With all the attention in the news this week focused on the royal wedding, there weren’t a lot of stories for this week’s news.  This meant I actually had to dig up a couple of celebrity stories just so the week wasn’t completely devoid of content.

To kick things off this week we’re going to start with a little science.  A researcher in London has developed a formula that will predict the rate at which a tattoo will fade over time.

Tattoo inks are a suspension of water-insoluble particles, such as mercury, lead, cadmium and iron, which are injected under the skin using a needle.  Over time, these inks become dispersed as the cells which contain them die, divide or leave the body.

Although modern tattooing inks are less likely to fade, their gradual deterioration is inevitable.  Dr Eames said: ‘Skin type, age, size, exposure to the sunlight and the type of ink which is used all influence how a tattoo disperses with time.  ‘Broadly speaking, the small details in a tattoo are lost first, with thicker lines being less affected.  ‘Although finely detailed tattoos might look good when they are first done, they tend to lose their definition after 15 years.’  He added that his model will help increasing numbers of young people who have gone under the tattooist’s needle.  ‘Tattoos are incredibly popular worldwide with more than a third of 18 to 25-year-olds in the U.S. sporting at least one design,’ he said.  The research is published in the Mathematics Today journal.

I wonder if his model takes into account sun exposure, as well as the fact that not everyone’s skin is the same.  I guess only time will tell.  What I don’t get is how this will assist people when it comes to getting a tattoo.  It’s not like it isn’t common knowledge that tattoos can fade over time.

To read the rest of this week’s news, you know what to do.

Read more…

Here’s your token Friday BMEGirl post.  No information on the model or artists, but the photographer is the same one from Jen’s post yesterday.

A pink corset piercing in the shape of a corset?  Sounds good to me.

Piercings by Brailey from Fat Zombie Tattoo and Body Piercing, Phoenix AZ.

This week’s follow up was requested a few times, so even though it isn’t as old as some of the scars we’ve been seeing the past couple of weeks, it is still a look at a healing scar.

You’ll probably remember this Hellraiser scarification/branding by Eroswastika..

Keep on reading to see how it’s looking now.

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You may have noticed a lack of posts today. Rob was off dealing with some personal things today so he wasn’t able to do any posts. I hope this sort of makes up for the quiet.

This photo was submitted by the photographer, CHRISMDAY. I don’t know if this is a real couple or just something they did for a photoshoot but the passion sure looks real! I love the contrast between her colourful sleeve and his black and grey tattoos. I don’t have any information about the artists who did the ink otherwise I’d share.

Rob should be back with us tomorrow.

A while back I posted this locust tattoo, that was done in tribute to a BME regular, Adam Aries. I, of course, referred to the locust as a dragonfly, because well I kind of suck like that. In fact, I am pretty sure, Adam had corrected me on that on more than one occasion,  but in my defense, rarely was I sober enough to comprehend such things while with Adam.

Anyhow, Ryan Oullette shot me this email:

The one (locust tribute tattoo linked earlier) you posted was from Pino Bros. Ink in Cambridge where he worked, but hasn’t been forgotten in Nashua, NH. Adam did his apprenticeship with me and we all miss him very much. We’ve been doing a bunch of locusts on his friends and family from around the Nashua area. I put up an album on facebook, you’re welcome to use any of them for modblog if you’d like. Adam’s original was done by Nick Kelley, all the recent locusts were split between Nick and Kevin McKeating (who used to be Adam’s roommate). I got mine on my kneecap.

Char Hall from Side Show Studios in Sacramento, CA put together this awesome octopus half-sleeve.

…bring May flowers.

In this case, May came a little early.

Design and tattoo by Joey Pang, from Tattoo Temple, Hong Kong.

The dynamic duo of Gisella_Rose and her hubby Dominick269 have been responsible for some really interesting photoshoots.  This newest one from about 2 months ago was part of a shoot by Gene Hale and features the couple in an interesting elbow pull.

While the Dallas SusCon had it’s share of incredible moments, it wasn’t the only place this weekend where suspensions were happening.

With the weather warming up, the Moscow based Sinner Team went outdoors to do this splits suspension.