Tattoo You?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Of course everybody knows once you done it you've got it for good.
Smithsonian says;

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology showed that about one quarter of adults age 18 to 50 in the United States currently have a tattoo. Of those, almost 30 percent had considered removing or covering the tattoo with a new one, or had already covered it.

I've got one and hadn't thought about any more, but I don't have one where it wold show in my normal clothes. At my age it doesn't much matter, but somebody starting out in the cold cruel world might think twice about a visible tat.

Having them removed is tricky, there's "dermabrasion", which is all that was available for thousands of years. Basically its scraping or sanding the thing off, you know that's going to hurt and probably leave a scar. Not good for tender areas.

Then came the laser;

Modern laser tattoo removal is credited to University of Cincinnati dermatologist Leon Goldman, who unveiled his method in the late 1960s. Goldman's laser assaulted the tattooed skin with "hot vapor bursts" that left it charred, Time magazine described on Oct. 20, 1967. Even at its best, the process left behind "cosmetically acceptable scars."

In the late 1980s, Anderson improved Goldman's procedure, creating a laser system that removed a tattoo, scar and all. But even Anderson's method worked only three-quarters of the time, he says. The process is also unpredictable, takes as many as 20 monthly treatments that can cost thousands of dollars a pop.

So I wouldn't count on getting rid of it, better think twice about committing to it. But what if it was a quasi-commitment like marriage.... where you could dump it in a heartbeat? Would that change your mind? Later on this year you could have that option.

Instead of focusing on laser improvement, they have created an ink that dissolves naturally in the body when treated just once with a typical removal laser.

"I realized it's better to work on the ink than on the laser," Anderson says. "This is the first time a tattoo ink has actually been designed from a biological and material science point of view."

Typical tattoo inks are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. While some are made safely from carbon or iron oxide, others, particularly yellow compounds, contain carcinogens. The ink rests in tiny beads that remain lodged in the skin after a tattoo is applied. During removal, a laser blasts these nano-sized beads with enough heat to make them rupture, releasing the ink into the body. Some of the potentially harmful ink ends up in the body's lymph nodes, part of the immune system.

Freedom-2 inks are made from safe pigments—the orange ink, for example, contains beta-carotene, commonly found in carrots—and trapped in harmless polymer shells. When a Freedom-2 tattoo is removed by laser, the ink dissolves biologically, leaving only the innocuous, invisible shells.

That sounds like a good idea, to have a safer ink in your body even, or maybe especially, if you plan on keeping it forever. It would still cost a good amount to be rid of it but it can be done...safely. Now would you go for it?

But there is one more wrinkle on the horizon.

The scientists are also designing polymer shells that biodegrade on their own, without a laser's nudge, over a matter of months, says Edith Mathiowitz of Brown University, who engineered Freedom-2's beads.
"This could be a new type of jewelry," Mathiowitz says.

I can't see the point of going through the tattooing and healing, which let's face it, isn't pleasant, to have it go away in a few months. I suppose you could do it and if you like it, have it redone when it departs, but daaammmn.

The only reason to use that ink is when you get drunk and have "Fuck You Boss" tattooed on your forehead. You'll be out of work and couldn't afford a laser treatment, but just wait a few months and you'll be saved.

[Cloud]

hey, you ganked that from my link?

It's so very sad when you regret a tattoo. They are forever, so think about it VERY hard, get the best artist you can, not just walk in off the street, and be SURE. If you're not sure, wait.

Get a piercing!

[skysidhe]

Originally Posted by Cloud

Get a piercing!

Some people either look cute or edgy with a piercing. Not everyone can carry it off. Anyone can have a tattoo and have it work.

[Cloud]

but you don't have to get a piercing where people can see. I have 6 tattoos, including a full back piece of a phoenix that took 20 hours. I have 11 piercings, too. They are "my thing."

I am a 50 year professional paralegal and grandmother of 5. It's a form of self-expression any one can avail themselves of. If you know what you are doing. Great for the self-esteem and the sex life.

Don't make the mistake of thinking this stuff is just for rebellious teenagers. In particular, I don't like to see very young people get extensive tattooing.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by skysidhe

Some people either look cute or edgy with a piercing. Not everyone can carry it off. Anyone can have a tattoo and have it work.

If I got a tattoo or piercing it would just look funny and awkward. They don't fit me, since I look like a dweeb no matter what I do.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Cloud

hey, you ganked that from my link?

I beg your pardon? Madam I assure you, although I partake in certain vices or socially unacceptable behaviors, occasionally.... usually under the influence of demon rum or the spell of a bewitching creature, I never, ever, gank.

Been wanting a tat for some time... was going to get one for my birthday last week, but going to use the jack for a DS Lite instead.

[xoxoxoBruce]

DS Lite?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

DS Lite?

Nintendo DS Lite

[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh....games. Thanks.

[KinkyVixen]

I got some tats, two to be exact. I got the first one because I was the only one out of my group of people to have it...to get it first I guess. Kinda rebellious but mostly because I've always loved art, and I've always liked to draw on my skin. It just looks cool!
The only thing I regret is picking the tattoo that I did. I picked a colorful, pretty looking butterfly because I figured if it was "pretty" my mom wouldn't get so mad. Boy, that was dumb. I should have just gotten whatever I wanted, if she was gonna act like that anyway.
The second one I got because on Mothers Day a couple of years ago I talked my mom into getting one for herself. Imagine that. She didn't talk to me for a month when I got mine. She turns 50 and gets one. My how the world changes.
Oh, and by the way I have piercings too...normal perhaps, but I have 9 in the ears, 5 in the left ear and 4 on the right ear, plus my nose piercing. I think they're tactful. They're just my way of standing apart...being me...because I like them.

[LabRat]

No tatoos here, occasionally flirt with the idea, but worked ina nursing home and know what will happen to them eventually... Only one normal piercing left in each ear. (I let the others close up long ago.)

My kid's daycare is doing occupations this week. Yesterday morning I was looking at the art displayed on the wall, which is of each childs drawing of what they wanted to be when the grow up. My daughter, drew a fireman, others were princesses, spiderman, another fireman etc. Typical 3-4 year old ideas. Then I get to one and it says Tatoo Artist! You'd get a bigger kick out of this if you knew the child who wrote this, but she is a very gorgeous, extremely shy little girl. WTF!!

[lumberjim]

the cute little shy ones are typically the freaky ones.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by LabRat

No tatoos here, occasionally flirt with the idea, but worked in a nursing home and know what will happen to them eventually...

When I first wanted to get a tattoo in my teens my bf told me to wait a year to see if I still wanted it - great advice and I've suggested it to people on here.

At the time it wasn't mainstream for women to get tatoos. Certainly not in the provincial town I grew up in - there were women with tattoos but they hid out the daylight in cheap pubs and were rough as arseholes. So I conceived my clever idea of having one that would be hidden if I wanted - ie on my lower back. Hey - hipster jeans weren't around then!

AnyWAY. I talked about it to people at work as well as friends & family. The opinion I heard most often was, "OMG Sundae, how will you feel when you're a Grandmother and have a tattoo?!" And I thought - hang on, I'm never going to become a dear sweet silver haired old lady from an Enid Blyton book - I'm still going to be me....

Never understood where they were coming from. Having knuckles the size of walnuts and tits down to my knees will be far more stressful than having a wrinkly old tattoo.

(This isn't aimed at you LabRat, just your post put me in mind of it.)

[Kagen4o4]

i like my tattoos. both of them i had thought about long and hard for over a year before i got them.

right deltoid of my own design of an ankh with infinity symbol.
chest tattoo of the constellation orion (2 months ago)