<more coming momentarily>
Why this website?
I lost half of my precious eyesight! The person I trusted unconditionally, lied to my face morning, noon, and night. If he had ever once said, "that looks concerning, I think you should see a doctor", then you would not be reading about this. I have made this website to inform people that
a) Emilio Gonzalez hurts his clients and doesnt give a fuck. He continues to tell people it is 100% safe when performed by an expert [screenshot of his Instagram post coming soon]
b) Eyeball tattoos get screwed up a LOT more often than it seems on the internet, because most people do not say anything in public. Several people with tattooed eyes have contacted me in recent days to share gruesome stories and photos about the trouble they had - some with lasting damage. Almost none of them had said anything publicly or named the "artist" responsible.
Eyeball tattooing is not safe no matter how good of a reputation or how experienced an "artist" is. All it takes is one wrong flinch from the client for them to go blind.
Why did you get your eyes tattooed?
This is a very long explanation, with thoughts and feelings that stretch back to my earliest childhood. As a high level, what you see on the outside of me is a reflection of who I am on the inside. Sure it's strange and you probably don't understand and laugh and think it's crazy and stupid, and this website is not the place to explain that all.
And yes you're right. It's very, very stupid. Don't do what I did.
Why did my eye need to be removed?
The improperly diluted ink that was used for the final injection "reacted with my eye" according to the doctors. The corrosive solvents in the tattoo ink (see next Q&A) penetrated my sclera and entered the inside of my eye. The cells inside of my eye died. The retina became detatched. The pupil disappeared. It was at major risk of infection (post-surgery lab report found no infection). I would never see anything out of it ever again. The damage to my optical nerve was causing visual hallucinations from the misinformation. It was rotting from the inside out and becoming like a soft, deflated grape. It needed to be removed in emergency surgery 3 days sooner than planned.
Why must the ink be properly diluted? How do I know that it wasn't?
Solvents in the tattoo ink are highly corrosive. One ingredient in the ink that was used in my eyes is benzyl alcohol [Safety data sheet], which is highly corrosive to eyes [reference]. Months later I purchased the same ink so that my prosthetic eye can be the same color. I smeared the tattoo ink thinly over a sheet of glass to dry so that I could scrape the pigment. It smelled VERY strongly like the oxidant used to bleach hair - a very strong odor. The ink was also very, very thick and hard to wash off my fingers.
*Note that this is a new ink bottle directly from the supplier, not the one Emilio used.
A great number of the eyeball tattoos that are botched, involved the use of improperly diluted ink.
How do I know that it wasn't diluted? Emilio insists that it was diluted exactly the same as the first. How can that possibly explain the thick gobs of ink that bulged out of my eye for weeks? That smeared on my face like paint. That STILL has not been completely removed from my eye socket because it was so thick and so much of it. My eye swelled up huge less than an hour after the procedure. That isn't because of anything I did.
Why only one eye and not both?
I recall seeing two small cups of ink on the tray before the procedure, which I remember thinking was unusual. But I figured, he knows what he's doing.
As he finished the final injection, Emilio jerked his arm back with a slight his. I said that his reaction scared me and I asked how it went. He said it went perfect! I'd love it! I'll be all healed in 2 weeks! As I explain above, the ink in one of the cups was not properly diluted. Thankfully I only had problems with one eye and not both.
What is your situation now?
I have a prosthetic eye that I think looks ridiculous because it hardly moves like my working one. I use makeup under my eyelid to conceal the ink that migrated under my skin and gives me a permanent bruised eye. I avoid eye contact with people because I feel that as soon as they realize my eyes are blue and one is fucked up, they'll immediately know the stupid thing that I have done. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I feel so stupid for not making wiser choices. It has been torturesome to compile this website and re-live every moment and conversation and photograph. It really, really sucks. It could be worse though, right? It could have been both eyes.
I thought I hired an expert, but instead I hired a hack. I knew the risks of getting my eyes tattooed and I accepted them before having it done. It didn't work out for me. And I have to live with the shitty consequences of my stupid actions. (Don't you wish that applied to politicians?