The Surface of a Pearl

One of the great things about surface piercings, especially temporary ones, is their ability to transform what could simply be a ring on the surface of the skin into a living form of art.  Take corseting for example.  While there is the fetish side of corseting, as well as the historical ties to restrain women (not to mention the need to achieve the desired body shape for the time), most corseting is done for aesthetics.  Now while this piece by Jane-Marie Ravelo from Rock Star Tattoo in South Beach, isn’t a corset, it does play off the stereotypical housewife in pearls that was prevalent in the 50s.  The idea that a woman should be happy to wear her string of pearls while doing chores and cooking for her man is thankfully outdated, yet with this piece you can see the parallels between it and corseting.  Where corset piercings are symbolic of a woman needing to bind herself to achieve a certain physical shape, this piercing reminds us of a time that women were taught to believe that a simple pearl necklace is all the satisfaction a woman needs.

Now, that all being said, you can also just appreciate a nice set of surface piercings on a pretty girl.

On a side note:  Do you know how hard it was to make this post without a single pearl necklace innuendo?

The Travelling Gnome

I’m sure most of us in North America have heard of the Travelling Gnome.  The idea is you steal someone’s garden gnome before you go on vacation, then take pictures of the gnome in places all over the world, which you send back to the person you stole the gnome from.  Then, when you return, you bring back the gnome and replace it as if it never left.  The result, you end up with a great story and experience, and the person who thought their gnome was gone for good gets a surprise in the mail (and their gnome back).  Of course over the years the gnome stories have spread all over becoming so popular that a travel booking website uses a gnome as its mascot.

Well it seems the gnome is still on the go, and it looks like his latest spot was in Italy, paying a visit to IAM: Lady_FlameThrower.  You may remember her from a ModBlog post a while back about her Watchmen scarification piece.  You can see in the photo below that the photographer Alex Hen is featuring not only the gnome, but also Lady_FlameThrower’s surface bar and dermal anchors.

gnome

So has the urge to steal a gnome ever crossed your mind?  The idea of stealing a gnome is only scratching the surface of what travelers do for fun with their photos.  I’ve seen collections of people holding up cardboard cutouts of friends, other keepsakes from houses, and more.  Well ModBlog readers, have you taken a gnome or something else on your travels to document the  journey?

Give Him Three Sides


And here we have the very lovely Naie, checking in from Vilnius, Lithuania! A cursory search of ModBlog seems to indicate that the only other times we’ve (knowingly) published people from Lithuania, they’ve been good-lookin’ dudes (including one enormous body builder), so we just want to set the record straight and confirm that they do indeed breed pleasant womenfolk as well. This has been your BME geography lesson for the day.

(Piercings done by the good folks at Modus in Vilnius, Lithuania.)

A Blue One and a Yellow One


Hello, ModBloggers! Let’s start the day off with this skin removal piece by Paulo Vitor, hanging out at Caos Body Art in sunny old Barra Bonita, Brazil, and, apparently, cheating at every game of Tic Tac Toe he possibly can. (More evidence after the jump.) Now, I’m not saying we need to question the integrity of body modification artists—not at all. Maybe just don’t turn your back on one during a game of strategy.

Welcome back, folks—we’ve got till noon, here comes the moon.

See more in Skin Removal Scarification (Scarification)

One in a Million, Doc


Well, this seems like as good a time as any for a good old-fashioned caption contest! I’ll try to kick things off:

“Coming soon to BME Shop: Chasstity Bars.”

You can do better than that, ModBloggers. And just to sweeten the deal, the best caption wins YOUR VERY OWN CAR MANUFACTURING PLANT! Get crackin’!

(“Just for fun” piercings by Joshua Becraft at Blue Horseshoe Tattoo in Virginia Beach.)

See more in Body Surface Piercing: Body (Surface & Unusual Piercing)

The Great Gymnasium


“Why?” asks the student. “Why ‘Needles’?”

“Because,” the swami answers, “that is his name.”

And then they danced.

(Really though, that’d be Needles, apprentice of Six at Toronto’s Exotix Studios, wearing a fine cutting of his own moniker.)

See more in Skin Removal Scarification (Scarification)

The Horror


This poor woman was among the innocent bystanders in the vicious Smurf attack on which we reported earlier. How does a person recover after being sprayed with the plasma of lovable cartoon character? Can you see how clearly distraught she is? Truly devastating. Luckily, she appears to be in the shower, which should certainly make us feel better. Err, which should make her feel better. Right. That’s it.

(Piercings by Adam Stokes and Nick at The Piercing Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada.)

See more in Bridge piercings (Eyebrow Piercing)

From Here You’ll Watch the World Go By


Tim Gunn checks in:

“So, Caralena, what have you got for us? Oh MY! I think that leopard-print headband is really daring, let me just say. And surrounding those lovely blue eyes with dark colors is doing it for me. It is. Oh, and juxtaposing the blues of your eyes with the bright pink beads on your surface piercing? You have made it work, my friend.”

Thanks, Tim!

(Legendary Pink Dots anti-eyebrow/surface piercing by the folks at Skullfly Tattoo and Piercing in Eugene, Oregon.)

See more in Facial Surface Piercing (Surface & Unusual Piercing)