If you have ever started stretching your ears it doesn’t take long to realize that they smell of death when you take them out.  Or if you ever went to nibble on your significant others ear and caught a nasty whiff.  This only gets worse as you go up in gauges.

What is Ear Funk?

We know it smells, but why does it smell?  What is ear funk and how can we deal with it?

It’s a lot like ear wax, only grosser.  By stretching your ears and keeping them gauged you are creating the perfect environment for bacteria.  It is warm and moist, and there’s really nothing you can do about that.  The environment alone doesn’t cause the stink, but it certainly doesn’t help either.  The majority of your ear funk is actually dead skin cells.  There is also some dirt and other odds and ends that could possibly accumulate in them, but the majority is all dead skin cells.

If you remember back to high school health class, you may recall that you are constantly shedding skin cells.  They are microscopic and hundreds fly off with just the wave of your hand.  This is no different around your piercing jewelry.  The only difference is that the jewelry is keeping those cells from falling anywhere, instead they build up gradually into a paste like funk.  That moist paste of dead skin cells continues to decay due to the warm moist environment your jewelry creates.  That decay is the smell you get from your piercings.

Sexy, isn’t it?

How Do I Control The Funk?

There is absolutely no way to prevent your stretched piercings from collecting funk.  The shedding of old skin is a process that you can’t and don’t want to mess with.  The only solution is control.

It takes a while for enough dead skin cells to accumulate and start to produce a smell.  This isn’t a long time, but if you were to clean your jewelry and piercing once a week, the smell should be very minimal.  Each cleaning should give you at least 3-4 days of fresh and clean before any kind of smell creeps in.

When cleaning be sure to clean both the jewelry and the piercing thoroughly, they are equally important.  You want the jewelry to look just as clean as the day you bought it when you put it back in.  Anything you leave on it will just start to break down immediately, which is counterproductive to your goal of fresh and clean piercings.  You must be sure to clean the actual piercing as well.  This is probably the hardest of the two.  Be sure to clean both the inside and outside of the piercing.  Regular old soap and water do well for this.  I like to use paper towels or toilet tissue for this, so i can get rid of the funk right away.  A good general rule when choosing a product to clean your piercing is…  “If it works well on the rest of your skin, it should be no problem to clean your piercing with it”.

The longer you wait between cleaning your piercings, the worse the smell is going to get.  There is no magic spray to eliminate the problem.  You’re going to need to do all the work yourself.

How is it that no one claims to want a “bad tattoo”, yet you constantly see people with “bad tattoos”?  The simple truth is that most people don’t do their homework before getting a new tattoo.

Anyone who takes a needle, dips it in ink, and inserts that needle into someone’s skin is, by definition, a tattoo artist.  Since that general term covers everyone from the guy down the street scratching and scarring people in his basement to top tattoo artists like Paul Booth or Robert Hernandez, it’s hard to get a quality tattoo by just randomly picking a tattoo artist out of the phone book.

If you want a quality tattoo, you can’t decide to get a new tattoo on a random Saturday, visit a tattoo shop and get tattooed that day.  Any shop that offers this type of in and out service is usually not of high quality.  Good tattoo artists are booked days to weeks in advance and will give you a custom tattoo, not just some off the wall flash that 100 other yuppies have.

Don’t expect to get your new tattoo quickly.  Many top artists are booked quite a ways ahead.  There is also time required to draw your custom tattoo.  Be patient and ask for the earliest possible appointment.  Remember the more flexible your schedule is, the more likely you will be to get tattooed sooner.

When selecting a tattoo artist you always want to look at their “books”, or portfolio.  Browse their works and ask to see photos of healed tattoos as well as fresh ones to ensure that the colors will hold once healed.  Remember, if you don’t like what is in a tattoo artist’s portfolio don’t expect to get a better tattoo than what you see.

Always asses the cleanliness of the studio and tattoo area.  Any good tattoo artist is extremely clean and sterile.  This is perhaps the most important aspect of tattooing.

Verify that the tattoo artist always wear gloves and cover any chair surfaces with plastic.  Ensure that the tattoo artist cleans the chair or arm rest with an antibacterial agent before you sit down for your session.

