Body art has become an increasingly popular fad among all ages. Out of 50 students interviewed at Bakersfield College, 34 said they have at least one tattoo.
Laura Tiefenthaler, 19, a psychology major, got a fairy tattoo when she was just 16. She said that because there is an age requirement of 18, “I had to have parental consent. My mom went with me.”
Though none of the 34 students had any tattoo horror stories to share, professionals at Mad Dog Tattoo Shop in downtown Bakersfield, stressed the importance of the healing process and cleanliness.
“We’re big on sanitation. It is our No. 1 priority,” said Justin Foss, a tattoo artist.
Foss has been an artist for eight years, including the past three at Mad Dog. He said he does between 20 to 30 tattoos a week.
The latest trend for males in tattoo art, according to Foss, has been customized work, meaning art that comes straight from the artist’s head and right on to the skin, no stencil. Females on the other hand seem to have more interest in tattoos like cherries, dice and floral patterns.
Foss, who has several tattoos himself, turned to a tattoo hurt chart to show the most painful places to be tattooed based on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most painful. The “10” points are the neck, the butt, the thighs, and from personal experience, Foss said the backs of the arms.
One man in the shop described the feeling as he was being worked on.
“It feels like needles tearing though my skin,” said Ruben Soto, 41, a California Highway Patrol officer. “This is my very first tattoo. It took me 41 years to get one.”
As the newest member of the Mad Dog team, Alfonso Acevedo worked on Soto. Soto said a recent divorce helped him decide to finally go through with getting a tattoo.
“I’m getting a tribal around my upper arm because I like the way they look around the muscle,” Soto said.
People have different reasons for getting tattoos. Felicia Ramirez, 19, a liberal studies major, got a sun with a star tattoo as soon as she turned 18.
“I got a tattoo because I though it was cute, and my mom and my sister had some. I thought they were neat,” Ramirez said.
“It was an impulse thing for me,” Tiefenthaler said. “I never wanted one before, but then I decided that I did. I like fairies a lot, and I saw one that I liked, so I got it.”
Just as people have different reasons for wanting to get tattoos, many go to physicians with personal reasons why they want their tattoos removed.
Several methods of removal have proven to be quite successful, according to an article posted on Contemporary Health Communications. The difficulty of removal can be based on size, location, how the tattoo was applied and length of time it has been on the skin. Depending on these factors, a physician can choose between popular methods of removal: excision, dermabrasion, laser, or salabrasion.
Foss stands by his occupation: “People say your body is your temple. Why not decorate it?”