Since about October, I have been letting people know I wanted another tattoo. I knew exactly what I wanted but hadn’t made any appointments or anything. I’m a walk in kind of girl because usually they are small and shouldn’t take more than an hour if that.
We went into the shop I had chosen and done plenty of research on. They had amazing reviews on Google and now I understand why. They were so so friendly and easy to talk to and were cool with the idea I had in my mind. There was a wait which was no problem. We went to grab a bite to eat at a pub not too far away. I should say that every meal we ate in Fort Lauderdale was outside because hello why not?! Except this night was insanely windy!!!! We still sat outside and it was still so perfect to enjoy that moment.
After about an hour and a half we went back to the shop! The tattoo artist’s name was Spider Dan and he was from Brazil so he had an amazing accent! He let me pick the exact font I wanted and everything which was awesome. I got “let it go” in typewriter font on my right forearm, high up enough that it can be covered by sleeves but still visible to the naked eye.
It took literally ten minutes and I am so happy with it!! This is tattoo 4 for me and this ranks pretty high on my favorites list!
Now onto the science!!
Tattoo ink must get into the dermis layer of our skin to be permanent. To get to the dermis you need to penetrate through the outer layer of our skin called the epidermis. The tattoo artist dips the needle into the ink to start, then using the rotary motor on the tattoo gun the needle pricks the skin over and over. It’s possible that the needle pricks our skin at a rate of 50 to 3000 times a minute.
For a thinner line, only one end is needed whereas for shading and coloring somewhere along the lines of 25 ends can be used. Everytime the needle hits our skin, a tiny wound is created. Our body goes into hyperdrive trying to protect itself so the macrophages, essentially blood cells, come in and trap the ink particles which leads to the tattoo fading over time. This obviously takes quite some time and does not happen overnight. The ink that does get taken in by the macrophages goes into the lymphatic system and is excreted through the liver. The remaining ink particles become permanent. Thus having the art on our bodies forever!!!
If you do want it removed, the process can be quite painful. You’ll have to undergo what is similar to laser hair removal to get rid of the darkened pigment. So make sure you’re okay with your decision up front.
Basically getting a tattoo is a way to hijack and confuse your immune system!! If you’re into it, go for it!!! I clearly am!! But for now I don’t see any new ones in my near future!!
Such cool stuff to learn about!!
Xoxo, Z
