It seems like these days people will find almost any reason to visit a tattoo shop. The growing popularity of the industry has led to a plethora of tattoo design trends springing up – some interesting, others not so much.
As the holiday season approaches, it's not out of the question that tattoo artists will start seeing more clients who wish to wear their holiday cheer on their sleeves – literally. While it may seem like a fun novelty, there's definitely good reason to reconsider your yuletide ink, unless what you wanted for Christmas was tattoo regret.
Festive tattoos
Nothing says holiday cheer like bright Christmas lights, hot apple cider or close family dinners. But anyone who's spent time on Internet blogs has seen some of the more modern-day, if unconventional, traditions popping up. Felt reindeer ears and "ugly sweater" parties are growing in popularity as warm and bright are giving way to gaudy and overstated. Some people have chosen to take things to another level by indelibly expressing their holiday spirit through tattoos. Whether it's a festive Frosty or a smiling Santa, it would be hard to beat a party-goers tattooed tennenbaum in terms of sheer devotion to the season. However, the permanence of tattoos is rather dissonant with the transience of the holiday season. While you can take down Christmas lights and other holiday decorations, you're stuck with your festive body art for the other 11 months of the year.
Pop culture holiday tattoos
By far the most popular brand of holiday-themed tattoos, many body art enthusiasts have chosen to mix their love of the season with their love of popular media. Drawing on the decades of Hollywood films and other works of pop culture that are rooted in the Christmas season, tattoos of this type serve as a two-for-one – displaying both a love of the season and a devotion to a piece of media. Whether it's the popular film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or the more traditional eponymous villain from Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," if there's a piece of popular media centered around the holiday, chances are it's found its way onto the skin of a devotee somewhere.
Unfortunately for some, just as holidays are seasonal, so too can the trends and tastes in pop culture come and go. Even though holidays tend to be cultural fixtures, chances are that in 10 years, you may not even remember the actor or the movie you have tattooed onto your arm.
Religious holiday tattoos
Perhaps both the least common and the most controversial variety of holiday tattoos, it's not unheard of for some to mix their personal beliefs with their love of body art. The sheer diversity among faiths and holidays celebrated around the same time mean that there's the potential for more variety among these types of tattoos. Examples may include a nativity scene in honor of Christmas, or a Hanukkah menorah. Even Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism celebrate specific holidays in December, and given the less brittle relationship these faiths have with tattooing, chances are you may even find yourself running into a tattoo celebrating the Buddhist holiday Bodhi Day.
PicoSure® is the latest technology for laser tattoo removal and offers faster and better removal in fewer treatments. PicoSure shatters ink into smaller, dust-like particles which are more efficiently absorbed by the body's natural processes. It is the first and only aesthetic picosecond laser that is FDA-cleared for the removal of tattoos. Visit www.picosurear.wpengine.com to learn more and find a PicoSure Practitioner near you.
