Female body painting is definitely back in vogue, but it is hardly a new concept. It has been a prevalent tradition in several ancient cultures some of whom have carried the tradition down to the present day. Some of these cultures used colored sand or dust to create what they generally called magic paintings.

Body painting is the oldest form of art. Since prehistoric times, humans have been adorning their bodies and body parts with natural pigments, paints, tattoos, dyes, clay and even ashes. These were meant to ward off tribal enemies or evil spirits and to celebrate any auspicious occasion with the power of latent magic. This is still evident in the native tribal populace of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific islands and even parts of Africa. India and the entire Middle East have shown a partiality for Henna which is not only remained popular but has also spread to the western world. The indigenous population of Latin America has recorded the use of use annatto, huito- which is kind of black dye, or wet charcoal for their body painting purposes.

Female body painting of course has been the most diverse and most in demand. The evidence of which is available with the wide range of cosmetic products in the market just for face paint and highlights. Though there is still a fierce controversy about the status of body painting as a true art form, there is no doubt of its popularity. This is evident in not just the proliferation of body artists and body parlors, but also the major body painting festivals that take place in the US and Europe.

There was a revival of the female body painting trend since the 1960s when liberalization of thought and culture gave way for social taboos to be replaced by cultural freedom. Nudity was no longer a suspect and the flower culture had driven away all biding taboos for those who wanted out of the strict social norms.

Female body painting requires some basic guidelines which one must keeping mind before opting for any particular artist. They should be non-toxic, non-allergenic, and be easily washable. They should be applied by hands, airbrush, paint brush, or natural sea sponge, all thoroughly cleaned and sterilized to avoid infections.

Female body painting involved a wide array of ideas from mythologies, rune, fine arts, alternative art, enhancing specific body parts to even current affairs. They are also event or occasion related like the latest radical protest movements to a sports event like soccer. The post 1960s era saw a huge surge in female body painting with various experimental methods like covering a model in paint and then roll her on a canvas to transfer the paint there. This created an image-transfer in monotones, multiple colors as well as stark profiles.

• Permanent Tattoo
• Body Painting
• Body Piercing
• Scaring

Types of body art #1 – Permanent Tattoo
When we hear the term body art, tattoos are the first thing that generally comes to the mind. Tattoo, which used to be considered as something that is made for bikers and sailors, have now become a major fashion statement for people of every age group. It has achieved special popularity in the global teen community. Both men and women are sporting tattoos these days and you get to see all types of tattoos you can imagine.

Permanent tattoos are made by injecting a pigment also known as tattoo ink into the skin right in between the permanent bottom layer and the surface, which is constantly dying off. The pigment is injected inside the upper skin layer with the help of a bunch of small needles. The procedure of tattooing is very painful, and there are many who need local anesthesia on the tattooing couch before starting this body art procedure.

Types of body art #2 – Body Painting
For those people who like tattoos but don’t want any permanent body art mark can go for the body painting. It is also known as temporary tattoo. It is very simple, one can get it done with simple paint and brush or can opt for a much paid airbrush artwork which is done with waterproof colors. This color fades off with the time. In fact it hardly lasts for a week or two. Henna painting is another option for temporary body art. It is a traditional Indian form of body painting. Henna is basically a dye that can last for several days on your skin.

Types of body art #3 – Body Piercing
Body piercing is another ancient form of body art. It has remained popular over the ages. Nowadays body piercing has turned into a major trend. Many young men and women have pierced their lips, tongues, eyebrows, nipples and navels. Of course, ear piercing is still the most prevalent choice. These days both men and women pierce their ears though it is more popular among women.

Types of body art #4 – Scarring
Scarring is a form of scary body art. In this form of art, specific wounds are created on the skin by cutting or using a hot metal shape to burn a permanent mark on the skin. When the wounds dry up they leave a raised mark on the skin. This hot metal burn technique is also known as branding.

All the mentioned types of body art can definitely give you a different look or identity, but except body painting all the other types of body art are very painful and can cause infection in the affected area. Proper care need to taken before getting body art done.

Female body piercing will never come to an end, in spite of stiff disapproval from parents or teachers. Teens especially continue to gravitate towards body piercing. There are three basic types of piercing:

Soft Tissue: – These are the most common type of body piercing. Women generally apply it in one part of the body, with the jewelry appearing on opposite side (e.g., an earlobe). At the first step usually different kind of rings are used in piercing, but healed piercing can accommodate any form of jewelry. Minimum measurement:
Head – 20g;
Body – 14g; depending on the piercing method.
Maximum measurement: None thick.

Cartilage: – It includes the nose and the ear above the lobe. Septum piercing is not actually done through the cartilage, but through a small area of skin between the front and back cartilage sections. Minimum measurement:
Nostril and ear – 20g;
Septum – 14g
Maximum measurement: depends on piercing. You can not elongate cartilage piercing.

Surface-to-surface: – This type of body piercing is generally located on the same plane or surface such as the throat. They require extra care and longer healing, often a year or more. You can use a ring or bar in surface-to-surface piercing.
Minimum measurement:
Head – 20g;
Others 16-14g.

Maximum: depends on location and piercing, but usually 14-10g.

You should follow and maintain some basic ground rules in the process of female body piercing. Always pierce your body with a trained professional. Your skin can be affected with the low quality trinkets, so use only high quality jewelry. Always keep away from alcohol and petroleum based products; it can infect your skin. You can change your jewelry but not too frequently.

Regularly clean you’re the pierce part of your body, at three times a day. But don’t use a mouthwash for oral piercing it can be quite dangerous. Do not use soap or other antibacterial agents immediately after body piercing. A normal healthy person should not need antiseptics to care for their piercing. The body’s immune system is perfectly capable of preventing infection for a body piercing.

