It’s only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin.
---Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
Tattoos can be a controversial topic but I personally am a huge fan when they are done well. Right now I only have one but I'm looking into getting another. Lindsey showed me this blog post (click here!) that is about getting a tattoo and never regretting it. It has some great information so if you're thinking about getting a one I would definitely recommend checking it out. I wanted to write a little bit though about what I went through before I got inked.
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| Here's a picture from the day I got my tattoo, a little over a year ago. It says 'bella fiore' and it means beautiful flower in Italian. |
Tattoos are not something to take lightly. I would never recommend getting one unless you have thought long and hard about it. I started planning my tattoo when I was 16 shortly after my grandpa passed away and didn't end up getting it until a few days before my 20th birthday. Originally I wanted to get a rose on my wrist. I started looking into different pictures of roses on the internet to figure out what exactly I wanted. There's a lot of different aspects you have to think about when planning a tattoo; placement, size, color, image, cost, etc. One thing that I did that I highly recommend is to get a Henna Tattoo of something similar to what you want and where you want it. I did this around 17 and it helped me realize that I did't want something permanently on my wrist. It also helped me realize that I didn't want an image anymore, but rather words. Then I sort of put the whole tattoo idea on the back burner and started college. After two years I realized that I still did want a tattoo so that is when I started thinking about it again. I decided pretty quickly that I wanted the words 'bella fiore' on my collarbone to represent both of my grandparents who I grew up very close to, but lost far too early. I miss them a lot and I wanted something there to remind me of them and the time that I spent with them. A lot of people have opinions about getting tattoos in memory of someone because they think that you don't have to get one to prove how much they meant to you, but I disagree with this obviously. I think that as long as the tattoo has great significance to you, you'll never regret it. So take your time and make sure you really love it and that it's perfect. Also don't be afraid to speak up if you don't like the way the stencil is drawn or where it is placed before they start. It's your body and you're paying for it. Therefore you have full entitlement to be picky. I had my tattoo artist move it around at least five times before he started inking me. So take your time and come up with something beautiful. You only live once so if you want a tattoo, get it. Just make sure you are smart about it! Oh and don't forget to head over to the link I put at the beginning for some extra information.
:)
-Andrea
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