Suiren

Mine only itch very very slightly in some moments around day 2/3. I keep them moist so they don't form a crust but small bits of black skincells come off. They look healed pretty quickly but many are small...I will have to pay better attention next time but after 10 days the whole shedding of skin cells is over.

I always do the marker thing too. It helps lots! :) The first picture is your legs? No reason to distract from anything. You can techniqually get whatever you want. But if you do want a slimming effect I think something by the heel that tapers as it goes up like a natural curve, would do the trick.

Behind the ear was pain free pretty much... I would rank my tattoos like this. 1. Least painful - behind ears. 2. Hand near thumbs 3. Hand under pinkie finger 4. Upper part of wrist 5. Nape 6. Bottom of wrist 7. Lower back - most painful

Welcome! I used to heal very slowly. My first tattoos were a catastrophe and piercings weren't healing much better. Some cartilage piercings took two years (!!!) to heal... Whereas the past years piercings have been healing lightning fast, as do tattoos (though my recent tattoos were small....but on my hands so I guess that is tricky). The face looks much better on your tattoo now and the new colors are great.

Wow! What lively mother day presents! It is great that they though of your upcoming tattoo and the bee really is one of a kind :).

@xcom Yup, I sure hope I won't catch a cold any time soon!

Thank you I'll have a look! Were they done in a darker blue? And how long have you had them? There are always more toxins to avoid. Maybe you're in meed of a juice fast.. Jk

Of the nose or nape piercing? I have a picture of the nose piercing on my phone. It doesn't hurt but with the septum flipped up and the other two nose studs it feels pretty busy and a little annoying atm.:eek:

Oh I just saw these comments! I personally don't see runes as very much of a Nazi thing. It is true that Nazis abused a few runes but I think as long as I don't have SS tattooed on my arm with a large swastika no one will mistake me as a Nazi ;) For me they represent Medieval European History and beliefs. The sun and moon are actually symbols in Alchemy...a sun can mean a million things. Maybe it is different here but most of the people I know with such tattoos are Reenactors, into Viking Metal or connect it with their own heritage. I study occultism and read old Alchemical or Hermetic Philosophy but I'm also a Medieval Reenactor and have been doing Viking Reenactment (and Kipchak) for 12 years so Norse Mythology interests me too. My design choices and future plans reflect that. :)

Oh haha...well I am not a hipster or vegan, but I do eat Paleo which is basically just meat, veggies and fruits (no grains or dairy or sugar, aside from occasional exceptions) and in turn got rid of my autoimmune diseases and can plan tattoos now instead of having to be on meds :) I always say these things aren't a cure it all for everyone but many have predisposed issues and react to certain foods differently. I wasn't able to digest starches for a while but avoiding them helped my gut heal and I can eat tricky foods now in moderation. Back on topic - I think with the designs I have in mind a black outline might be difficult....since the are just lines. Or maybe there is a way of tattooing with black lines and adding blue or maroon shading? I really don't know. I attached images of dark blue and maroon line tattoos and some of the designs I scribbled on myself. I might prefer the text in old Anglo Saxon script, and the bindrune on my wrist I was thinking of doing in blue while the other connecting lines are another color possibly (the eye is a tattoo) - - - Updated - - - Oh true, I haven't considered that watercolor tattoos are technically the same. Thanks!

I can't give any advice, but I think as far as the femininity goes, it is a little bit like fashion. Women have adapted originally masculine clothing and made it their own. Jeans on a womans body look a whole lot different on a guy. Same with a trench coat. So the tattoo might turn out edgy or bold, but I don't think it will be too masculine.

I used to say piercings hurt less than tattoos, but a few days ago I got a second nostril piercing on the left side, closer to the face than the others ones and it felt like my nose was amputated. Definitely worse than the lower back tattoo...plus I started bleeding out of my nose randomly for the rest of the day, hit a nerve I guess...:/ I'd rather go through numerous nape piercings and lower back tattoos than this ;)

Yeah in a way I am thinking it can't be that bad if we don't see tattooed people dropping dead everywhere, but I would prefer companies would disclose the ingredients. Ancient ink was made with simpler ingredients as far as I know like pure ash, indigo or even with breastmilk (!!) :p It would be interesting to see how colored lines or font fade. If it simply turns lighter but doesn't look blotchy that is great. I was thinking of adding certain colored tattoos also to soften and break up the overall look, stick with a certain color theme of black, blue tones and maroon maybe...but that is just an idea of mine. Not sure it is realistic. - - - Updated - - - I apologize if toxin was the wrong term. I wanted to use a word that describes any harmful substance. In German that would be "Schadstoffe", so the word that first came to my mind was toxin, but I guess harmful substances would be more correct. I am thinking of substances that are foreign to the human body and cause a reaction...Not directly of course as in the tattoo will make you fatigued, I am talking about a reaction to a function in the body like the endocrine system for example, which in turn could cause other imbalances. Or carcinogenic substances that don't directly cause cancer, but speed up cell division and lead to an increase of cancerous cells (cells like this are normal to the body, but when they increase in number it can become a problem etc.) There was one site that spoke of heavy metals in tattoos...sadly not the music kind. But the body can detox from heavy metals, so hard to say if there is a longterm effect. I am interested in all this because I dealt with many chronic health issues the past years, plus cancer and it took me about 5 years to rid myself of all of it. So if anyone would tell me the color purple has a high concentration of carcinogenic substances (f.ex.) I might reconsider. In Germany tattoo colors were tested (though I can't find anything about dark blue, purple or maroon), and some brands were labeled as unsuitable. It seems though that German tattoo fans question these tests, because there seem to be no fool proof methods for accurately measuring levels of X. Very confusing... http://www.testberichte.de/kosmetik-und-pflege/3286/tattoofarben.html Please blame typos on my phone. I can't even see what I'm writing :/.

