EXPERT:
FRIDAY JONES
Friday’s luxury ‘couture’ tattoo studio on New York’s Fifth Avenue offers wine and massages along with a tatt. She’s inked celebs including Angelina Jolie and Robbie Williams. She told us about her trademark white tattoos.

Dear Bizarre readers,
Bold blackwork back pieces, candy-coloured chest pieces and old school sailor-style designs on biceps receive a whole lotta love from many people – but they’re about as subtle as a flying brick! If you’re after a mod that whispers rather than hollers, why not go for an all-white tattoo?

White tatts are a great choice if you work in a job where obvious ink could cause problems, or you want something that delicately decorates, rather than dominates, your body.

They’re also useful if you like to change your fashions a lot – you can draw attention to your tattoos if you’re in the mood to dress like a gnarly rock chick, or let them fade into the background when you fancy being more of a girly frock chick!

Some people choose to have a design tattooed in white as a ‘tester’ – they wear it for a while to check that they’re not going to go off the idea before committing to re-colouring it in black or brighter colours.

White is a sensible option for a first tattoo, because you can go through the physical pain and the spiritual process of adding a meaningful mark to yourself, but don’t run a high risk of ending up with a modification that you’ll later regret.

Be warned, though – white tatts have some drawbacks. White ink contains bigger molecules of pigment than other colours, which makes it thicker and more difficult to force into the skin. This means an artist may have to go over the same lines several more times with their needle in order to ensure the design is visible and even. As a result, the area can take a couple of weeks longer to heal than a similar design done in black.

What’s more, several sessions may be required to make a white tattoo bright and, since pale tatts are particularly prone to fading over time, future ‘restoration’ visits may also be needed to perk them up.

Clients with dark complexions that are more liable to scar, or those whose skin tends to form lumpy keloids, should also be aware that the repeated trauma involved with white tatts – the multiple needle strokes required to get them done, plus all the follow-up visits to keep ’em looking sharp – may mean that they won’t heal neatly.

White tattoo designs look best on light-to-tan skin tones. On really pale skin the tatt is virtually invisible, while on black skin the ink doesn’t always show clearly through the dark melanin in the epidermis covering it.

Small graphics without too much detail look really effective. I’ve also used paisley patterns to create beautiful lacy tatts, as well as doing a half sleeve, which managed to be both full-on and inconspicuous.

In addition to considering the illustration you’d like, it’s worth asking your tattoo artist what brand of ink they use – some turn out more dazzling than others. I mix my own ink from powdered mineral pigments, so that I can better control whether I want colour to be concentrated and ‘pop’, or be a watercolour-style wash. White on!

See more at  Fridayjones.net