The preparation before your actual tattooing procedure can determine the result of how good or bad the tattoo looks. The following are some tips on tattoo ideas that would help you achieve positive results from the tattoo design:

Tattoo idea tip #1: Choose a tattoo design that has a significant meaning for you. Say a tattoo in memory of your loved one who expired, or a tattoo theme or design depicting friendship. A tattoo with your boyfriend or girlfriend’s name might be cool now, but for how long?

Tattoo idea tip #2: Before deciding on the tattoo image, make sure it is something you want for the rest of your life. Deciding on a tattoo theme or a Tattoo idea is an important part of tattooing. Great tattoo ideas can be generated if you are a little creative and imaginative. Some of the best tattoo ideas are the ones generated from one’s instinct.

Tattoo idea tip #3: You can also get tattoo ideas from a number of tattoo art galleries available online which are wholly devoted to tattooing. They offer you variety of tattoo ideas and designs under different categories. It saves time, as you do not have to browse from page to page to find tattoo ideas. It is almost guaranteed that you will find the right tattoo idea of your choice from these galleries.

Tattoo idea tip #4: Last but not least, choosing a good tattoo artist is very important. An inexperienced and incompetent tattoo artist can horribly manipulate the best tattoo design. Therefore, you should check out their work by speaking to any previous client, check if your tattoo artist have sterilization certificates, are they vaccinated against Hepatitis B, and other factors that may result in injury. Above that it is always better to be safe than sorry, thus, selecting an experienced professional tattoo artist can mean spending more but it can guarantee good results.

The following tattoo ideas are some of the most popular tattoos which rank under the top ten tattoo designs:

1. Swallow
2. Tribal/ Maori
3. Nautical
4. Flower
5. Friendship
6. Crown
7. Eternity or Infinity symbols
8. Zodiac
9. Angels
10. Phoenix

Tattoo fashion was earlier was considered fit only for the biker gangs and sailors. But today they are popular with the people of every age. It has achieved special popularity in the teen community. Both men and women are sporting tattoos and these days you will get to see all the types of tattoos you can imagine. The tattoo fashion is at its height.

For those people who like tattoo fashion but don’t want any permanent art on their body can go for the temporary tattoos. One can get it done with simple paint and brush or can opt for a much paid airbrush artwork done with waterproof colors. This colors fade off with the time. It hardly lasts for a week or two.

There are many different tattoo fashions; some of them are listed bellow:

• Tribal Tattoos
• Chinese Tattoos
• Zodiac Tattoos
• Bands Tattoos
• Belly Button Tattoos
• Hearts, Suns and Flowers Tattoos
• Creature Tattoos
• Clubbing Tattoos
• Celebrity Tattoos
• Maori Tattoos
• Celtic Tattoos
• Fairy Tattoos
• Dragon Tattoos
• Butterfly Tattoos
• Football & Flag Tattoos

All the above-mentioned tattoos generally remain in regular tattoo fashion, but at present the mostly viewed tattoos are Celtic tattoos, Chinese tattoos, Belly button tattoos, celebrity tattoos, dragon tattoos. In the recent times, the most popularly sported tattoo fashion has been the Zodiac tattoos. People are wearing their sun sign with an attitude.

Tattoos fashion is really sassy but the person with the tattoo also must also have the attitude to carry it. One must go for a tattoo that ideally suits his or her personality.

Sportsmen like Mike Tyson and David Beckham have brought the tattoo fashion back in vogue. Many people prefer to get a tattoo done with the name of their spouse or loved one, just as David Beckham got one on his left forearm.

The highest segment of any population sporting tattoo fashion is college-going students. Many face parental objection or genuine health or skin problems. In such cases they opt for temporary tattoos. But having a tattoo is must with fashionable youngsters today.

In Japan, the tattoo technique is primarily hand based. The traditional Japanese tattoos are still hand pushed. The pigment is inserted under the skin using a non-electrical, hand made and hand held device with needles either made of bamboo or steel. But in recent times the tattoo technique has become common in almost every part of the world. They follow the western tattooing technique, i.e. the use of electric tattoo machine. This tattooing technique was first patented in England during the late 1800s.

However, even today most people are unaware about tattoo techniques and about the fact that the tattoo machine is basically an electromagnet powered by a variable power supply. The needle is actually dipped into a small cap that has been filled with the pigment or ink from a squeeze bottle. There are different needles for different forms of art. One needle is used for doing the outline of the sketch and for the line work on the tattoo. There are many other bunched needles for giving shades to a tattoo. These needles can be attached to a specified tattooing device. The needles are soldered to a bar that is attached to the electromagnet.

When power is supplied to the electromagnetic tattoo machine, the needles coated with the pigment vibrate in an up and down motion at a rate of more than thousand times per minute. When the needle gets inside the skin, the colored pigments are injected into the skin, in between the permanent bottom layer and the surface, which is constantly dying off and being replaced by new skin cells.

The tattoo technique of injecting the pigment at the right distance downward is very important for the quality of the tattoo. The beauty of the tattoo depends upon the tattoo technique. If the needle goes in too deeply, then the pigment will mix with the body fluid and color will spread in the body. And if the needle is not placed to the adequate depth, the tattoo will fade out and come out too early as new skin comes out from the lower layer.

While getting a tattoo done one should always take care of the hygiene and safety of the process along with a proper tattooing technique. Before getting a tattoo it is recommended to do a skin check-up, because your skin may react to the pigment used. Other than this, one should always ask the artist to sterilize the needles right in front of him or her, because using a previously used needle without sterilizing it may cause fatal infections.