I've always preferred the darker side of things (though I don't wear full time black). Goth subculture always appealed to me, even as kid and I was very desperately wishing I could do magic ^^. In the early 90's tattoos became interesting. I spent a fortune on temporary and henna tattoo designs as a teen. I was also liking piercings which were getting more popular at the time. At 11 I got into the occult, and then with 15 added metal to my musical taste. The last step to being who I am now was probably adding Medieval Reenactment as a hobby. And I guess you could say my tattoo choices reflect a little bit of everything for the most part, as do my piercings.

I am trying to make up my mind about future tattoo colors. I have heard mixed things from tattoo artists (or read online) and am a little confused now. All my current tattoos are black but I would like my upcoming tattoos to be of a different color. Colors that I prefer are dark blue, dark purple, cyan and maroon or dark brown. I read they are known to last fairly well? Can someone confirm this? Since the tattoos will be line tattoos also I don't want to go for the color that fades quickest. I'm okay with it not holding up with black ink though. What also concerns me are the supposed toxins in colored ink. I was unable to find information about specific colors. Whatever info I read spoke of black vs. colored ink. But I would like to specifically know how toxic dark blue is or maroon, so I can decide based on my comfort level ;-). If anyone has any new info regarding tattoos and health please share I would like to research it more. Most websites share a rather dramatic view about the health concerns and I'm not so sure that is all solid information.

I factor in a few things: Season - How will it heal in which season, in summer I prefer less covered body parts over covered. Body Part - Favorite body parts come first Money/ Size - I would decide for the smaller tattoo if the bigger one breaks the bank when the appointment comes around. But that's just me, I'm a planner with such things.

Good question! I just read something saying new tattoos are more prone to sun damage. Maybe someone can confirm? Can you wear high neck shirts or a thin scarf when in the sun? As far as sunscreen goes, chemical sunscreens (mainstream, non organic brands usually) are said to be less effective because they penetrate the first skin layer and react with the skin in a way that can even make it more prone to skin cancer and certain sun damage. "Physical sunblock", containg Zinc Oxide for example is said to be better and healthier protection. Though many brands make your skin look chalky and the safety of Nano Zinc particles is debated. Some brands deemed fairly safe are Badger or Devita and Juice Beauty. I have used all three and Devita feels nicest when it comes to application, but it does contain Nano Zinc particles. The upside is it does not make you look chalky. Not all products with a high SPF necessarily provide good protection from UVA and UVB rays. Google Cosmetic Chemicals database, there is information about the strength of the sunscreen as well.

Very cool and great tattoos!

GSE has been found to be effective for colds as well. Whatever concerns you have about it you may share, but I prefer a friendly exchange. I was trying to help like everyone else. Why talk down and try to misunderstand every word? - - - Updated - - - I know you were joking but Fala wasn't so I explained further in the hopes of not always being misunderstood.

I said I know that everything has chemicals, not I know every chemical in the world. And I also said above that I studied sciences. Plus I ONLY referenced that because Fala gave me a lecture and ended it with "Clinical Herbalist over and out". That was quite rude and why is it necessary to mention your profession as if that gives anything more credibility when I wasn't even debating about how natural GSE is. I did not see this as a "battle of knowledge", only kindy tried to explain my intend.

But I only recommended it as a more natural antibiotic without the side effects to achieve the results the OP asked for. No word about how pure it is but it would have helped with being asymptomatic. Yes, I know about all the chemicals in everything. I worked for a chemicals company, studied sciences including biology and chemistry...but I recommended what I felt would give the quickest and best results given the situation :)

I would love to see that. Or viking tattoos in general. A Middle Eastern Traveller said it was common to have the arms and shoulders tattooed with tree designs and ornaments. Yet no one knows exactly what it looked like. Regarding face tattoos, I find some tribal style facial tattoos flattering, like berber, tuareg tattoos for example. Though many of these are not very cleanly done, the idea of a simple ornament on the forehead, temple or chin is not bad imo.

Haha :D

Yeah I can see how an artist might do the best lettering tattoo using a font they have practiced. I'm not too picky about the font, just know not too printed and not too cursive. I was given two recommendations by a German tattoo forum for tattoo artists in the area so I will see what they say.

And Dayquil and other meds don't contain chemicals? Lol...I assumed this was more about getting rid of cold symptoms quickly rather than finding the most holistic approach to it? GSE is far less problematic than antibiotics for example.