A man in Brazil is in the process of removing his tattoos after converting to evangelical Christianity. Leandro de Souza has been sharing updates on his tattoo removal on Instagram, where he’s amassed nearly half a million followers.
Brazil’s O Globo covered de Souza’s story, reporting that he had more than 170 tattoos that covered more than 95 percent of his body — including his whole face.
“I didn’t feel good, it didn’t suit me anymore,” Souza told the outlet. “It was a world of excess, which no longer did me any good. There came a time when I felt like a circus attraction.”
In a post uploaded to Instagram on Aug. 23, de Souza showed off the shocking transformation he’s undergone since beginning his surgeries to have the ink removed from his skin.
The process has been unbearably painful at times, but de Souza is sticking with it.
“It hurts a lot, no matter how much anesthesia they use, the pain is horrible. But that’s part of the price for the things I did in the past,” said.
In another photo posted on Aug. 27, de Souza’s face appears puffy and even bloody in some areas following another treatment. According to an Instagram caption, de Souza wrote in April 2025 that he started removing the ink from his face and body one year prior. While he still has a ways to go, his transformation is already incredible.
Per the Cleveland Clinic, tattoo removal can be performed by laser, and while it’s considered “safe,” people resorting to this may end up with scarring.
“The goal of tattoo removal is to break down permanent ink particles into smaller particles that your immune system can safely remove from your body,” the Cleveland Clinic reports. “This is how laser tattoo removal and tattoo removal creams function with a lower risk of scarring. Dermabrasion, chemical peels and surgical excision focus on removing skin or layers of skin that have permanent tattoo ink particles. This allows your skin to heal around where a tattoo used to be to make it look like the tattoo was never there in the first place. This usually causes scarring.”
