Tag Archives: facial-tattoos

Accentuating Beauty

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Occasionally I’ll get a message from someone requesting their image be posted about on ModBlog, but every once in a while I’ll get a note from someone requesting someone else’s photos be posted.  Well, thanks to IAM: MoseZ, he was able to point out a couple of pictures in the galleries that I had skipped over.

IAM: Jay-Z has sent in quite a few images over the past couple of months, and each one is better than the last.  This first image appeared in the galleries back in June, and it gives us a sneak peek at this beautiful woman.

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What MoseZ pointed out, and what I agree with completely, is that her mods really accentuate her beauty. Aesthetically the piercings and tattoos seem like a natural extension of herself.  So while she may have been attractive before getting tattooed and pierced, it seems like adding the mods is like putting the rest of the pieces back into place.  An unfinished puzzle that needed completion.  But of course, beauty is subjective.  The things one person may see as attractive, another person may see as ugly.  It all depends on our own personal perspectives in life to determine what we find pleasing to the eye.  You may not agree with MoseZ and I in that her modifications accentuate what she already had, but what I think we can all agree on is that the piercings and tattoos are very well done, and she is comfortable with how she looks.  Which is really the most important factor in all this.  Sure people pass judgments on others all the time based on their appearance, but what matters most is how we feel about ourselves, and doing what we feel is important to our bodies to attain the external vision that we wish to project.

What do you think?  Do modifications accentuate what is already there, or are they just a natural extension of a person, to be seen as part of the whole?  Or do you think something else?

I’ve added a couple more images after the break which should give you an idea of how the rest of her looks.

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Just at a glance I can see both stretched lobes and large gauge cartilage, large labret, medusa, septum and notstrils, and of course the facial tattoos.  The man responsible for the medusa is IAM: Bhaileon aka Cheyne Truitt.

Being heavily modded is a disease?

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First, watch this video until the end.

This ad, designed by Zeitsprung Commercial in Germany got sent to me last night by ModBlog reader Broodje.  For those that can’t watch the video at work, allow me to sum it up for you.  A man dressed in a bear costume is walking around the streets to cheerful music giving out hugs to people as he strolls along.  Then, the lighting darkens as the man in the costume pulls off the bear’s head to reveal his heavily modified face.  The tagline of the ad appears as he roars at the camera and stalks away:  ”You can’t see H.I.V.  But you can prevent it”.

I’m not sure how you may react to this, but I’m on the same page as Broodje, in that we’re both more than a little upset by the implications that this PSA gives off.  While the message itself is a good one, the end result may be giving a lot of people a bad impression of the modded community.  To me this is saying that not only can you get H.I.V. from a hug, but that someone who is heavily modified is probably infected and it is best to stay away from them.

As for the actor in the bear costume, I have no idea if he knew what the PSA was for, or if it mattered to him how he would be portrayed in the final cut.  The fact remains that as much as we try to show the world that modded people aren’t any different from the rest of the world, things like this come along and tap into some base fear that people have of the unknown, setting any progress that has been made back in the process.

I think what troubles me most about this, is that this type of thing is exactly the reason that Jessie had such a huge media circus around his arrest.  The media is consistently associating heavily modified people with as many negative connotations as they can.  Now we’ve come to a point that not only are heavily modified people scary because they’re “all violent”, but they “all have H.I.V. and should be avoided at all costs”.

What do you think?  Am I reading too much into the ad, or is there really an undercurrent in the media that is directly attempting to demonize a group of people just because they choose to take control of their bodies.

UPDATE:  It turns out that this video was part of the 2009 HIVisible campaign, and is starring none other than BME’s own IAM:Sicko.  So it appears I was completely off base with my interpretation of the ad.  Thanks to Bastian for filling me in and clarifying the message.

The subtle art of the facial tattoo

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Last week I featured a facial tattoo that was not only large, but was also brightly colored.  Today I want to look at the other side of the coin.

Okvit uploaded this image of his facial tattoo, which I think is a good example of a smaller, subtle piece.

