Try Your Tattoo Before You Go Permanent Forever With One Or More Of These 4 Tips
If you’re thinking about a tattoo but aren’t quite yet committed enough to take the jump and go permanent, there are a few other alternatives that you might want to check out. It is important to understand, however, that when looking for a valid “try-before-you-buy” tattoo alternative, semi-permanent tattoos just do not exist.
Available on the internet as well as in beauty salons and market stalls, this product is simply a figment of somebody’s imagination. Although claims for these tattoos suggest that they’ll only last 6 months, the fact of the matter is that whenever you inject a dye under the epidermis – it stays there until you have it professionally removed.
So if you’re not absolutely convinced it’s what you want, forget about it! The only actual alternatives to permanent tattoos are henna tattoos which usually lose color in about a month or stick on tattoos which often fade out within 7 days. If you’re extremely artistic, however, you can try some experimenting with permanent textas.
Henna Tattoos
A great way to try out your design is by using a Henna tattoo. Henna is a natural colorant that originates from a plant. The dye will as a rule begin to lose vividness after about seven days. Most of the time, it will completely vanish within a month. Henna stencils can be applied to any part of the body and usually do not cause any skin reactions. The only real downside to using Henna is that it is not available in a variety of colors. While it is possible to blend various shades of Henna, it usually appears orange on the skin and darkens to a reddish brown color within about 2 days. There are also some businesses that are currently marketing a “black henna” product. Cautions about this product are extensive and to use it could potentially bring about dangerous reactions as “Black Henna” is actually a material called para-phenylendiamine or PPD, which is really black hair dye. While some of these products may contain henna, most do not. This man-made dye is not approved for use on the skin and has been found to cause serious side-effects including itching, blistering and possible scarring. Whether you decide to do your Henna tattoos yourself or have them done professionally, make sure that PPD is not being used. Henna kits and stencils can be bought on-line for about .00.
Stick-on Temporary Tattoos
Although most adults think of stick-on tattoos with the postage stamp variety that often came with the chewing gum wrapper and washed off with water, these temporary alternatives to permanent tattoos have really progressed and the variety of sizes and designs available may come as a surprise to most consumers. The temporary tattoos available on the market today actually use vegetable dyes and an bonding agent that we generally find in Band-Aids. These tattoos not only look realistic but will actually stay on for as long as 3 weeks. Although it’s much cheaper to purchase these tattoos in bulk, individual prices vary depending on the size and design. A 5x9 inch armband dragon tattoo in one color for example, may be purchased online for as little as around a dollar. Most shops will also custom design your temporary tattoo; however, they usually require a minimum purchase for custom work. An inexpensive and painless option to a permanent tattoo, stick-on tattoos look more convincing than ever. Using this choice gives you the option of changing not only the location of the tattoo but the design as well in just a few minutes.
Air Brush Tattoos
Although we’ve all seen the airbrushed t-shirts and paintings at the booths at the fair, airbrush tattoos are also becoming very popular as an option to permanent tattoos. Using the same procedure as is used with t-shirts, a stencil is sited on the skin and an airbrush sprayer is used to fill in the color. While the design normally only lasts roughly a week, airbrushing is thought to be the technique that produces an end product as close to the look of an actual permanent tattoo. Airbrush tattoos are more pricey than stick-on tattoos but are not even close to the cost of a permanent tattoo. Prices for airbrush tattoos might range anywhere from to 0.
Other options
If none of the choices above are quite what you’re looking for in a temporary tattoo, you can always draw on your own. Permanent pens work great for short-term designs that you can come up with yourself or apply using a stencil, while Crayola washable markers are a easy way to check out a design or area that can be removed immediately.
When it comes to temporary tattoos and body art, the options are only limited by your own imagination. Adding a little body sparkle or a few stick-on crystals can add to the originality of your design. One thing is guaranteed - nobody else will be sporting the same thing!
Although any one or maybe even all of these choices may just satisfy your desire for some ink work, if you’re still inclined to have a permanent design, it would be a good option to have it personalized into one of the temporary formats we’ve discussed. Bearing the tattoo for a few weeks gives you the chance to determine the response from others, along with your own satisfaction level, and will even let you experiment a little with the position of your tattoo before you make a commitment that could possibly change how you feel about yourself.