People really do underestimate the effect that acne
has on the person who is suffering from it.
Having the tattoo is going to make me feel more confident.
I have had acne and it still is, like, the biggest hang-up
I ever had.
Acne can completely destroy your self-confidence.
I've got quite a bit of acne scarring on my chest,
and I kind of want a tattoo that will cover it
and kind of give me the confidence
to be able to go out and have my top off at the beach.
Yeah, lovely.
I'm Ashley, I'm 28 and I'm a primary school teacher.
Yeah, don't really feel comfortable taking off my top,
and having a camera, but, yeah.
This is, like, as far as I'll go.
When I was younger, I always used to boast that I never got any acne
and I was very clean-faced and very fresh-looking.
And then, all of a sudden, at 16, 17, 18,
I suddenly started to get quite a lot of acne on my face.
It then started, later on, appearing on my chest and my back.
You do feel incredibly uncomfortable taking your clothes off
in public or having to cover your face up with lots of make up
because it's something that you feel ashamed of.
So this will just be roughly, so you can just see...
I really would love an owl outstretched on my chest.
Yeah, it's perfect.
Yeah? Like the size and the placement and stuff?
Yeah? Yeah, brilliant. Cool.
It symbolises freedom, and freedom from feeling the way I am feeling.
Right, this is going to be cold, I'm afraid.
I had acne. It still is, like, the biggest hang-up I ever had.
So when I had my acne scarring covered up,
it changed my whole life.
Are you nervous? Yeah. Ah, you'll be OK, no worries.
I'm fully ready, fully prepared and definitely want to get it done now.
Exhausted. It's knackering.
HE GROANS
From a young age, I've had a lot to overcome.
I lost my mother and my grandmother from a young age.
I never really knew my father.
I moved from foster home to foster home.
I struggled with quite bad bullying during my teenage years.
And it was a lot for me to overcome.
It is, like, the first thing that you think of as soon as you
feel like someone is looking at your skin, you are thinking,
"Oh, God, are they looking
"because they've noticed that I've had or I do still have acne?"
Yeah. I'm not going to let anything in my past affect me,
so this is, having this done is kind of another way of saying,
you know I'm not going to let...
acne get me down, you know?
You know, I'm going to do something about it.
This tattoo is not just about hiding my scars.
It is more to do with me being able to tell a story,
to let people know, you know, why I have the tattoo.
The tattoo is there for a reason.
I'm overcoming something. I came from A and I'm now at B.
So we are done. So just get up nice and slow. Try not to faint.
OK. Sure? Yeah. Go, go, go
OK.
Oh, my God, that is beautiful. THEY LAUGH
Oh, wow.
I would hug you, but I can't because it's on your chest.
I'll give you a sideways hug. Oh, thank you for getting it done.
Thank you.
I feel really, like, powerful. Yeah. I feel I want to show it off.
I want to go outside.
Oh, my God, this is amazing.
Look at the way he stands now. It suits you so well, yes.
Oh, my God, are you happy? Really, really, I'm overjoyed.
When Ash came in, you could tell he was uncomfortable
with not having his shirt on. But his whole stance has changed.
He is obviously smiling, he is confident.
I never thought that a tattoo would change the way I feel so much.
I feel like it's releasing a massive, massive burden,
and it's kind of already helping me so much
to be proud and in love with who I am, in so many words.
I hope that Ash finds his confidence again,
because he definitely, definitely deserves it.
I need to get out of the country. I need to lay on the beach.
I need to have my top off, and I need to show my tattoo off.
HE LAUGHS