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Before I talk about this specific tattoo, I want to take a step back to look at the art of facial tattoos and the significance they play in the wearer’s lives.  Now I obviously can’t speak from experience, and I would love to hear some stories from those of you who do have facial tattoos.  Now when it comes to visible modifications, the facial tattoo is probably one of the more drastic changes, at least to the unmodified world.  Our face, for the most part, is what people notice first about others.  When talking to someone, unless you’re a woman talking to a guy at a bar, chances are they’re looking at your face.  So when one chooses to modify their face, they are in essence changing the part of them that is seen the most.

The ramifications of this change differ from person to person, but the fact remains that any kind of facial tattoos are an intentional modification that will permanently alter the way you are seen by others.  But I’m saying things we already know.  What I want to focus on is what constitutes a subtle facial tattoo, or is any kind of facial tattoo significant enough to go beyond the realm of what most would deem “subtle”.

So looking at the lines above Okvit’s brow, would this fall into the same category as the girl who has the bright flowers covering half of her face?  Or does this qualify as a smaller piece that isn’t as significant?  Then again, I suppose it is all about context and who is viewing the tattoo vs. the wearer’s own feelings about the tattoo.  To the modified community, I think it’s safe to say that this piece is much more subtle than the other image, yet to those who are unmodified, does the same apply?

In the end, does it really matter?  I suppose the person sporting the tattoo cares about what it looks like to themselves, and the views of others are secondary.  Yet in a cultural sense, facial tattoos have always held a position of significance.  Be it the facial lines of the Ainu, or the masks of the Maori, over time many cultures have adopted facial tattoos as a means of transformation.  The tattoos can show familial and tribal ties, they can denote when a boy becomes a man, when a girl is ready to be married, or in many cases, as a form of intimidation towards their enemies.  So while today’s world is drastically different in many ways from the past, the facial tattoo has remained in a position of denoting a significant change in the wearer’s life.

I know that ModBlog has a lot of readers with facial tattoos and I would love to hear some of your stories about how things have changed for you, or if they haven’t at all.  Those without facial tattoos, what are your thoughts on them?  Are they something you would consider getting, is there a reason why or why not?

Your face reminds me of a flower

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Bees can learn to recognize human faces, or at least face-like patterns, a new study suggests.

Rather than specifically recognizing people, these nectar-feeding creatures view us as “strange flowers,” the researchers say. And while they might not be able to identify individual humans, they can learn to distinguish features that are arranged to look like faces.

–LiveScience.com

I started today’s posts with a discussion on subtlety, and how over time a person’s mods become so much a part of them that they can forget they’re even present.

Now let’s look at the opposite side of the coin.  T-Man Tattoo recently uploaded this photo of a facial tattoo.

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A number of things stood out to me about this image.  First and foremost, the colors are beautiful, they really pop, and the design fits her face really well.  The other thing that stood out to me, when put into context from my post earlier today, was that of a question.  Would this be the type of mod that someone could forget they have?  The reason I bring this up is that as a decision, facial tattoos are definitely up there on the list of major life choices.  While not to downplay any other modification and it’s significance, the facial tattoo has a long tradition as being culturally significant.  Cultures for centuries have been using facial tattoos for various reason, some for beauty, some for intimidation, and others for religion.  No matter the reason behind it, the facial tattoo is one of the mods that will alter others perceptions of you the most.  Of course what matters most is one’s own sense of self, and I’m not forgetting that at all.

To put it simply, it takes a brave person to really seize control of their body and alter it in any way.  It takes an even braver person to do it in a manner that bucks the current cultural trends, and taps back into those cultures that came before ours and paved the path for modifications as we know it.  Hopefully we will all be around to see a day when modifications of all kinds become as culturally acceptable as the ones that are accepted today.  I’ve said this countless times now, that modifications are less about showing off to others, but more for becoming who a person wants to be.  I’ll be the first to do the dance of joy the day people with visible modifications can walk down the street and nobody will even think twice about their appearance.

The ever changing, ever evolving, xronix.

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Any longtime modblog reader will probably remember xronix in one of his multiple previous features. He has been featured numerous times on here and for good reason, he has an amazing collection of mods and changes looks enough that each feature appears totally different from the last. I really dig this picture, it’s almost like he has evolved past human and if I were ever to make a sequel to “The Fifth Element“, I would damn sure cast him in a major role.

