[AliciaCatherine]

I just wandered what your opinions were on tattoos? And if you have any and what/where they are?

[Twinkie33]

I have a tattoo on my back by my shoulder its a cross with a blue rose intertwining around it and a heart in the middle. I got it a long time ago.

[Andy]

Tattoos are a form of self-expression that has become acceptable in many levels of todays society. Body art is often a private matter. People whom seem the happiest with their work are those who have a remeberence attached to the piece in question. Though that is not always the case. I pause for a moment to mention that tattooing to make the areola bigger has become more commonplace. We now see tattoos in openly visible places on more and more celebrities. Angelina Jolie, Kelly Osborne, Miley Cirrus, to name a few.
Tatts ,in recent years, have been showing up on more and more openly visible places on the body. Necks, heads (kat VonD) forearms, stomach area. You get the point. Tatts exposed to sunlight without the protection of sunscreen damages the pigment in most of the dyes used in tattooing. Depth of the tatt in the skin also affects its appearance. Touch up work has to be done over the years to improve the look of the tatt. Though some people never have enough fading to have to do that. Skin care, and the type of skin you have plays a role.
Now for myself, I don't have a problem with artful tasteful tatts. The tattoo artist Kat Von D has many tatts around her face and on her arms. They are well placed, designed well, and executed with precision. Unfortunately, Not all of mainstream America has accepted tattoos in places, like the workplace. Some do, some don't. At my place of work, If I were to get tatts on my arms, for example, I would have to wear long sleeved shirts.
Now to the second part of your question. Do I have any tatts. Not yet. I do intend to have one before the year is out. My dad had a heart attack last year and had heart bypass surgery. I intend to spend a little money. I will be getting a tatt on my left shoulder ,easily covered. It will be a heart (not a pink cute one) with a thread sewing it up. The threads will curve around to write dad below the heart and the date of his surgery. Then the threads will go up above the heart and will be held by a set of angle wings with needles at the end. Or something along those lines. I'll have to work with the artist to see what kind
of design he can come up with that he feels will fit my shoulder. What we envision in our head, sometimes is not practicle for the artist. The arist knows what he can do. He wants it to look the best that he can. Because your are a walking advert for those who will ask who did it. If you don't like the artist portfolio, shop, or attitude. Leave, that may not be the artist for you. Below I have included some links to advicee articles on finding a tattoo artist and after care of your tat.
While I am not knocking the smaller simpler tatts. I feel that if you are going to go for it. Go large, put some thought into it, spend a little for a custom job. If I could afford to go out of town and have a notible artist do my work I would. But, I have seen the work my locale guy does. He has worked in several shops. And aprenticed under a great artist. So I am not worried too much about him. Just have to get my money together. As to the pain of a large piece...Well I guess we'll see. Once he starts, he mmight as well finish. I might have to break it up into several sessions if I turn out to be pain sissy.

Some advice on finding a shop/artist.
http://magazine.angieslist.com/Articles/...-tips.aspx

Good articles here.
http://www.squidoo.com/TattooAdvice?utm_campaign=lensmaster-discovery&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_source=ozziecol#module35225822

http://www.sinoftheskin.com/

Here are some links to tattoo after care for healing
http://tattoo.about.com/cs/beginners/a/blaftercare.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...ional.html

I have considered this tatt briefly. When I am successful in deveolping breasts. I have thought about having a small script tatt, above my breasts. Spelling out, yes they are real!. LOL
But that is going to far I think.

Hope this answers your question.

andy

[Bibi]

Hi, I liked tattoos long before they became mainstream and I´ve thought about getting one myself. The thing is, once you have one, you want to have more! At least that´s what all my tattooed friends tell me. Even if originally you just wanted to have only one, you always end up having more done. And then it´s very easy to become unhappy about that and have them removed.
So bear that in mind if you decide to get one!

[Andy]

Kinda sounds like booby greed huh. But I kow what you mean. The thought has occured to me.

[bellalily]

I personally love tattoos. I have 4. One on each shoulder, one on my lower back, and one on my stomach. The one on my stomach is quite large..more of a fertility thing for me. My fav however is a pair of lavender roses on one shoulder. Funny, when i was taking pics for the picture page I reallly wanted to show how i was porportioned, but I didn't want to show any tattoos.

[Stella]

you have to really think if you're the "type" to get tattoos or if you're just following the trend. i know people who have had them and now they hate it and i know people who still love their tats from years ago.
i am definitely the tattoo/piercing type having had several piercings over the years [i only have one now] and i have 5 tattoos. 1- a star on my wrist 2- a band logo for my favorite band on my forearm 3- a winged girl that i drew in high school on my hip/pelvic bone 4-a skull and cross bones with a bow on her head on my ankle 5- the symbol for scorpio surrounded by stars on my shoulder. im saving up for my next one- a red rose for my mom and a yellow rose for my grandma [both are named rosa and those are their favorite colors]. i plan on getting a sleeve eventually.
think about what you want for a good while. i have had a couple tattoos modified bc i ended up not liking them. you can maybe even try to get it done in henna first so you can see it on you for a few weeks.

[Andy]

Ok. Stella. I am not familar with the term henna. What is it? I haven't come across it before.

Ah, hubris. You are indeed a cruel teacher.

andy

[Bibi]

Henna is a natural pigment they use a lot in Morocco to make drawings on hands for certain festivities (or anytime if you´re a tourist), it will fade in about a week (if you don´t wash your hands, that is). You can also use it to die your hair, certainly you´ve seen the deep red that was so fashionable in the 80s? You had to mix this green powder with boiling water, make a very smelly mud and leave it in your hair for 10 hours orso.
I think nowadays you can get henna in a practical tube with some other colorings, not just red, to make temporary tattoos.

[Andy]

Ok, Thanks for the info.