Remember: the benefits of moisturizing your skin and protecting it from the sun run deep!

I’d like to hijack this post by reminding you to keep your tattoos (and the rest of your body) maintained well after they’re done healing.

(via shadood-xxx)

BOOM.

Helvetica was a natural choice for such a unique tattoo

The Sun, Your Skin, And Your Tattoos

Pretty much any good tattoo artist will tell you to keep the sun off your ink. Most will explain that this is because the sun damages your skin; some will say that the sun breaks down pigment.

But what’s really happening here?

[NPR reports] and I try to break it down.

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Let’s start with the basics: how does all that tattoo ink stay in? (Or, really, how does skin work?)

Skin cells have to stick together to keep your insides in and bend with your body as you move. Skin has to be permeable enough for you to sweat but impenetrable to noxious chemicals, bacteria and viruses. The skin’s top layer — the stratum corneum — is just 15 microns thick (about half that of wax paper) and is your first line of protection against the outside world.

Keeps the bad stuff out, the good stuff in. Skin is awesome. If you take a look at the diagram below, you can see how the ink get nestled right under the skin (aka the epidermis) and from the description above, why it stays there.

Now here’s the news. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, some biomechanics scientists began playing around with UV rays and some skin cells. Here’s what they found:

“UV radiation really is a double whammy,” says Dauskardt. “On one hand you’re making skin weaker and easier to break, and on the other hand you’re actually increasing the stresses in the skin so there’s more stress available to cause it to break.”

Picture a trampoline. If it stretches too far, it snaps. Now picture a really old trampoline that is not only cracking, but it again stretched too far. That’s your skin, and UV is both the weather that aged the trampoline, and the elephant that sat on it.

Now what happens if that trampoline “skin” is the only thing standing between your tattoo and the outside world? Those cracks get pretty scary pretty fast.

(I can’t believe I actually found a gif of this. Fucking Tumblr.)

At the microscopic level, UV radiation changes the structures of integral proteins, namely keratin, and fat molecules called lipids that serve as the glue that holds skin cells together. These lipids become less cohesive. So, even in deeper skin layers, the cells just don’t stick together as well.

This research suggests that it’s not actually the sun breaking down the tattoo ink: but rather, the UV rays of the sun breaking down the skin which stops being able to protect the tattoos. Science!

So how do we stop it?, asked everyone.

Can goops and lotions help? Maybe. Most moisturizing products would help prevent the skin from drying out, Dauskardt says, but “depending on what moisturizing product you use, it potentially could even be damaging because it could aid in the absorption of UV light rather than blocking it.”

Your best bet is sunscreen. Dauskardt’s group has found in preliminary tests that most sunscreens block the physical damage. “What we’re trying to figure out now is whether some sunscreens and some molecules or nanoparticles that are typically used in sunscreens are more effective than others,” he says.

Do you need me to repeat that for you? SUNSCREEN. PUT SUNSCREEN ON. And as always, the best sun block is to block the sun: whether that’s chillin’ in the shade or grabbing some protective clothing.

Because really. If there’s anyone who can make protective clothing look cool, it’s tattooed guys in collared shirts. It’s a win win.

Single best question I’ve ever gotten. But I’m going to say no, probably not.

First, I wouldn’t call it “photoshop.” It’s rooted more in art history than current technology. Also, I lump them together because their style is more influenced by fine art than tattoo culture, but they have little in common.

Peter Aurisch and Jessica Mach have a much more illustrative style; Xoil and Buena Vista Tattoo Club could be “photoshop,” but it’s even more a reminder of old DIY punk zines; Amanda Wochob is a mix of minimalism and watercolor.

I personally call it all “modernist” because I’ve yet to see a better name, but basically the only things they have in common are the fact that they do avant garde tattoo work, which is really post-modern as far as fine art is concerned.

Also, not a ton of people are doing it yet. If more artists adopt this style then maybe, but you have to be so skilled for this I can’t see that becoming terribly likely.

Now because this type of tattooing is relatively new, I don’t have a crystal ball, but we shall see.

A “blow out” is when tattoo ink spreads to other areas of our body via the capillaries. The main reason for this is because the artist inserted the tattoo ink passed the dermis into the fatty subdermis which disperses the ink. The second reason is because the part of your body you have the tattoo on is in constant contact with a shoe or some foreign object and it breaks up the ink over time, giving it a blurring effect.