Ask to watch the tattoo artists work while you are in the shop.  Watch him and make sure he is not touching unsterilized surfaces without changing gloves or anything else you deem unsanitary.

Make sure all instruments are sterilized and single use only.  Ask questions, lots of them.  There is nothing wrong with ensuring you are getting a safe and professional tattoo.  It’s your body and it’s up to you to do your homework when getting a permanent tattoo.

The only person responsible for your bad tattoo is YOU!

I see this question asked time and time again, “What does it take to become a tattoo artist?”  The short answer is, “A lot of hard work.”

Today we will look into what it takes to become a “real” tattoo artist and touch on the scams out there that claim you can be a tattooist in just a few weeks.

Tattoo Schools

Throughout the United States there are a handful of tattoo schools that claim to give you everything you need to be a tattoo artist. Most of these programs last a few weeks to a few months and cost an exuberant fee. By the time you have completed the only thing you have to show for your $6000 is a pretty certificate you can hang on the wall.

If you take that pretty certificate to a reputable tattoo shop expecting to get work, you will likely be laughed out the door.

There are even internet tattoo schools that claim to teach you everything you could ever want to know about tattooing for just $69.  The price alone should make anyone in their right mind run for the hills.

No “Tattoo School” or “Online Tattoo Training” can ever take the place of a traditional tattoo apprenticeship.

Tattoo Apprenticeship

If you plan on becoming a professional tattoo artist, you almost have to get an apprenticeship.  An apprenticeship is when you study tattooing under a professional tattoo artists careful guidance and instruction.  A good tattoo artist will teach you everything from sterilization to all the smallest nuances of tattooing.

Tattoo apprenticeships can vary in conditions and time as each artist makes his own schedule.  Some tattoo artists require a payment for the apprenticeship while others will just make you work for free.

You might be nothing more than a janitor for the first 6 months before you are allowed to put needle to skin.  You will start by giving free tattoos to your buddies who agree to let you put your mark on them.  Slowly you will work up to half priced tattoos and eventually full price.  This progression could take as long as five years, depending on your teacher and his individual schedule.

Great tattoo artists don’t let their apprentices go until they are satisfied with their work.  Anyone they teach will always reference them as their mentor.  The tattoo community is a small world and negative press is never wanted.  Any artist worth his ink would not want a student who hasn’t progressed to a professional level, to claim him as his mentor.

Tattoo Seminars

Tattoo seminars are regularly offered at tattoo conventions the world over.  These seminars are not meant to teach you “how to tattoo”, but “how to tattoo better”.

These seminars are usually hosted by top tattoo professionals, often catering to a specific niche like  “black and gray” or “photo realism”.

Just like apprenticeships, these seminars can be either free or several hundred dollars, depending on who is presenting them.  Some may think this is quite an expensive price for some “pointers”, but time and time again people pay the price. So, those tidbits of knowledge must be worth the price of admission.

What You Need To Do

If you want to become a professional tattoo artist, and are serious about it, there are several things you can do to start the process.

1. Start Drawing – A prospective teacher is going to want to see how well you can draw. This will certainly be the first thing he or she ask for. Draw everything you can think of, not just your favorite style. Not everyone wants your style for a tattoo. You will need to be versatile.

2. Hang Out At The Tattoo Shop – Most apprenticeships spawn from being a pest. Taking on a student is a big responsibility for a tattoo artist and persistence is the key to convincing someone to teach you. Go to the local tattoo shop. Then beg, plead and cry for an apprenticeship. When that doesn’t work, do it again.

3. It Isn’t Cheap – Between supporting yourself for 6-12 months before making any money at all, and/or the price of apprenticeship, you will need to plan ahead. You should have money in the bank before you start your journey into tattoos. If you aren’t financially prepared, then you should start looking for a part time job to pay for your tattoo education.

The steps involved in becoming a professional tattoo artist may seem difficult but the first day you make a paycheck doing what you love, it will be well worth the wait.

