This is the part where everyone with tattoo's tell me to man-up and just do it. For the purposes of this discussion I'm going to ask that we remove that option from the table....at this point and for all intents & purposes, that is just NOT an option. It's partially religious and partially needle-wimp related....but still, my thought is questioning if getting a temporary tat is just too ghey?
So let me start.....
I was ordering some stuff from a swim-website and had a bit of credit left-over. My 6 year-old was with me and we were looking at various items on the site. Amoung the items were "Swim Tattoo's".....the stuff you apply, get moist and it stays on your skin for about 2 weeks, I suppose it's the industrial version of the cute little stickers you'd get in Cracker Jacks. My daughter chose the star-fish and sea horse....I chose the sharks and some Chinese symbols for Strength. Anticipating my big swim across Lake Arrowhead I thought it might be cute.
Anyways, I put the Chinese symbols on my right bicep and saved the sharks for some other time. My wife said it made me look kinda buff and even though she's Mary Poppin's proper, she kinda thought it was a good thing....but absolutely NOT in a permanent sort of way. After the weekend, I didn't take the thing off...I even wore it to the gym for spin-class, swim, weights, etc.
The thing is, I immediately got compliments...and I don't think they were insincere (like the way woman can get a new haircut and no matter how gross, masculine or disgusting all her friends will tell her how good it looks
). But seriously, I had a few people say it was a nice touch, not over-dramatic (like some people can get) and it was kinda funny because it really kinda looked real....just black markings. Upon closer inspection it was sorta obvious it wasn't inked into my skin, but really...it passed pretty well and I rather enjoyed having it on my arm.
So let's get to the bottom line. Again, I'm not entertaining the thought of getting a permanent REAL tattoo....but I am considering perhaps doing one of two options:
1) Buying several of these temporary tattoos and just applying them every now and then as they wear off. They go about 2 weeks solid and it could be a fun summer thing....but I'm not really inclined towards this direction, instead...
2) Finding someone local who does good Henna work and just buying into a bi-weekly maintenance of the thing
Quick thoughts....people get fake tans, fake nails, regular hair-cuts, shave every couple days: what's so wrong about a maintained Henna? Even more so if people can't tell??
I despise poseurs...perhaps having a tattoo, a REAL tattoo is also about the committment and having one....but I really don't like the near permanent nature of marking my body AND I've seen old people in the swimming pools and they eventually become rather blobby...but perhaps advances in technology has come a ways since those days?
Either way, focusing down on it: is a Henna or any temporary tattoo something entirely cheesy, ghey and wrong and what are your thoughts?
And be advised...there is no "right" answer...just opinions, thoughts and the discussion, thanks!
So let me start.....
I was ordering some stuff from a swim-website and had a bit of credit left-over. My 6 year-old was with me and we were looking at various items on the site. Amoung the items were "Swim Tattoo's".....the stuff you apply, get moist and it stays on your skin for about 2 weeks, I suppose it's the industrial version of the cute little stickers you'd get in Cracker Jacks. My daughter chose the star-fish and sea horse....I chose the sharks and some Chinese symbols for Strength. Anticipating my big swim across Lake Arrowhead I thought it might be cute.
Anyways, I put the Chinese symbols on my right bicep and saved the sharks for some other time. My wife said it made me look kinda buff and even though she's Mary Poppin's proper, she kinda thought it was a good thing....but absolutely NOT in a permanent sort of way. After the weekend, I didn't take the thing off...I even wore it to the gym for spin-class, swim, weights, etc.
The thing is, I immediately got compliments...and I don't think they were insincere (like the way woman can get a new haircut and no matter how gross, masculine or disgusting all her friends will tell her how good it looks
). But seriously, I had a few people say it was a nice touch, not over-dramatic (like some people can get) and it was kinda funny because it really kinda looked real....just black markings. Upon closer inspection it was sorta obvious it wasn't inked into my skin, but really...it passed pretty well and I rather enjoyed having it on my arm. So let's get to the bottom line. Again, I'm not entertaining the thought of getting a permanent REAL tattoo....but I am considering perhaps doing one of two options:
1) Buying several of these temporary tattoos and just applying them every now and then as they wear off. They go about 2 weeks solid and it could be a fun summer thing....but I'm not really inclined towards this direction, instead...
2) Finding someone local who does good Henna work and just buying into a bi-weekly maintenance of the thing
Quick thoughts....people get fake tans, fake nails, regular hair-cuts, shave every couple days: what's so wrong about a maintained Henna? Even more so if people can't tell??
I despise poseurs...perhaps having a tattoo, a REAL tattoo is also about the committment and having one....but I really don't like the near permanent nature of marking my body AND I've seen old people in the swimming pools and they eventually become rather blobby...but perhaps advances in technology has come a ways since those days?
Either way, focusing down on it: is a Henna or any temporary tattoo something entirely cheesy, ghey and wrong and what are your thoughts?
And be advised...there is no "right" answer...just opinions, thoughts and the discussion, thanks!