OH MY GOD I cannot wait to fucking look like this. CAN. NOT. WAIT.

(Source: thievinggenius, via decoratedskin)

The best way to stop tattoos from aging is by keeping them out of the sun.

For a lot of people, this is the worst part of having tattoos. You have work you want to show off, and you want to enjoy the warm weather, but keeping your tattoo in the sun is like keeping fruit in the sun. It might take a while, but eventually the fruit will discolor and rot. If you keep it in the fridge, it stays fresh for much longer.

You can prematurely age your tattoos (and your skin) with prologued sun exposure. I’ve seen year-old tattoos that look decade old, and vice verse. You have more control over this part of the tattoo process than anything else, so take it seriously!

To really take care of your skin and tattoos:

• Apply sunblock when you will be outside for any longer than 10 minutes. Even if you’ll mostly be in the shade and even if it’s partly cloudy—you’re still exposed to UV rays! Keep a bottle of the spray block in your car and just zip it on when you need it. Takes 2 seconds and will save your skin!
• For summer days you’ll be outside without any shade, use protective clothing. Blocking the sun is the best form of sun block. Grab a light collared shirt; a light long-sleeve Tshirt; light-weight loose jeans; and other protective material.

(Gif not directed at you, but at the companies that make these things.)

Let’s look at some fucking science here:

When you get a tattoo, it does not sit on top your skin magically. It gets pretty far in there.

Lotions, on the other hand, only get as far as your epidermis.

They don’t even touch the tattoo ink.

If you want to fade or get rid of your tattoo, you need to lazer it. Lazers break up the ink so it can be absorbed by the fat.

So basically:

IMAGES NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Basically they’re all nipples. And technically what I’m talking about is the areola (colored area around the nipple) but I’m going to use “nipple” because that’s the key word that people will be searching for online.

There are two parts to this answer.

Let’s start at the first assumption that you want a chest piece or body piece or something, and you want to tattoo over the nipple.

Generally artists never do this, for two reason: (1) Nipples are made of erectile tissue that is a pain in the ass to tattoo, and is super uncomfortable. (2) Nipples and belly buttons are what “maps” out your torso to the eye. Without nipples, you look kind of out-of-proportion to the view. It basically creates a weird optical illusion.

by Jesse Smith. You can see how the piece is designed around the nipples instead of just leaving them blank or tattooing over them. It was a conscious decision.

Artist Unknown, but tattooing with out taking into account the nipples or shape of the body leaves it looking a bit awkward.

Or, you just want to tattoo the nipple to make it look cool.

Tattooing nipples seems to be a nice advance for breast cancer survivors who cannot (or choose not) to have nipple reconstruction after having one or both breasts removed. It’s fucking awesome that an industry with such a bad rap can help women in this way.

Here’s an example of how boss this shit is:

Yay for making women feel good about their bodies after beating cancer!!

Now if you have a normal nipple and you just want to tattoo something over it, it will hold well enough but make sure you go to an artist who has experience in doing something like this or experience doing tattooed makeup, which relies on matching skin tones naturally.

And here are some examples of how to make your areola look awesome:

For something more decorative like the last two, remember that they will always turn out darker than the current color of your areola. 

But, because all of these have no black lines, the ink around the nipple will eventually blur a bit, which might actually help it look more natural. Talk to an artist before hand.

(tattoo artist @jeffriescustomart just informed me these are on Taylor Harmon, done by Risa Stevens. Both ladies work at Aardvark Tattoo Company in Portland, OR)

Now what I wold not suggest is doing something like this:

It will basically make your body look lopsided and your boobs look different sizes. Also that’s gonna get distorted like crazy over time as gravity sets in.

fitbitchinside:

stephaniedanielle:

punkrockmermaid:

For anyone who says “Oh my god what will your tattoos look like when you get older??!?!?!?!!”

Bitchin’ is the answer.

Nana’s lookin’ hot

this is why i work out

Step 1: Get tattoos

Step 2: Squat & Lift & Squat & Lift

(Source: theburninglotus, via fitbitnicky)