There seems to be a new trend in the rap world revolving around facial tattoos.  These days it seems like anyone who is in the mix needs some fresh facial ink.  The list of currently facially tattooed rap stars includes Gucci Mane, The Game, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Soulja Boy, Yung L.A., Nipsey Hussle, Diamond, Tyga and Wiz Khalifa.  As you are reading this article there might very well be another rapper getting the newest in tattoo trends.

The face tattoo trend seems quite new and is growing like wildfire.  Years ago, the only person crazy enough to tattoo their face was Mike Tyson.  These days, hardly a week goes by before I read another news story about a prominent or underground rapper getting free publicity for inking their face.  Some rapper like The Game and Yung L.A. even go as far as to cover up existing facial tattoos with even more prominent designs.

Established rapper 50 Cent weighed in on facial tattoos in a recent issue of VIBE International by saying, “That’s the craziest thing. Not necessarily Gucci, but to tattoo your face says that there’s not a possibility that you can actually walk into a legitimate establishment without makeup covering your face every day. That does not work. It creates a separation. It says, “I’m an artist.” That’s it. That’s the statement you make when you go and tattoo your face…But know that the public will not have interest in you as an artist for life. You have to be phenomenal. Talk to the best that do it and they will tell you that it will take more than you being an artist. It takes marketing, maneuvering to generate for that long. When you got 40-year-old rappers in the game, those guys have maneuvered and survived.”

Do You Want A Facial Tattoo?

Although this is an increasing trend, it is still difficult to find a tattoo artist that will agree to tattoo your face.  Many professionals have a strict policy of not working on faces.

Think before you ink!  Facial tattoos are forever.  They are also prone to fading and stretching just like any other tattoos.  Take a picture of yourself from 10 years ago and compare it to today.  You can visualize how much a tattoo could change in just a few years time.

You might think that discrimination laws will protect your future job prospects, you should think again.  Unless you plan on working at the carnival the rest of your life, facial tattoos will not help you climb the corporate ladder.

If you think you can just get tattooed and remove it later when it starts to fade or you tire of it, wrong again.  Due to the texture of the skin on your face, it is more susceptible to scarring from the initial tattoo.  This means, once you laser off the tattoo there will still be a faint outline of the tattoo in the form of a scar that will never go away.

A tattoo isn’t going to make you a better rapper.  Don’t trade 15 minutes of publicity for a lifetime of regret.

As years pass by the body modification community always progresses to more and more extreme methods of modification.  Today, some of the most intense body modifications involve combining two or more styles together for an extreme new look.

This seems to be an increasing trend over the years, with more people utilizing multiple body modification techniques to get their desired results.  To some people these looks may be a bit extreme, but to the individuals breaking new ground, it is a way of life.

Extreme Transformation

Some individuals have chosen to use various body modifications to change their entire appearance.

Some of the more notable people to undergo massive body modification include; “The Lizardman” Erik Sprague, who has tattooed his entire face, chiseled his teeth, split his tongue and placed implants in his face to resemble a lizard and  “Cat Man” Dennis Avner has tattooed his face, split his upper lip, undergone extensive facial surgery, filed his teeth and implanted whiskers to resemble a tiger.

This kind of modification doesn’t happen over night. Both of these guys have devoted many years of their life, and continue to devote time, to achieving their ultimate transformation.

Tattoos Go With Everything

Lately there has been an increased trend in accenting tattoos with various other styles of body modification.  Some prefer to accent their tattoo and give it a 3D look, while others place a microdermal implant strategically to accent a tattoo.

Not surprisingly, tattoos go with everything.  I have seen plenty of combined body modifications centered around a tattoo.  Weather it be a 3D tattoo using saline implants or you want or to accent those pretty flowers with a diamond stud microdermal, tattoos just go well with everything.

Do You Want To Break New Ground?

Do you have what it takes to brave new grounds and take the body modification world to the next level? These days, your possibilities are only limited by your own imagination.

Just think, you could forge ahead for the benefit of mankind while your mom wonders what she gave birth to.

We all know tattoos are awesome, but sometimes you need to cover your tattoos.  Weather it be a job interview, your grandma’s 93rd birthday, or a court appearance.  Sometimes you just have to cover your tattoos.

