Tattoos are often assumed as a piece of art staying on your skin, which may beautify the area as well as show your personal identity or interest. A lot of people, on the other hand, do not think about this personal preference or idealism when deciding to have tattoos on their skin. Instead, they are trying to cover their skin imperfection, which can be less visible with beautifully-drawn tattoos. Regarding this imperfection, stretch marks is one of the most common ones. Hence, many people wish to be able to cover these stretch marks up using tattoos.
Can tattoos cover stretch marks?
Stretch marks have slightly different characteristics from regular skin. As a result, they absorb tattoo ink differently from your unaffected skin area. Since stretch marks are also made up with plied connective tissues and fat, they are easily torn. When they are torn, bleeding may take place during tattooing. The skin affected by stretch marks has an orange peel-like structure and thus, some people think tattoos are going to stretch with the marks, leaving visible uneven tattoo image.
Seeing those characteristics, thus, is it possible to get a tattoo to cover your stretch marks? The answer is, it depends on a couple of factors, such as how experienced your tattoo artist is with stretch marked skin, and what is the structure of your stretch marks like. Although stretch marks may cause different ink absorption compared to the unaffected skin, it is possible for the tattoo artists with excessive stretch marks experience to make a pattern of an image with different ink thickness. In many cases, tattoos can be put on the affected skin to cover stretch marks and make them less visible.
Despite this, your decision to cover stretch marks with permanent tattoos must be thought carefully. In severe cases of stretch marks, using some remedies to promote less noticeable stretch marks is more recommended than covering it with tattoos. Applying vitamin E, eating foods enriched with antioxidants, and exercising regularly can be helpful in improving skin elasticity and firmness, which is important in getting the stretch marks eventually less noticeable.
What to consider
Stretch marks are going to be permanent, although they might fade overtime, and thus, get lighter in color. Similarly, tattoos are meant to be permanent, so that it will work to cover the marks and make them less noticeable. Before deciding to put on a tattoo covering these stretch marks, it is better to pay attention to things to consider, such as:
The location of stretch marks
The location of the stretch marks you wish to cover with tattoos is essential, since stretch marks tend to cause dents to the surface of the skin. Consequently, they will cause dented marks on the tattoo ink, causing distortion that will make the tattoo look bad. Hence you need to put in mind that the distortion will likely to occur over stretch marks located on the abdomen and thighs. On the other hand, the belly and thighs will likely experience these dented marks, while in obese people, the middle of the back is not recommended for a tattoo to be put on.
The design of the tattoos
Stretch marks are definitely not elastic. Hence, it is important to choose a design that will cover the whole stretch marks area without causing visible dimples. Although in some cases tattoos can be put directly on the affected skin area, this is not recommended, as stretch marks do not usually hold ink as well as healthy, elastic skin does. Thus, covering stretch marks using a design that goes around them is more advised than having them directly inked. This is essential since improper design may result in more prominent stretch marks after the tattoo has been applied.
The time to apply tattoos
Overtime, stretch marks fade and thus, become less noticeable. Hence, they get easier to cover up without causing noticeable dimples and tattoo distortion. It is better to have a tattoo put on to cover stretch marks when the marks have stayed for a while, giving the skin a chance to eventually heal from broken tissues. Old stretch marks also hold the ink better than the new one, so that the tattoos can be more even and neat.
The experience of the tattoo artist
While numerous tattoo artists can easily put a tattoo on a healthy skin with sufficient elasticity, putting it directly over stretch marks requires a special skill and experience. Therefore, it is important to seek for an information about a tattoo artist with this kind of experience to make sure they have both the skill to put on the tattoo around the stretch marks and the ability to make a perfect design for the affected skin area.
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