Ever seen anyone with an arm that was entirely black? There are two reasons they might have a tattoo that is basically a solid black chunk – it was either a decision to cover a large sleeve piece or part of a growing culture of minimal tattoos. Blackout cover ups are either desperation or lack of creativity. Cover-ups are difficult and they don’t always work, especially if you’ve got a lot of tattoo work to cover. A lot of the time the
On Blackout Tattoo Cover Ups (AKA A Big Mistake)
Blackout tattoo cover ups are either desperation or lack of creativity. Cover-ups are difficult and they don’t always work, especially if you’ve got a lot of tattoo work to cover. A lot of the time the colors are muddy and dull and it can be hard to tell what the new tattoo is. A blackout tattoo cover up simply takes the entire area and covers it with black. You can still see some of the old designs through it. At least it’s solid and at a glance it may look better than a poor cover up.
Minimalist Blackout Tattoos
Minimalist blackout tattoos are part of the growing trend of geometric and simplistic tattoo designs. Solid black is a great contrast to white skin and a design like that is both punchy and modern. It’s appealing in its severity and can give such a punchy and edgy look that even some celebrities and online personalities have now started covering their old tattoos with solid black.
There’s no actual meaning for tattoos like this, it’s purely aesthetic. No tribe uses it, though they have some areas blacked out there are usually geometric or native tribal additions. It’s not a form of tribal in itself just to black out an entire area of skin.
Blackout Tattoos Will Not Poison You!
There are a lot of articles out there that say blackout tattoos are a health risk because of the ink. IT HAS BEEN ALMOST 40 YEARS SINCE TATTOO INK CONTAINED METALS. Metals in ink have been ILLEGAL for decades. DECADES. All these articles which say you’re going to get lead, chromium, and iron poisoning from the ink are lying. Ink is made from a combination of pigment and water or polymer to make it liquid. NOTHING ELSE. You will not get ink poisoning from a blackout tattoo. You will not get cancer of the lymph nodes because of ink build up, or any other stupid ideas like that. It’s no different than a sleeve in black and gray or a colored sleeve. It’s a tattoo, it’s just a very, very, noticeable tattoo. The only time that this might be the case is if you do not go to a reputable artist or studio and can’t guarantee they are using real tattoo ink as opposed to drawing ink or even paint!
The only time a blackout tattoo is inconvenient is with skin cancer tests but this applies to any tattoo. Tattoo ink can make it hard to see when skin cancer develops and with rising rates among the young this could add to the risk of preventing early detection. There are also questions about whether a very large blackout tattoo might make it harder for the skin to produce vitamin D but there’s no concrete research yet.
At the end of the day, we love blackout tattoos! Just make sure you’re getting them for the right reasons! What do you think?
