An Ohio woman found herself in a toxic relationship with an ex-boyfriend who wanted her to get face tattoos to join his gang. Zebrasky agreed, and the result was a spider web tattoo on her forehead and a Day of the Dead-inspired skull design around her eyes, cheeks, nose, and lips.
Zebrasky was in police custody three times in six months, and her mugshots went viral for her spooky skeleton and cobweb face tattoos. But now, more than three years later, Zebrasky has turned her life around. After completing a drug court program and rehabilitation, she has decided to get rid of all her face tattoos in a bid to forget about her ex-boyfriend.
Zebrasky has been documenting her ink removal journey on social media, as part of her recovery process. She is undergoing laser treatments to remove the tattoos, which she said were done in two arduous sessions. While the tattoos are all over her body, Zebrasky only wants to remove the ones on her face and hands due to their association of them with her ex.
“Looking back at those pictures, I just feel disappointed in myself,” she said of her viral mugshots. “But I have to remember that I hadn’t worked on myself or tried to learn how to love myself like I have now. So then I feel proud because change is possible and healing and learning new things are possible. I like being able to look back and see my personal growth.”
Zebrasky started the grueling de-inking process in October 2019 at the Pittsburgh Removery as part of her quest to feel “normal” and be regarded as such by those around her. Despite the pain from the laser treatments, she is determined to get rid of the tattoos.
“I go into a store, and people stare at me. It makes me uncomfortable,” she said in a testimonial shared on the tattoo removal clinic’s website. “I want to be looked at like a normal person. I live my life just like everybody else.”
As she continues her process, she said, “For a very long time, I felt like I wasn’t free. Like I had to live a certain way because of things that were going on in my life with addiction and self-harm, and now, I feel like I don’t have to live like that anymore. I can just live my life — I’m finally free.”
