MORGAN, a model with extensive inking all over her body, is covering up her tattoos to see herself without them for the first time in over 10 years. Morgan, who goes by the name ‘MJ’, started getting tattoos the day after her 18th birthday. MJ told Truly: “I definitely think I will have mixed feelings seeing myself without tattoos - I may not recognise myself in the mirror.” It’s not only MJ who is nervous to see the results of the transformation but her mum, Janie, too, who hasn’t seen her daughter without tattoos in over 10 years…
Follow Morgan:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morganjoycexo/
Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morganjoycexo
Youtube - @morganjoycexo
Videographer: Kevin Huang
Producers: Martha Hewett, Natalia Giorgi
Editor: Tani McDowell
Follow Morgan:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morganjoycexo/
Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@morganjoycexo
Youtube - @morganjoycexo
Videographer: Kevin Huang
Producers: Martha Hewett, Natalia Giorgi
Editor: Tani McDowell
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NewsTranscript
00:00I would describe my style as alternative princess Bratz doll.
00:06I've gotten so many requests of people to see me
00:08without tattoos or covering my tattoos with makeup.
00:11And I'm like, no, I'm not ready to do that.
00:14But today I am.
00:16My mom hasn't seen me without tattoos in over 10 years.
00:20You look like a little girl.
00:24Don't make me cry.
00:26I have a lot of feelings right now.
00:28Can we stop for a second?
00:31I'm sorry.
00:35When I was a kid, I was finding myself.
00:37I tried the preppy thing.
00:39Then of course I became an emo kid
00:41and that kind of developed
00:42into just the general alternative aesthetic.
00:46Then that evolved also into like a sporty vibe.
00:49But now I'm back to what I feel is truly my roots
00:51which is an alternative princess.
00:55I started getting tattoos the day after my 18th birthday.
00:58And that's only because the shop was closed
00:59on my 18th birthday.
01:01My favorite tattoo visually is the one on my back
01:04but my favorite tattoo sentimentally
01:06would be the one of my mom's handwriting.
01:08This is a tattoo of my dog.
01:10He is my prince.
01:11He's the king of my entire world.
01:12His name is Godfrey.
01:14My followers would always be like,
01:16why don't you cover it with makeup
01:17and see how you feel about it.
01:19But I've always avoided it
01:20because I didn't want it to make me sad.
01:25I started getting tattoos to help with my confidence
01:28but now I regret some of them.
01:30I feel very nervous about covering them up.
01:32Definitely a little anxious.
01:34I'm going to be revealing my transformation to my mom.
01:38All right, mom.
01:39My box of clothes came from my transformation.
01:42It's exciting.
01:43Let's see what it is.
01:45I can't wait to see what it is.
01:49Oh God.
01:51What is this?
01:53I don't know.
01:54What is it?
01:55Would never wear this dress.
01:57Super clash moment with my current skin situation.
02:00But yeah, so that's a definite no.
02:03Like these aren't even earrings to me.
02:04This is a nose ring.
02:06Like literally this is a nose ring.
02:09Luckily I had my stretch ears sewn up.
02:12So my ear lobes are significantly smaller.
02:14Now if I had my big thicky lobes,
02:17these would have been hanging on by a thread.
02:20Godfrey, are you going to recognize me
02:21when I don't look like a coloring book anymore?
02:25I'm sorry.
02:26One of the things that I'm nervous about
02:28is how you will feel seeing yourself without tattoos.
02:33And I get a little emotional because I don't know
02:37because sometimes you have a little mixed feelings
02:40about how many tattoos you have.
02:42And I'm a little nervous for that.
02:44I'm a lot nervous for that.
02:46I really am.
02:47And I'm concerned for you.
02:49Love you.
02:54Hi!
02:55Hello, hi.
02:57My name is Aima.
02:59I'm a makeup artist.
03:00Oh, nice to meet you.
03:01I'm MJ.
03:01Nice to meet you.
03:03I'm so excited.
03:04I know, me too.
03:05Hi.
03:22I've never covered up this many tattoos in my life.
03:31Yes, we all finished.
03:34Are you ready to see a transformation?
03:36Yes, I'm ready.
03:37There you go.
03:48It's so strange.
03:49I mean, I feel like me, myself, I feel like I look good.
03:53Like I look good without the tattoos.
03:55Like it's somehow not as shocking
03:59as I thought it would be.
04:00Looking at myself now, like, I'm still special.
04:03Like it's not my tattoos that made me special and unique.
04:06Like I'm what makes me special and unique.
04:09So I don't want to get emotional,
04:11but I have a lot of feelings right now.
04:19Can we stop for a second?
04:21I think what I am expecting is to see the little girl
04:26that I knew before the tattoos.
04:28And it might be difficult.
04:31Oh my God.
04:35I...
04:38I'm speechless, really.
04:41Why are you emotional?
04:41I don't know,
04:42because you do look like the little girl.
04:45You look like a little girl.
04:48Don't make me cry.
04:52So how are you feeling internally though?
04:55I cried.
04:56You did cry?
04:57Just because like, for me,
04:59like, I still feel like, oh, I'm going to cry again.
05:03I always thought like my tattoos were what made me
05:05like special and like unique and gave me confidence.
05:09But like seeing myself without them,
05:11like I still feel really, really pretty.
05:13Like I still feel like me.
05:15Like that's not what makes me me.
05:17Like it's like such a small part of my identity.
05:21That's a good thing.
05:22Yeah, like it honestly made me feel better.
05:23Cause I'm like, wow, like, yeah, I didn't,
05:25I'm not happy,
05:26like super happy with all the decisions that I've made,
05:29but like, who's to say I would have been happy
05:31with whatever my other decisions were.
05:33It's like, I'm still me.
05:34Like it literally doesn't matter.
05:36I think that's a great outcome.
05:37Yeah, me too.
05:39I'm very surprised.
05:42I'm not as stressed anymore.
05:44Although I wish I could have done things differently
05:46and starting over would be really cool.
05:48And I really do like how my skin looks like this.
05:51I still wouldn't change anything.
05:53Cause this is part of my journey
05:54and this is what makes me me.
05:57And even having like the emotional capacity
05:58to reflect on myself and my choices
06:00and why I've done the things I've done
06:02also makes me me and is part of my journey.
06:04So I'm grateful for the experience.