When I was in my early 30s I toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo. Recently relocated to London, which had been dubbed the coolest city in the world, it seemed like the it would be the right thing at the right time. Although a bit late in life to consider indulging in what may be construed as a bit of rebellion, my husband talked me out of it, asking me to consider how I’d feel when I was 80 and sporting a tattoo (a very tasteful tattoo, I might add) above my derriere.
It didn’t take much to talk me out of it and I never had thoughts of “I wish I had”. And good thing too; a recent article in The Globe and Mail quotes a tattoo artist as stating that a tattoo above the ‘butt cleavage’ was coined a ‘tramp stamp’, leaving many women wishing they hadn’t. Apart from pigeonholing the wearer, the tramp stamp comes with another side effect – during childbirth an anesthetist will not go through the tattoo to administer an epidural. If you’ve been through childbirth, you’ll understand why you really want to avoid having a tattoo here.
The Globe and Mail article also states that aging can really have significant impact on a tattoo, “If a woman gets a butterfly on her breast, there’s a good chance in a few decades it’s going to be a pterodactyl”. In fact, distorted tattoos are one of the most common reasons that individuals seek a dermatologist’s help in tattoo removal.
While tattoos can be removed, the process is not only painful, but costly and time consuming. An earlier post discussed the options involved in tattoo removal, but you may want to save yourself a headache down the road by carefully weighing your options. While dermatologists are leery of tattoos, some suggest that if you decide you must have one, that you should consider using a new type of ink called Freedom2. Developed by a Harvard dermatologist, it uses vegetable dyes encapsulated in a plastic polymer that is easily broken down by lasers.
Read the full article here.
