Blogtober16 - Piercings and Tattoos

Day 16 of Blogtober, and here I am discussing piercings and tattoos. I believe that it's another way to express yourself as a person besides makeup, clothing, jewellery and obviously your personal interests. It is part of fashion.

Like any fashion, some are more extreme than others.

Tattoos are gorgeous especially on men. I love the sleeves. Of course it does depend on the guy and how good the tattoos are, but here are a few examples.

My first tattoo combined a few ideas. My favourite flower is white lilies and I wanted something feminine, so got this. I also wanted to be reminded that to get the good, you sometimes need to experience the bad. I've always been fascinated by asian art, and like the whole idea of the yin yang symbol and therefore had that copied onto the lily. I also picked out meaningful lyrics from Friendly Fires with the same kind of mentality of living everyday to the best.

I always said I'd get a tattoo, but thought I'd only get the one, but was inspired to get another when I climbed Kilimanjaro for charity. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned. I just don't think what I wanted transferred well as a tattoo. Here is a picture of what I wanted:

This translates as "peace, love and happiness" (not sure if it's in that order) in swahili which is the language spoken in Tanzania. I decided I wanted these words that I saw written at the children's school which my fundraising benefitted. I wanted that same writing with stars instead of bullet points, and all with the colours of the Tanzanian flag. I even wanted it on my foot because it was my feet that got me there!

However I didn't anticipate that the tattoo would be painful or that the tattooist would tell me that the colour wouldn't last moments after it was complete. He advised that I got it curving round so it was easy to read. The colour was faded within two weeks, and now I'm slowly using laser treatment to get rid of it. I was told because of the colour it could take up to 10 treatments. So far, I've only had 2 treatments. If you think a tattoo hurts, laser tattoo removal is so much worse. Some people describe it as an elastic band hitting you. It's worse. I find it makes my whole body sweat and feel like I'm being cooked. Awful.

Here is a picture just after my second laser treatment in January:

I'm not a huge fan of piercings as such. I like different ear piercings, but that's probably as far as it goes.

When I was younger I wanted to get my belly button pierced, but I have a huge fear of anyone touching my belly button so that thought soon died. In recent years, I've had a few different piercings to the ear.

When I was 6, I got the standard ear piercings. Unfortunately it hurt too much so I only got one ear done. Then went back a week later for the other ear. Then for some reason or other it got infected, and they got taken out. I still remember being at my Gran's, it hurting and my mum getting frustrated as she tried to get them out and I kept screaming. Then when I was 11 I got them done again. This time at a lovely beauty place in Yorkshire. They both got pierced at the same time, and I liked the pair of earrings so much that they stayed in for ages. I felt feminine with my ears pierced. It had to be one of my favourite items of jewellery. I can't remember when I stopped wearing them, but they started to seal up. So I tried getting them pierced again last year. I was told then that they couldn't be pierced again as the tissue would be damaged. I listened, but it hurt changing them when the time came and therefore I've given up on that. The holes are there but it hurts to try and put anything in them.

I'd also tried tragus and helix piercings. I love them. Unfortunately they hurt as well, I couldn't sleep on them while is a pain for someone who sleeps on their side and was woken up everytime I turned over. The tragus also hurt while I had earphones in. Needless to say that was short-lived. Recently I've thought about a nose piercing, but not sure if that's just something you get as a teenager? I also have long-term sinusitis so wouldn't want to mess with my nose. In conclusion, I have no piercings, but love them on others. Again like tattoos, they don't have to be extreme but are a great way to express yourself.

Anyway, I hope you like the post and look forward to your thoughts. What do you think of tattoos and piercings? Do you have any?