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It is also well worth noting that xronix, not only has his eyeballs tattooed, but he did them himself!

Interview with James Keen; a young, heavily modified, eunuch.

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I first talked to James several years ago. At the time he was a minor seeking answers to questions about heavy mods. In all honesty, I didn’t take him too seriously. I foolishly lumped him in with several other young modders that seemed to be more into the fantasy of obtaining heavy mods than the reality of doing so. In fact, I distinctly remember some photo editing of mods onto a picture of his face at one point which made it truly seem as if it was all just fantasy for him.

However, as years passed, it became obvious he was totally serious with his desires and he began to get all the mods he had previously spoken with me about.

Several years ago, he interviewed me for the now defunct youngmodders.com. Now it is time for me to turn the tables and interview him. So without further ado, I give you a conversation with the now 26-year-old James Keen.

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Sean: So, James, tell us how you first got interested in body mods.

James: Funny thing how it all started, I had desire for things like castration and face tattooing at an early age BUT what got me started was me and my friends sitting around listening to the band Korn. This is when they released the album Life Is Peachy I believe. We were sitting around listening to Korn all day and I saw my friend’s poster of the lead singer and noticed he had 3 eyebrow rings. At the time I was about 15 years old. We were all chicken shit to even venture off into piercing even though I secretly wanted to be castrated.

A few days went by and the more I saw the poster, the more this primitive urge in me said “get your eyebrow pierced!” I admit, for me it was a big step, one that would change the outcome for me on everything. Including castration and the works. At the time I believe you had to be 16 with parental consent. But I knew I needed it, the urge was bad. The more I thought of it, the more I wanted it. We all had a mutual friend who knew a guy who did piercings for minors. This is obviously a no-no for anyone out there. Get pierced the right way! But for me, I took the risk. I went in, paid him 20 dollars and he had piercing needles. He even opened one up in front of me with a new pack of jewelry. At the time things seemed clean, but looking back there were obvious signs I shouldn’t have gotten it. But I don’t regret it.

He then pierced my eyebrow at a 16 gauge. My parents saw, raised hell, and we had The Long Talk. To my surprise they said if I waited until I was 16 they would consent for a simple piercing. I kept the eyebrow for a year before moving on.

Sean: And move on you did! By far the most attention grabbing modification you have is your extensive facial tattooing, why don’t you tell us about those pieces.

James: Facial tattoos go back to me being a kid. I’m sure as kids we all painted on ourselves to look different or for fun. I remember seeing a magazine where a tribesman had designs tattooed on his face. I thought that was just beautiful. As a kid I then started painting my face, but to my disappointment it washed off. Then later I moved on to markers and pens and whatever I could get my hands on. My parents could not figure out why I was doing it. To me it felt… natural! Later on I would end up with my face covered in tattoos. It started off with me testing the waters, a spur of the moment tattoo. On my forehead I had a bullet hole wound tattooed, Which has since been covered up. On my one cheek I had a color organic bio-mech piece, the other a black and grey rotting jaw reconstruction. Later I added line work for my chin which is an eye with tentacles. And my bullet hole was covered up by skulls and bio-mech type style work.

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The cheeks represent a yin yang type thing, the color organic is to show people I am beautiful, I am nice and forgiving, and I have a good heart. The other cheek is to show that even though I’m good I still have bad in me like most do. The eyes and worm in it show I am human and my bad is a fault that will watch over me and feed on me until the day I die. The forehead piece actually is like a crude crown of skulls to show my imperfections. And the line work with tentacles holds everything together with the eye watching over all of me.

Sean: To an outsider, the facial tattoos would seem like the most life changing modification you have. However, knowing that you have been castrated, a modification which changes you chemically as well as just aesthetically, I would presume that is your biggest life changing mod. How did the desire to become a eunuch come about and how has life changed since the procedure?

