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Tattoos and permanence.

October 18, 2014


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Everyone knows I am a tattoo adept – all you have to do to know this is to look at any photo of myself that’s been taken in the Summer. I have started adding tattoos to my body when I was around 21 or 22. I don’t remember clearly anymore. I started with a small triskel shape on my right shoulder, followed by a Celtic shield on my lower back, then followed by a solar symbol on my left shoulder, followed by… (Did you notice the pagan undertones? Yep.)

At first I started with tattoos that could be easily covered – unless I was wearing spaghetti straps, no one would know I had tattoos on my shoulders and back, right? Then, I started adding some more here and there, slowly becoming more confident about their visibility. This culminated this year when I added a small heart to the index finger on my left hand. It can’t get any more visible than that. This was somewhat impulsive – I had been toying with the idea a bit abstractly for a while and then one day I woke up in the morning, determined to have it done. And I did. I just rang a local studio and a couple of hours later I had the tattoo done.

Tattooing your hands is a big decision. Unless you are prepared to walk around wearing gloves every day, there is no way you can hide them. At least not in the same way you can hide a sleeve or something on your legs – thank you 80 denier tights, you’re amazing tattoo concealers!

So, did it make a big impact on my life? I have to say it didn’t. But then, it’s only a little heart. Just the outline. Tiny, tiny. You’d never think it was a freckle but still light enough to be somewhat unnoticeable. Luckily I work for a company that’s quite relaxed and in a somewhat creative area, meaning that some eccentricities can be forgiven. This seems to be a new trend in the business world, as you can see in this insightful article by Forbes, and this is great as tattoos are not an indication of lack of intelligence or ability to do your job right.

What if you add a bunch more tattoos to your fingers? What happens then? I noticed that last Summer, after I added the big crying blue lady to my leg, I did get a few stares, even in London. I got the opportunity to try out some temporary tattoos by TTT, The Temporary Tattoo Store, so I thought it would be interesting to do this experiment. I wore them when I was on holiday for a weekend in Mallorca and to be frank, I don’t think anyone noticed.

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Anyway, if you are a commitment-phobe or if the permanence of tattoos scares you and is stopping you from adorning yourself, temporary tattoos are a good option. TTT, The Temporary Tattoo Store has a few options ready made, that all you have to do is order but you can also make your own design. The latter option could even be used to try on some design you aren’t too sure about tattooing permanently! They are easy to apply, all you need is a pair of scissors, to cut out the printed paper, a damp cloth and grease free skin. They last for a couple of days, even after washing my hands a couple of times.

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3 Comments

  • Reply Connie* October 18, 2014 at 17:23

    This was interesting. I always want to ask people about their tattoos but I feel that their tatt choices are so personal that I’d be prying. I don’t have any tattoos since I am seriously needle phobic plus with my super freckley skin and various scars there is already too much going on. But tattoos are so mainstream these days especially where I live that I to NOT have any ink is kind of rare.

  • Reply Hollie October 20, 2014 at 03:47

    I love that temp tatts are making a comeback. Too fun!

  • Reply ollie otson November 7, 2014 at 13:12

    i did a cross recently on my hand too (and also want a small little heart) and to be honest i did it on a whim, and then i was afraid people were going to look and say something but not a word. people dont even notice it! and my work was pretty cool about it.

    http://rrriotdontdiet.blogspot.pt/

  • Leave a Reply to Hollie Cancel Reply