Lotus Shambhala

The lovely Adhara graces our presence again today with her newest tattoo.  Now I know that you’re thinking this is just henna, but that’s exactly what she wants you to think.  Adhara is a member of a belly dancing troupe and this is the group’s logo, hennafied/mendhi styled by Adhara and tattooed by Kayli Curry from InkAholics Tattoo Studio in Maryland.

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A different kind of mehndi

Using a typically mehndi style of flower, this scar by Jesse Villarreal from Main Street Tattoo and Body Piercing in Merced, CA captures the essence of the design in a format that is the opposite of the traditional style.  While traditionally done on the hands and feet, henna is essentially a temporary skin dye which permeates the top layers of the skin leaving the design visible for some time.  With the scar, those layers of skin have been removed, creating a design that will last for the rest of the person’s life.

You can see more of this piece by Jesse in the scarification galleries.

Full Coverage: Links From All Over (June 9, 2009)

[Goldcoast] As we’ve discussed in the past, henna is, above most other things, an insidious plot by any number of shadowy poison syndicates to horrifically mangle and mutilate your young children. Don’t believe it? Well listen, then, to the tale of young Cannon Cribb:

The five-year-old recently returned from Bali where locals painted a dragon on his arm with what his parents now realise was a substance containing para-phenylenediamine (PPD).

All was fine until the tattoo wore off completely and the entire area welted into the shape of the original image, some two weeks after it was first put on.

The family now fear Cannon will be left with a life-long scar.

First of all, this kid’s name is Cannon. How awesome is that? Even money that he’s already the most popular in his class just because of that, and now he’s got a dragon on his arm? Look, it’s terrible in a lot of ways and something clearly has to be done about the shitbags who keep using this low-grade junk (it’s actually the additive PPD and not henna itself that causes this reaction, and the boy’s mother makes a very valid point: “‘What if a little girl got a butterfly on her face?”), but holy crap this kid is going to get so much ass. I mean, not as a five-year-old. Oh, God, no. We don’t support that. Plus, it’s not really physiologically possible. Hopefully. Who knows what kinda mutant hormones they’re draining into milk these days.

[Showbiz Spy] So hey, here is a very important article about popular sex actress Megan Fox, who, as it turns out, is just like everyone else out there who was mildly overbearing parents! Megan was all, “Hey I want to get tattooed,” and her mom was all, “But you’re so pretty already,” and Megan was all, “But I really really want a sleeve,” and her mom was all, “There’ll be none of that under my roof, young lady,” and Megan was all, “I’M A GROWN WOMAN I CAN DO WHAT I WANT,” and her mom was all, “RAAAAAAR NO YOU WON’T, NOW EAT YOUR BRUSSELS SPROUTS,” and so Megan ran to her room and slammed the door and cried herself to sleep, the end.

Megan Fox’s mother, Darlene, hates it when her superstar daughter gets a new tattoo.

Darlene is apparently furious at the Transformers star’s plans to cover her entire right arm in a tattoo “sleeve.”

“Her mom has never understood why her daughter would want to cover her gorgeous body with tattoos,” said an insider. “After each new tattoo, Darlene pleaded with Megan not to get more.

“Darlene believes that when Megan is a 40-year-old woman wanting to play more mature roles, people won’t want to hire her because it will be too hard to cover her tattoos.”

God it must really suck to be Megan Fox these days.

[NBA FanHouse] And finally, in celebration of tonight’s game three of everyone’s favorite NBA Finals between the Lakers and Magic, here is another heartbreaking tale of authoritarian power trying to limit the expression of tattooed people, except instead of parents it’s a multi-billion dollar clothing company, and instead of Megan Fox it’s a seven-foot-tall Polish man. Practically the same thing. Anyway, Marcin Gortat, back-up center for Orlando, has been a pleasant surprise for anybody betting on the Magic these playoffs, but apparently his sponsor, Reebok, is none too pleased with the way he’s chosen to adorn himself with terrible inky idolatry:

[Gortat] received an uncomfortable phone call last weekend from Reebok, with whom he has a shoe contract. Representatives of the company were not happy to see a picture of him from Game 1 in a Polish newspaper that prominently displayed his Michael Jordan/Nike logo tattoo on his lower right leg.

Reebok asked him either to wear higher socks tonight to cover up the tattoo, or to apply makeup so it will not be noticed through the rest of the NBA Finals.

“They called and said I had to do something about it, but that ain’t going to happen,” Gortat said after Tuesday morning’s workout.

“I’ve been wearing it 4-5 years now, and it helped me get to the NBA,” said Gortat. “They didn’t say anything about it when I signed the contract, so it’s not going anywhere. I don’t think they are paying me enough to take it off.”

This is hardly a first for Reebok. A few years back, San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan decided to forgo the usual NFL coach’s warm-up jacket and track-pants ensemble and wear a suit on the sidelines. Which would have been fine, had Reebok not been the official provider of sideline clothing for the league’s coaches, and so the NFL denied him his suits. Finally, because this was such a stupid story, everyone lightened up and Reebok just designed some suits for him to wear. All of which is to say, we’re all praying for Gortat when he is inevitably captured by Reebok’s thugs and has his little Air Jordan logo covered with a Reebok-approved pump.

Temporary Tattoos Are Trying to Kill Your Children

Photo credit: Mirror.co.uk

The conventional wisdom is well established at this point: Outside of certain cultural traditions, henna tattoos are something you get done as a vacation time-killer in between having your hair put into cornrows and getting hit on by swarthy European millionaires who want nothing more than an afternoon with someone else’s wife. Harmless, right? WRONG. Dead wrong. Henna’s bloodlust knows no bounds and, make no mistake, it’s coming for you. You and your children. This red-inked menace is even taking the shape of beloved American cartoon characters in its quest to disfigure and mutilate the youth of today:

A boy of three was scarred for life after suffering horrific burns from a dodgy holiday henna tattoo of Bart Simpson.

Vinnie England got the temporary image of his TV hero from a Spanish street stall.

But the trader may not have been using the safe, natural henna he claimed because Vinnie suffered an appalling reaction. His skin became inflamed, sore and blistered.

Now he has a three-inch bright red outline of Bart drying his backside on his forearm.

The ink has since faded from this young hero’s arm, but the scar may be permanent (probably not). Some suspect that the ink may have been mixed with a low-cost hair dye called PPD, which is known for instigating poor skin reactions and is commonly combined with henna, but who are you going to believe? Those fat-cats shilling for the multi-billion dollar henna industry? I think not.

Three-year-old scarred for life by henna tattoo of Bart Simpson done in Benidorm [Mirror.co.uk]