We have already talked about this, more than once, but I’m writing it down for you as a reminder for the future.
I’ve told you that I am not going to stop you from having tattoos and piercings but I do ask you to stop and think. Please read this before you jump into any decisions that you can’t reverse. It is your body and you are free to do what you want with it. I believe that and I stand by it. Think very carefully indeed before you do anything that can’t be reversed though.
When you are very young things seem like a good idea and you can be quick to rush into things without thinking it through slowly and carefully. Friends can sometimes encourage you and with a group of friends around you it can be hard to say no. Remember that they won’t be the ones living with the consequences though.
Having the name of a boyfriend or girlfriend is not a good idea. You might think you are totally in love now but things do change and people grow apart. I once knew someone who had a partner’s name tattooed on her and that person sadly died. She hadn’t fallen out of love with him but her new partner found it very hard looking at the name. She didn’t want to remove it because it seemed unfair on the person who had died but it caused problems for the person she loved now. Tricky one.
Try to avoid fashions when getting a tattoo as well. That popular band is likely to fall out of favour in the future and then you are left with something you will spend your life trying to cover up.
Talking about covering things up, if you do want a tattoo you might want to choose to put it someone where you can do just that. If you get something tattooed across your face it will be difficult to cover it up and there might be times that you want to.
Now comes the other thing. Tattoos and piercings can make you very ill if you don’t choose the right person to do them. Very ill or very embarrassed. If the person doing it doesn’t use clean, sterilized equipment you can get very sick very quickly. You can also get silent long term illnesses that might come back to haunt you later in life. Don’t put your health at risk, your health is precious.
So if you do take the plunge I want to ask you to do two things. Firstly wait for at least one month after having the idea. One month is a short time but if you go that long and still want it, it is more than just a whim. Also you can’t stay drunk for a whole month (that is not a challenge by the way) so you will know that it is not an alcohol related decision.
Secondly I want you to ask someone to help you find the right person to do this. By this I do not mean your friends – friends are often too eager to rush you into the wrong decision. I mean someone who is a parent or fills a similar guiding role in your life. I’d ask that you check out at least three different places before choosing which one to go to and that you see examples of their work – and I mean examples on real people, not pictures in books – because they might have just pinched them off the internet.
Talking about the internet, just take the opportunity to do a search on ‘tattoo fails’. You’ll then understand what sort of mistakes can happen if you choose the wrong tattooist. You’ll also understand a bit more about the importance of being able to spell…
I won’t pretend otherwise, I don’t like tattoos much. I know lots of people who have them and some of them are fairly pretty but they just aren’t my thing. This is your body though and I respect that. If after careful thought and research and following the guidelines I’ve set out above you still want to do it, you have my support. Just be absolutely certain that you aren’t going to regret it later.