US4 min(s) read
Published 12:49 13 Aug 2026 GMT
A British mum who has more than 800 tattoos, including extensive ink covering her face, has revealed a dramatically different appearance after temporarily covering up her body art.
Melissa Sloan, 46, has spent around a decade building her heavily tattooed appearance and describes herself as a tattoo addict.
She reportedly gets around three new tattoos every week, either at home or inside her van.
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Her extreme look has attracted plenty of attention online, but it has also caused difficulties in her personal and professional life.
Sloan has previously claimed that she has struggled to find employment because of her appearance.
Speaking to the Daily Star, she admitted: “I can’t get a job. They won’t have me. I applied for a job cleaning toilets where I live and they won’t have me because of my tattoos.”
She added: “The first job I had was cleaning ages ago, cleaning toilets.
"People have said I have never had a job in my life. I have had one once, and it didn’t last long. But, if someone offered me a job tomorrow, I would go and work – I would take that offer.”
She has also spoken about feeling excluded from certain events because of her appearance.
“No Christmas parties, and when I go to my child’s school, I don’t get invited,” she previously claimed.
“They said once for me to go to the back garden and look through the glass window.”
But when Sloan decided to cover her tattoos with makeup, the transformation left her family and even her dog struggling to recognize her.
The 46-year-old previously experimented with concealing her tattoos using foundation, but said her children were shocked when they saw her without her usual inked appearance.
“It took me ages. I bought one [foundation] for £3 and thought I’d try it that way,” she explained.
“I put it on for about half an hour, and when I went downstairs, the kids freaked out because they didn’t like it.”
Her partner was apparently equally unimpressed by the transformation.
“And my partner looked twice. He said, ‘No, it doesn’t suit you. Get your tattoos back. It looks weird.’”
Sloan said the reaction went even further, claiming some of her children became upset by seeing her face without the tattoos.
“They burst out crying, and even my dog looked twice. She didn’t like me that way. My youngest wanted me back as I was. It scared her.”
According to the woman, removing the heavy foundation was also a lengthy process, claiming it took around 24 hours to completely get the makeup off.
She hit back at people who suggested her children were frightened by her tattoos, saying: “These trolls say to me my kids are scared but they are scared of me with my foundation on.
"People don’t realise that they are small-minded.”
Despite the initial reaction, Sloan later decided to attempt the transformation again, this time using specialist tattoo-covering makeup.
She recalled her children's response: “They said, ‘Go back to your craziness mom.’ None of them spoke to me. It didn’t go well.”
She continued: “It wasn’t the same; it’s like they were looking at a different person, a stranger.”
According to Sloan, everything returned to normal once the makeup was removed.
“When it came off again, they were back to normal – it should have been the other way round,” she said.
For the second attempt, Sloan said she used a considerably larger amount of specialist foundation.
“I’ve got proper tattoo foundation now. I had to put it on thick. I used half a tub. It was like thick cement, really thick.”
Photos showing Sloan with her tattoos concealed prompted a strong reaction online, with some viewers saying they preferred her more natural appearance.
One commenter wrote: “You look beautiful. I love this look on you!”
Another said: “Stunning! Your eyes get lost with your tattoos, they’re so pretty!”
A third person was amazed by how different she appeared, writing: “Wow. Crazy to see what you must have looked like before tattoos. If this is anything to go by, you were gorgeous!”
However, despite the compliments, Sloan insists she has no plans to permanently abandon her heavily tattooed appearance.
“It’s my life at the end of the day. I can just swap and change,” she said.
And despite some viewers praising her appearance without the ink, Sloan remains happy with her distinctive style.
“People said I looked beautiful the way I was before – but I like it crazy.”
