or in some cases the colour changes instead of disappearing. Costs cited in the reports are 80 euros per session, with some practices asking 350 to 450 euros. A small black tattoo costs about 1,000 euros to remove, and a coloured sleeve about 6,000 euros.

Italians and tattoo removal

An Istituto Superiore di Sanità survey cited in the reports puts the share of tattooed Italians at 12.8% of people over 12, about 6.9 million people, with women more often tattooed than men. It found that 17.2% had at least once thought about removing a tattoo and at least 4.3% had actually done it. Among those who chose removal, 51.3% said the tattoo had lost its meaning, 39.3% no longer liked it, and 11.4% did so because it caused problems at work.

Reina's assessment

Reina praised his patient on social media, concluding his post with a remark about the location of her tattoos.

“Asia is very strong, also because she has tattoos in really crazy places.”

The reports also note that Ema Stokholma has been having her tattoos removed by the same specialist for four years.