Oakham woman left 'unrecognisable' after having tattoos covered on social media programme Transformed
A mother-of-two with nearly 50 tattoos was left looking unrecognisable after taking part in a social experiment.
Amiee Smith, 24, was left in tears after covering up all of her inkings and removing piercings for an experiment on the social media channel, Transformed.
After a whole day in the make-up chair, Amiee was able to see what she would have looked like if she hadn’t have had any tattoos.
However, for the heavily inked woman, what she saw came as a shock.
“The only way I can possibly describe it is looking at someone else who wasn’t me in the mirror,” she said.
“I felt like I was looking at somebody that was just lost and not myself. It didn’t feel right, and was a pretty horrible feeling.”
This emotion was shared by Amiee’s mum who was left in tears after seeing her transformed daughter.
Amiee, who has between 40 and 50 tattoos, said: “My mum was in shock. It’s been a very long time since either my mum or stepdad saw me without facial tattoos.
“It takes a lot for my mum to cry so to see her cry really did hit me how much of a change it wasand how much of a journey I have been through.”
She believes her mum’s emotional reaction was because she had never seen her as an adult without tattoos, and that without the ink they looked very similar.
Amiee’s two children Elijah, six, and Remi, one, did not recognise their mum without her signature tattoos and even refused to give her a cuddle because they thought she was a stranger.
“It made me realise just how much it is a part of me and how much people associate tattoos with me as a person,” said Amiee. “So many people have said they didn’t recognise me.”
The Oakham woman was 13 when she had her first tattoo, before becoming fixated by the idea of them. She was bought a tattoo set by her parents before getting them in a studio from the age of 18.
She said: “I was absolutely fixated and decided I was going to see what all the fuss was about.
“I just love the way you can express yourself with it. You can essentially edit who you are as a person and change who you want to be.”
Amiee’s first facial tattoo is the most meaningful for her, something she doesn’t often speak about.
Above her eyebrow it says ‘different not less’ which reminds people, and herself, that what she looks like doesn’t invalidate who she is as a person.
However, having tattoos can come with challenges as some people hold misconceptions about heavily inked people.
Amiee, who is a model and social media influencer, said: “I’ve found places like Oakham have become more accepting now we have got tattoo studios open.
“When the first tattoo shop opened up the second shortly followed. With that it’s become more normal to have tattoos, not to the extent I’ve got them but people don’t bat an eyelid.”
She added: “I think tattoos are normally associated with criminals. For a long time someone who had been to prison.
“It’s actually only the past 50 years been more of a fashion statement than it’s been a sign you have been to prison.”
The video of Amiee can be found on Transformed’s YouTube channel.