James: At a young age and honestly, the motivation actually started with me wanting to be genderless. The feeling that I am not a male or female. At the time, I felt like my penis and testicles mostly didn’t belong. Though I never thought of just coming out and cutting them off. It was more of, “I do not like these, how can I rid myself of it?” This went on for years until I hit puberty. Then I really hated it. The sex drive is one thing I didn’t care for. Oddly enough I was having sex only to ease the craving I would get from the testosterone produced from my testicles. I then remember watching something about gender reassignment surgery. And then it hit me, maybe I could get my testicles removed and penis! At the very least my testicles!

I was young and for years I struggled with it. I felt like I was the only one. I then came across a site called the Eunuch Archive. And realized I wasn’t so alone. People have and wanted to get what I wanted. Most were going to surgeons to get this goal accomplished. It was then I learned full genital removal was like the city of gold, very few find it. So I made things reasonable for myself. Get castrated, and get it done so I could rid myself of what I was cursed with. In all honesty, I should have gone to a surgeon, but I didn’t. Instead I sought out a Cutter. It took a long time, but I found one. Once again I was faced with taking a chance, and I took it.

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The cutter I will not reveal, or where it was done. However, I will say he only required the supplies to do the procedure with. He did the procedure, left a stint in for draining purposes and sealed the scrotum up. I remember as my second testicle was being clipped from the body, it was an experience I won’t forget! The feeling of YES it is finally done! I remember it all like yesterday. Months after, and I’m talking 3-4 months of not taking testosterone shots or anything, I started getting hot flashes. Basically going through what a woman does in menopause. After that I no longer have them, life is good. My body hair is finer than it used to be. I can say I no longer want my penis gone, Ill keep it only because now I can tell castration really made me the person who I was supposed to be. My only worry now is osteoporosis.

Sean: I know that you didn’t go into the castration alone, you did it with your then partner, luvpain. How was this relationship?

James: My relationship with luvpain was up and down, not his fault. Its just I had jealousy problems which put strain on our relationship. We shared everything, including castration. Once we were both castrated, sex died down greatly which was okay. We started to cuddle more, kiss, caress and for fun I would do sexual things to him just to see if I could make another eunuch get off. Sorry for the blunt image. He is a wonderful soul and I feel ashamed of how I treated him since he has passed on. After that, I was actually in a relationship with a girl. Which is super odd. At first she was like how can we make this work if you don’t use your penis? I gave mostly oral sex and it lasted a while. Until she wanted me to move with her, I couldn’t do it. So we parted ways and I told her I hope she has a fulfilling life.

I have no preference sexually. I love both women, men, transgendered and what not. Even genderless people. For me a penis or vagina doesn’t matter. I look beyond that. As a eunuch, I think I can.

Sean: You have also removed your nipples, how did this mod fit into the overall plan?

James: Well the motivation for my nipple removal was simple, I wanted a Ken Doll-like effect. Unlike my castration nipple removal was purely cosmetic. I remember getting both done and keeping the nipple skin as a souvnir. I cannot remember what happend to it afterwards though.

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Sean: Trophies like that do tend to get lost over time. So you want a modded “Ken doll,” does this mean you have, or plan on getting a full penectomy?

James: I dont, I wish. I been trying to get a penectomy for years now. All I have is castration, a subincision and a head split.

Sean: “All I have”, haha, that is one way of looking at it! So is the penectomy on the long term plan? Are you just looking for a practitioner?

James: Penectomy is definatly still the plan, I once said that castration may suit me but I do want a penectomy. It’s who I am. I am not the type of person who wants a deep penectomy, one flush to the body will do me just fine. Getting a penectomy is like finding the lost city of gold, it exists possibly but very hard to get to.

Sean: Judging by what we have spoken about, and the pictures you submitted, you are extremely modified. Aside form the penectomy, are you done, or are more major modifications in your future?

James: As far as major mods go, I want a full body suit tattoo. I have a back piece going on with a full torso piece coming up. I want my left pinky tip amputated but that is to be decided. I have an amputation fetish. There is something about amputees, especially small digit amputations that really gets me going. Its more of a sexual thrill. I think a pinky tip missing is not only aesthetically pleasing but sexy at the same time. So it would only be in due time I would want the same beauty of what it offers unto myself.

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Sean: I assume you have you seen the toecutter videos on BME?

