Henna Tattoos – The Perfect Temporary Tattoo Design!
April 12, 2009
The allure of a tattoo has spanned almost all cultures of any social and economic status. The two major stumbling blocks with some who want a tattoo is the permanence of the design and the pain caused by the tattoo gun when a tattoo is carved into your body. A henna tattoo design is the perfect solution to both hesitations and provides you with a very attractive temporary tattoo.
The Eastern World has known about the benefits and uses of the henna plant for a long time. Today, most of those uses are for dying your hair and tattoos, though it is a valuable ingredient for making perfumes.
Henna use for body decoration dates back to Ancient Egypt over 5000 years ago and was primarily used to decorate the hands and feet to attract prosperity, good health and happiness. Those ancient Egyptians also used henna to color their hair and cure some ailments of the time, like headaches.
Traditionally, henna decorations have normally been a common female custom that was passed silently down from mothers to daughters for generations – much like some traditions are still passed down the family tree, keeping you guys in the dark and puzzled forever. Just accept it! You can’t win!
Henna decorations on women have been closely linked to several ancient ceremonies and celebrations, like religious rites, festivals or weddings. This practice was common on women from all social plateaus, from housewives to royalty.
Henna tattoos today are very popular among women and teenagers or young adults. They do not require the painful needle gun procedure or require the scabby healing time. They are not permanent and will fade away in several weeks, eliminating the need to have it surgically removed if your design choice loses it’s appeal later.
Think about having your current love interest’s name permanently tattooed on your shoulder, chest or breast and then breaking up and finding another love of your life. That mistake will make your life miserable forever. Trust me! I speak from experience.
Henna tattoos are applied painlessly. First a design transfer is applied to your skin on top of a light oil base to make a clear template to work from. A henna paste is applied to the design with a cone and, after air-drying until it falls off the skin, you have a beautiful brown tattoo. Depending on the makeup of your skin, the tattoo could start out in the orange shades, but will darken naturally over the next few days.
It is important not to pick the henna paste off early. If some falls off, don’t panic. All that means is those pieces are dry and no longer useful to the tattoo. Keep your tattoo dry for at least 12 hours or the color will stop developing. Don’t expose it to the sun during those 12 hours either. If you have to go outside, wear a shirt that covers it up.
Also avoid swimming pools because the chlorinated water will stop the color development and maybe change the color to something ugly. In the shower or bath tub, do not scrub the tattoo, but wash it gently. Don’t rub your wet skin with the towel, either. Pat it dry.
One very valuable benefit of a henna tattoo is that, in a few weeks, the original tattoo will fade away and you can either replace it or choose another name wrapped around a heart. Your new lover will never know the difference.
What Does Your Kanji Tattoo Mean?
April 10, 2009
The mysterious and beautiful Kanji tattoos from Japan are rapidly becoming very popular in the Western world as those wishing to tattoo their name or a memorial on their shoulder or arm flock to the tattoo artist.
Kanji tattoos, however, have a built-in negative side that should be given serious consideration before putting one on your body.
One thing to remember is that Kanji tattoos come from a language that is not Western and the literal meanings you might be used to do not apply with Kanji. Kanji symbols do not represent individual characters, but are graphic depictions of complete ideas or concepts. What looks like a simple character could actually be more than 20 or 30 separate strokes and have several meanings, depending on the script style of Kanji used.
Kanji scripts have three styles of expression to consider when you are looking for the perfect Kanji tattoo for your body art.
Japanese Kanji characters and symbols originated in China and are used for nouns like peace, morning or determination. Kanji writing, over time, developed into part of the Japanese system of using ideograms to express whole concepts.
Katakana characters, on the other hand, are used for foreign words and names. Adjectives and grammar will be expressed with the Hiragana script.
Just wanting a name, yours or a loved one, as a tattoo would probably be done with Katakana characters, which easily convert from Japanese to Western names or initials without the more complicated underlying meanings found in the Kanji scripts.
Just visiting your tattoo parlor and picking out characters from a wall poster or book of designs could be a mistake. The letters that might represent your name could also represent complete thoughts that would be negative or belittling to your image.
They would be understandable only by those who speak Japanese, which, considering the numbers of Japanese businessmen & women in most industrial countries, should be a concern of yours if you are a business professional or planning on becoming one. If you believe your tattoo spells your name and don’t investigate the underlying total concept, you might also be wearing a tattoo that says you have “ugly dog breath,” for example. Your Japanese supervisor would not be impressed.
The point to remember here, before decorating your body with a tattoo you might regret, is to investigate your Kanji tattoo meanings BEFORE getting them permanently applied to your body. There’s several translation services online that can do the job for you. Spending a little time checking out the meanings behind Kanji tattoos might save you embarrassment later.
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