We all know that a long sleeve shirt can work wonders but sometimes your tattoos aren’t so easy to cover.

There are many over the counter tattoo concealer creams on the market.  These products work surprisingly well to hide your tattoos, but are also rather costly for the top quality ones.  A cheaper and more natural looking way to conceal your tattoos is using average cosmetic products.

How To Cover Your Tattoos Using Makeup

Before you start, you’re going to need supplies.  Here’s the list.

Small Makeup Brush
Meduim Makeup Brush
Fluffy Bronzer Brush
Any Red Lipstick
Translucent Powder
Warm Tone Concealer
Cool Tone Concealer

Start by covering the entire tattoo with a thin layers of red lipstick until the tattoo is no longer visible.  Let the lipstick dry completely.

Next, you will take your brush and cover the lipstick with your cool tone concealer.  You want to completely cover the red lipstick. At this point the tattoo should not be visible.  Let the concealer dry completely.

Now you will need to take your warm tone concealer and add a thin layer to the already covered tattoo.  Your warm tone concealer should match your skin tone exactly.  The closer your warm tone is to your natural skin tone, the less obvious the cover up will be.  Let the concealer dry completely.

Finally, take your fluffy bronzer brush and lightly dab translucent powder on top of the concealer.  This will take the shine off the cover up and also help to blend it in to your skin.  That’s it.  At this point your tattoo should be completely covered up.

If you are covering a large tattoo, it helps to work in sections to achieve a more even blend.

This method of covering your tattoo is much cheaper than buying top of the line tattoo cover up cream.  It can also produce a much more natural look if you take the time to select your makeup tones properly.

In a field that is constantly looking for something new and unique, white ink tattoos are becoming increasingly popular.  Do you need a tattoo that is not easily noticed, a tattoo that is just for you, or do you just want to be different?  If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you might want a white ink tattoo.

Exactly What Is A White Ink Tattoo?

White ink tattoos are exactly what you would expect. A tattoo applied using only white ink. These tattoos are less visible than traditional tattoos and depending on body and skin type can appear to be a brand or scarification once healed.

The application process of a white ink tattoo is slightly different than a black and grey, or color piece. White ink tattoos have no solid outline like other tattoos. Care must be taken by the tattoo artist to only apply white ink without bleeding in any of the outline ink placed on the skin. This will cause the bright white color to dull and become even less noticeable.

White ink tattoos require more ink than traditional black and grey or color tattoos. White must be applied stronger than color ink. This requires the tattoo artist to go over the same area three or more times. So a white tattoo may be more painful than a color tattoo due to the added passes required.

The ink used to place a white ink tattoo is not the same white a tattooist uses for changing the pigment of colors. The white used in white ink tattoos is thicker and of higher grade. This ink is specifically made to stand out and remain bright. Be sure to ask your tattooist what type of white ink he will be using. If he just gives you the “all white is the same” speech… run!

Placement Of  A White Ink Tattoo

Care must be taken in choosing the location of your white ink tattoo. White is very susceptible to sun damage. White appears to yellow once tanned, and the original bright white color will never return once tanned. This damage can be done in as little as one time tanning or a single sunburn.

Careful consideration must be taken when choosing the location of your white ink tattoo. Hands are not a good spot, as well as the top of your forearm since they are likely to be exposed to the sun regularly. You are best to place your white ink tattoo where it will never see sun. Good placement can be ; under your arm, chest, back, the underside of your wrists, legs (as long as you dont tan them), basically anywhere you can keep out of the sun.

Choose A Tattoo Artist Who Has Pictures Of His White Ink Tattoos

White ink tattoos are not a project for the novice tattooist. Choose your tattoo studio and artist carefully. Ask to see his books and be sure there are examples of white ink tattoos in there. If he doesn’t have examples, he’s probably not very good at applying white ink tattoos, or never even attempted one. Also, ask to see pictures of the tattoos once healed.

If you see his books and like what you see, go for it! But if his white ink tattoo examples don’t look the way you want your tattoo to look, don’t expect him to just start doing things right with your piece.