Memorial Tattoos: Ashes In The Ink!!!
With the passing of a loved one or someone close people often choose to commemorate the one they have lost forever, with a memorial tattoo.
Memorial tattoos in recent years have become an increasing trend in the world of tattooing and it is now not uncommon to see people sporting a piece of ink dedicated to someone they have lost. Yet for some a simple design of dedication is not enough, they feel their tattoo to be much more and take what some see as the extreme step to have the ashes of their passed loved one included in the ink used for the tattoo…yep that’s right… they have their loved one tattooed directly onto them, the process has taken on the memorable name Cremation Tattooing!!
So how does a cremation tattoo work?
First and foremost the ashes of the person going to be used in the tattoo are sifted and filtered to remove any large pieces until you are left with a very fine dust. It is then common place to bake the ashes before the tattooing begins to further sterilise the ashes. Finally when the ashes are sterilised and left as a fine dust the artist will mix a small amount, and it is truly a small amount, of the ashes with the ink before beginning the tattoo as any other… not all that bad really…
The artist will take a pinch of the ashes here and sprinkle them into the ink before mixing thoroughly
Why are cremation tattoos becoming more popular?
Tattoos are arguably popular as of now because of the personal nature in which they work. Each person with a tattoo got it for a different reason, so why if you can get an even more personal tattoo wouldn’t you? Truthfully cremation tattoos are perhaps the most personal tattoo a person can get so is it really any wonder they are a growing trend. You can also answer this question with another simple answer. They are becoming more popular because people are more aware of them and artists are more comfortable in doing them!
Kim Mordue had her sons ashes incorporated into her back tattoo
Obviously you would find it hard to just walk into a tattoo shop and find someone willing to do it immediately, but try enough artists and you’ll find one. Perhaps a persons enquiry could even push an artist to take the step themselves and add cremation tattoos to their resume… still they may find it a little odd request to begin with.
But is a cremation tattoo safe?
Quite honestly there is no evidence to say a cremation tattoo is not safe, but there is equally no evidence to say it is! In truth a cremation tattoo involves putting a foreign substance into the body which at any time means you run the risk of infection or of your body reacting in defence and rejecting it. Then again is this not the risk with a tattoo anyway???
Simply, if you want a cremation tattoo check it out with a doctor first and when actually getting the ink ensure everything is sterilised. Other than that your all good and ready to go. So then the remaining question of what your memorial tattoo will be remains, and whether you will go to that next level and throw in some ashes??
Categorised in: Bizarre
This post was written by Nadia Vella