Summer is the season of skin. You’re either showing yours off, or admiring other people’s. By proxy, it also becomes the season of tattoos and body modifications. Why? Because the coverings come off and that’s the time you usually learn mild-mannered Ed from accounting has a tattoo on his chest.
Tattoos and body modifications are deeply personal. If you are interested in showing who you are, not just your body, read on to discover some cool body modification and tattoo ideas that make a statement.
3D tattoos
Why have ink done in just one dimension? Have your tattoos appear to come to life with 3D effects that literally make people want to reach out and touch.
Those butterflies you’ve seen about to fly off of shoulders? They are achieved through a combination of subtle shading and shadow.
You really want to amaze and impress? Go all out by adding subdermal implants to create realistic contours on your 3D tattoo.
Daith piercings
Daith piercings go through the innermost ring of cartilage in the outer ear. They immediately stand out because of their placement. When getting an ear piercing, most people choose the fleshier earlobe or the connected outer ring of cartilage.
For that reason alone, a daith piercing immediately sets you apart. You elevate yourself above what’s trendy or faddish.
Daith piercings are also reputed to help migraine sufferers. While the science is still out on this, the anecdotal evidence from daith piercing wearers seems to suggest it does play some role in alleviating their discomfort.
Tattoo/piercing combinations
Not sure which one you want? Get both. Many people have a tattoo or a piercing. Fewer have both. Make a statement and draw the eye to wherever you want it most with a colorful tattoo accentuated with the glint of light on a piercing.
There are several striking designs available on the Internet you can take to your body shop artist to replicate.
Scarification
Want to be truly different? Elevate your body art by cutting it into your skin. Unlike tattooing, which introduces ink under the skin, scarification, as the word implies, is a deliberate incision on the skin made with a scalpel.
This normally heals into a raised welt. Scarification artists use this technique along with a stenciled pattern to create designs on the body.
This is a modern take on an ancient practice as scarification is several thousands of years old. It is gaining popularity, particularly, in the US and Europe. These are parts of the world that would have viewed the practice as barbaric only decades ago.
Some see it as the modern man paying homage to their ancestors. Others see it as cultural appropriation. This one is definitely not for the fainthearted. Acquire only if you’re not afraid of having conversations with strangers about it.
Extreme body modifications
These are a whole category of body art that stretches the word “modification” to its very limits.
They run the gamut from sub-dermal implants under the brow bone to simulate horns, to filing down one’s teeth to razor points and implanting whiskers to resemble a cat.
If you crave attention, you’ll certainly get a lot of it with an extreme modification.
Be aware, they can come with serious health risks.
The body is a canvas and summer is one of the best times to bare it. Show who you are with a cool body modification.
