A Quick Guide: Choosing Jewelry to Complement Tattoos and Piercings
In multiple regions around the world, people use tattoos and piercings as part of their unique cultural practices. Its popularity waned for some time, but it slowly regained momentum in recent years. Tattoos and piercings are also a great way to express yourself through style. It previously was common in alternative sub-cultures, but with mainstream popularity, more and more people are becoming accepting of visible tattoos and piercings. If you have both and want to use them to create a cohesive look or theme in accordance with your personal style, read on to find out what jewelry options there are, and how it will work in tandem with each other.
Before you make a decision to style your piercings with your tattoos, lets quickly take a look at the different kinds of piercings and tattoos you can get in accordance with your personal style.
The different tattoo themes…
The best part about tattoos is that as long as there is a free space on your skin, it can be tattooed. When you are getting a tattoo there are multiple different styles that you can get.
These include:
• Realism: These are images that are three dimensional and look close to a picture based in reality. Its almost like a photo.
• Blackwork: These are tattoos that are created using black and grey ink.
• Polynesian Tribal: Commonly known as tribal tattoos, these designs stem from Polynesian cultures.
• Japanese Style: Also referred to as Irezumi or Wabori, these tattoos are often created in color, and take on imagery that is based on Japanese folklore.
• Watercolor: Tattoos that take on the effect of being painted by watercolor
• Traditional: These are tattoos based on old American designs
• Fine line: These are lines that make up an image, there is hardly any shading or filling in for the tattoo
• Modern styles: There are many styles that have gained popularity in the past few years, these include cyber sigilism, mandala style, blackout, and many more.
The many types of piercings you can get…
There are several areas on your body that are prime spaces to get a piercing done. These include:
• The greater face area: This includes lip piercings, eyebrows, and the nose. Nose piercings include the nostrils and septum
• Ears: Your entire ear can be pierced. This includes the soft tissue on the lobe, as well as the cartilage.
• Other body parts: This includes the belly button, nipples, and even genital piercings.
• Other piercing-related modifications: Most piercings can be stretched to a bigger size in order to accommodate plugs and eyelets. There are also dermal piercings, that are inserted under the layers of the skin
Considerations when getting a tattoo and piercing soon after the other…
If you are planning on getting a piercing after a tattoo, or vice versa. You need to take into consideration when your previous modification was done, and if it is fully healed before getting the next one done.
How to know if your piercing is healed…
Piercings all take different amounts of time to heal depending on where you pierced them. A piercing on the earlobe can heal in about two months, while a piercing that is on the upper ear cartilage can take up to six months to heal. In order to prevent infections, you need to clean the area with saline solution, and not interfere with the area. If there is any trouble you should contact your piercer as soon as possible.
Tattoos and healing…
If you are getting a full-on tattoo or having a process like permanent makeup (microblading), then you need to be able to take your piercing out and let the area heal up before you place it back in. This means ensuring that your piercing is healed before you take it out in order to
get a tattoo.
Accentuating your tattoos with piercings…
Parts of your body that you get tattooed versus parts that you can get pierced hardly cross paths. However, these areas intersect at some times. Dermal piercings are unique as they can be inserted in areas where you have a tattoo.
Jewelry color and materials: The great thing about jewelry is that there are multiple colors that you can cohesively match up. This includes silver, gold, oil slick (rainbow-esque), black, and rose gold. Materials are also able to denote the color of the jewelry. However, stainless steel, while naturally silver in color, this jewelry can also be dipped into colored metals and coated. These coatings can give it the appearance of other colors Then there are those piercings that are made from materials such as glass, acrylic, plastic, wood, and bone. These can come in different colors as well.
Jewelry Type: Piercing jewelry can come in different sizes and styles. For example, there are dangly jewels, studs, loops, flat backs, and even straight or curved barbells. There are also different types of gemstones that can be used in the jewelry. A simple gem can change the entire appearance of the jewelry and how it looks on you.
Bringing them altogether: If you want to create a subtle look then you can use jewelry made in a similar style in the same material. Not only will it look cohesive, but it will create uniformity. For a slight switch-up in the setup, you can use jewels made from the same material but in different styles. For example, you can use studs on your facial piercings, and dangly jewels on your lobes, but opt for loops on your upper ear. For a bigger change in your style, why not mix and match materials and styles to create a special style that is just for you?
Pairing jewelry for piercings together with your tattoos is something that needs to be done in accordance with your personal style. There are many different piercing and tattoo styles that you can get, and match them with each other to create a look that is uniquely you. In addition to this, piercing jewelry can be made with multiple different materials and in varied styles – so there will always be one that resonates with you.
Credit: Alix Smith (Content Associate) with Body Art Forms