James: I have! I actually have! It was something to see too! For me watching the toecutter videos is equivalent to a normal guy watching porn! I know it sounds strange, but like I said before, small digit amputation gets me going. I remember seeing him using a chisel on one of his fingers. It was amazing, beautiful and erotic! I remember seeing pics of his feet to. He definitely has a craft for it.

Sean: I imagine your mods have a huge impact on your day to day life, but  what is your daily life like outside of the mods?

James: Well I work from home, pretty uneventful. Then I also have a second job which pays minimum wage. Washing dishes and cooking at a independent restaurant in my town. Lucky for me they know me and gave me a job and I work in the back where no one sees me. Then there is video games. I love video games. I actually own three video game consoles, the Nintendo Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. Tons of games, and an HDTV to get the best out of my gaming experience. I also meditate heavily, I tend to meditate in calm environments.

Sean: One last thing, I distinctly remember you from is your work on youngmodders.com. Since most of our readers probably won’t be familiar with that site, why don’t you tell them a bit about it.

James: I remember youngmodders.com WOW I was young then! I remember when Shannon was running things and I came to him with ideas, he seemed to think it was a good one and set me up with a site. The idea was to have young modified people run a site for those who were younger. A place for discussion and without judgment. I did say that once you reach I believe age 18 or over, you pass the torch to another young modder to take over. Many people do not know I was involved in that, me and another fellow. It was a highlight of my life that I still hold high in regards.

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James, Steve Haworth,  luvpain99

Where did all the BME Boys go?

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So far only one BME Boys Calendar entry has been posted. It seems the boys are a good bit shyer than the girls when it comes to submitting pictures. Hopefully, this post reminds him and some other BME Boys to submit pics to Lexci, either via her IAM page or the email address connected to her bio below her post. You can also email me ([email protected]), and just make the submission BME Boys Calendar, and I will get it forwarded to her.

While perusing the galleries I came across this Brazillian BME Boy, Raldy, who I thought some of you might be into. Since he didn’t submit this picture for the calendar, it is not here to vote on.

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BMEshop 30% off sale!

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As I have mentioned previously, BME’s world tour is going to be financed through a combination of sponsorships, my own personal income and BME’s income. Since I’m waiting on a couple of sponsorships to come through, I need to get a move on with booking our travel arrangements. Since I’ll be doing that on Friday after I confirm everything with the winners, I figured I’d kick off some fund raising efforts with a HUGE 30% off sale on BMEshop! Use the coupon code “worldtour” to get 30% on EVERYTHING except for needles, punches and anesthetics. Everything else is on sale though from Tshirts to Prints and Books, DVD’s to every kind of jewelry we have in stock! This is a great time to save some cash while getting something that you’ve been wanting and to help finance BME’s tour to bring us to a city near you!

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Brian caught my eye while I was browsing through the Facial Tattooing section over on BME. His work is by Eric Rignal at Inkstop tattoo in New York City.

The sale ends Friday! To recap, 30% off with “worldtour” discount code until Friday at BMEshop!

Behind the mask lies the real man

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Casper is not just a tattoo artist and piercer, he is also a hobbyist photographer and photo editor. It seems that with the advent of digital SLR cameras and photoshop that more and more artist from our community are getting into photography as well. I know Modblog readers like to complain when an image it obviously photoshopped, but I thought these were interesting enough to justify the editing. For more of Casper’s photography check out his Flickr page.

And for one more man behind the madness type of picture, keep on keeping on.

If you like photography, maybe you would be a good candidate for the BME World tour.

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And to close out “ear mod day”…

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I have a beautiful example of pulling a facial tattoo onto the ear and integrating it beautifully. Honestly, I do not find most heavy facial tattoos to be aesthetically pleasing. Don’t get me wrong, I have much respect for anyone taking on such a project, it’s just not something that usually appeals to me visually.

But Andrew here, sporting his latest facial tattooing being done by Andreas ‘Curly’ Moore, is certainly an exception. The tattoo just becomes a part of him and looks so natural on his face, I was immediately drawn to this picture when scrolling through the galleries.

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Don’t worry guys I won’t have my son with me tomorrow and I can try and dig up some entries with a  little more variety to hold you over until the BME Girls Calendar entry.