Thoughts on temporary tattoos?
Thoughts on temporary tattoos?
I'm planning to get one for a few weeks on my arm, so if anyone had it, how was the experience and did it hurt during the process of getting one?
I don't know anyone who had tattoos in general so I had to ask. I want it to look really nice and have it for a week or so.
The peel and stick or water apply type ones last a couple week, they don't hurt because you're basically applying a sticker to your skin. It's a decal. We put them on kids. Totally safe.
Henna or "black henna" is basically just paint applied to the skin. It's not FDA approved and coloured hennas have adulterants added that can cause pretty serious allergic reactions.
Those longer term ones that market themselves as lasting multiple months or longer are done with "shallow needles" or by cutting into the skin often use toxic dyes and can absolutely be permanent. Lots of people find that the tattoos don't go away, and just become an extra shitty looking permanent tattoo. "Ephemeral" tattoos and the like are a total grift.
Thanks!
in some sense aren't all tattoos temporary?
Not really, insofar as temporariness is counterposed to permanence. This view comes from a misunderstanding of the concept of permanence: what is permanent is not necessarily eternal. Permanent is more like enduring, in the sense of lasting indefinitely, until further notice, or until longer than one could reasonably be expected to need it.
When we compare a tent to permanent housing, for example, we are not comparing it either to a structure which will stand for thousands of years or a home from which the occupant will not be allowed to move away for their lifetime.
Same thing with 'permanent' vs. 'dry erase' markers and so on. Tattoos are only temporary in the completely trivial sense that everything is.
Henna is generally safe (it's just paint on your skin) but black henna -- or any other color -- can be dangerous due to allergic reactions.
Tattoo ink contains metal which is why your body doesn't break it down, it can't attack metal. Normally tattoo artists use safe inks but it still pays to know yourself before you go get one. For example my tattoo sometimes swells just a little (only noticeable if I run my hand over it) and it might be an allergic reaction, or bc of humidity or heat idk. It's not very problematic but it still pays to know how your body is going to react to your tattoo.
I got one on my shoulder (deltoid) and I honestly didn't feel anything during the process, which lasted 2 hours. Just felt like I was scratching an itch. But other places can hurt more.
Don't drink alcohol before or take anything as it can actually make it hurt more. But your artist will have dealt with first time clients before, they'll help you get through it if you tell them it's your first.
Also for a "real" tattoo you shouldn't expose it to the sun for a full year once you get it and rub vaseline on it for the first 3-7 days I think it was. Keep it moist and protected at all times for that period.
Tattoo ink can absolutely trigger your body's immune response and cause severe reactions. This can happen out of the blue as well, as your immune system could detect the "foreign invader" at any time, and trigger a multitude of responses to try and destroy the threat.
Its very common for people to get a regular sickness, and because their immune system was in an elevated state, it all of a sudden detects the tattoo and attempts to destroy it by causing severe inflammation and other immune responses.
Yep, all the black ink on my nearly-complete traditional sleeve (so.... lots) had a spontaneous granulomatous reaction this year. They were all at least a few years old.
It's currently healing thanks to a topical steroid, but I have yet to see if it stays away for any significant length of time. I can't even have them removed (not that I want to), lest the ink enters my bloodstream and lodges in some gland somewhere. Black ink reactions are super rare; my derm had never seen one in person.
My artist even uses one of the few approved-in-the-EU inks, go figure.
If it's a hammer and sickle tattoo, it's not the ink, it's the spectre trying to break through into this world. Maybe that's what you can feel sometimes? If it can't find a way in, it'll come through your fingertips. Do you find that it subsides a little when you're typing for prolewiki?
So I'm just gonna have to cut short on wine before I get it.
Thanks for the tips, I was worried that it might hurt.
I want it to look really nice
My advice would be to solve this first. Find a tattoo artist whose work you like and get in contact. The consultation part of the process is free where I am, and I'm pretty sure that's the case the world over. You can discuss the design of your possible tattoo and the different kinds of temporary tattoo you can get; they'll answer all ofyour questions so that you're completely clear on what will happen if you go through with it.
Better than perm ones