Hello, hope you're well. I'm going to whinge a bit so, y'know, prepare yourself and everything.
Basically, I have really, really sensitive skin. So sensitive that I'm actually allergic to most of the creams that I get from the doctor to clear up my skin. Everything burns and leaves marks, and it's a constant struggle between trying not to scratch - I never know that I'm doing it so it's not easy to police - and trying to apply different things to try and clear it up so I don't look like a leper.
I know some people have it far worse than I do. Even my Mum has an auto-immune disease that affects her skin - she has plaques of Sarcoidosis (a pretty gnarly disease that causes granulomas to grow on any and every organ) on her arms, legs and the back of her head.
It's weird though. It does affect me psychologically, even if it doesn't physically hurt me. I'm always aware of it. My fingers are crusted over, the crooks of my elbows are red raw and dry. My calves are constantly covered in scabs and scratches so I don't like to wear skirts or dresses or shorts. And I wish I could. A lot of work has gone into my legs and I'm really proud of them. If they didn't look shitty I'd walk around naked.
Anyway, to the point of this blog. My friend did a henna tattoo on my leg last week, and while it hurt a little bit I just ignored it because I'm kind of used to my skin feeling a bit funny. Yesterday, I noticed that the skin was raised and it looked dry. Today, my skin started to flake off and it looks like scar tissue underneath. It's contact dermatitis, so it's not a huge problem. I've started to fade the henna quickly with face wipes, so hopefully it should be gone after a couple more scrubbin's and then I can just wait for the stupid red marks to go away.
BUT THEN my brother decided to ruin it by saying, "by the way you'll probably get the same thing with a proper tattoo". And then I started to think about it and I got a bit upset because I really, really, REALLY want a tattoo, and I have done for years...but if I get one and I react, I'm fucked, basically, aren't I? They're not so easy to get rid of...
So next week, when I put in my deposit for the tattoo, I'm going to talk to them about it, see what they say.
tl:dr? I have bad skin. Tattoos might be a bad idea.
Basically, I have really, really sensitive skin. So sensitive that I'm actually allergic to most of the creams that I get from the doctor to clear up my skin. Everything burns and leaves marks, and it's a constant struggle between trying not to scratch - I never know that I'm doing it so it's not easy to police - and trying to apply different things to try and clear it up so I don't look like a leper.
I know some people have it far worse than I do. Even my Mum has an auto-immune disease that affects her skin - she has plaques of Sarcoidosis (a pretty gnarly disease that causes granulomas to grow on any and every organ) on her arms, legs and the back of her head.
It's weird though. It does affect me psychologically, even if it doesn't physically hurt me. I'm always aware of it. My fingers are crusted over, the crooks of my elbows are red raw and dry. My calves are constantly covered in scabs and scratches so I don't like to wear skirts or dresses or shorts. And I wish I could. A lot of work has gone into my legs and I'm really proud of them. If they didn't look shitty I'd walk around naked.
Anyway, to the point of this blog. My friend did a henna tattoo on my leg last week, and while it hurt a little bit I just ignored it because I'm kind of used to my skin feeling a bit funny. Yesterday, I noticed that the skin was raised and it looked dry. Today, my skin started to flake off and it looks like scar tissue underneath. It's contact dermatitis, so it's not a huge problem. I've started to fade the henna quickly with face wipes, so hopefully it should be gone after a couple more scrubbin's and then I can just wait for the stupid red marks to go away.
BUT THEN my brother decided to ruin it by saying, "by the way you'll probably get the same thing with a proper tattoo". And then I started to think about it and I got a bit upset because I really, really, REALLY want a tattoo, and I have done for years...but if I get one and I react, I'm fucked, basically, aren't I? They're not so easy to get rid of...
So next week, when I put in my deposit for the tattoo, I'm going to talk to them about it, see what they say.
tl:dr? I have bad skin. Tattoos might be a bad idea.
I'm guessing they will suggest just a small tattoo first to see how your skin reacts, some will just do a line, I'd ask them to turn the line into a little heart or something to make it look less silly.
xox