How SLO County woman’s realistic nipple tattooing business helps fellow cancer survivors
In 2012, Monica Hollenbeck battled breast cancer and made the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy.
Now, over a decade later, Hollenbeck has dedicated her life to helping other breast cancer survivors regain their confidence and heal — through unique, 3D tattoos.
Many of these survivors, like Hollenbeck herself, lost their nipples due to medically necessary surgical procedures.
Following her battle with cancer, Hollenbeck decided to get her nipples tattooed, and when she saw what it did to her confidence, she knew she wanted to bring the work to the community of survivors on the Central Coast.
“When you get out of the shower and look at yourself in the mirror, your eyes automatically look for something,” Hollenbeck told The Tribune. “Instead of nipples, all you see are the scars that remind you of your battle with cancer every day. When I do these tattoos, nothing gives me more satisfaction than to hear a woman say she has her boobs back again.”
Hollenbeck spent years studying and perfecting her craft to become a paramedical tattoo artist. Her business, Restored by Ink, opened last year at 292 Posada Lane in Templeton.
Hollenbeck’s tattoos are hyper-realistic and appear three dimensional, so the nipples and areolas look as realistic as possible. In addition to nipple tattooing, Hollenbeck is also trained in scar and stretch mark camouflaging.
The scar and stretch mark camouflaging requires her to understand how to color match with people’s skin tones. Nipple tattooing, because of all of the scar tissue, requires precision.
The process is not reconstructive surgery and only works with existing tissue, tattooing the skin with ink to give it the illusion of a natural body part.
Hollenbeck trained under another paramedical tattoo artist in Texas and received hands-on experience and hours of clinical training. Even now, she practices on synthetic skin to ensure her work is as good as it can be.
“I practice for hours and hours,” Hollenbeck said.
According to Hollenbeck, she is one of the only people doing this type of hyper-specialized tattooing on the Central Coast.
Her goal now is to raise awareness about her work so more survivors know this is an option for them.
“There are a lot of women who need this service and don’t even know it exists here,” Hollenbeck said.
She added: “I want to give people their confidence back. It is beautiful and so satisfying to give women that little boost of confidence. It goes a long way.”
For more information
Those interested in being tattooed can schedule a free consultation with Hollenbeck to go over the process and receive more information.
To schedule an appointment, email monica@restoredbyink.com or visit restoredbyink.com.
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
