Well, glow in the dark tattoos are actually two very different kinds of tattoos, depending on what the main material is that they are made from, besides the ink. They can be a phosphorus-based ink that is basically invisible during the day, making them the perfect type of tattoo for professionals who don’t want their tattoos to show up during the day. But at night, they glow with their own fiery light. The other kind of glow in the dark tattoo is a UV tattoo, called this because of the Ultraviolt light that is needed to see the tattoo. Although these are both true glow in the dark tattoos, there are differences between the two that are important to know if you are considering getting one.

Glow in the Dark Phosphorus Tattoos

An ordinary tattoo is usually a metal-based pigment suspended in either a vegetable or plastic medium. This is what gives them their distinctive look, and the colors in tattoos are achieved the same way. However, for a glow in the dark tattoo that is completely invisible during the day and only shows up at night, a different medium is used. For a tattoo that will simply glow without the help of black lights, phosphorus is added. The addition of the phosphorus ink can be either for the entire tattoo, or it can be added as a special effect in a current regular tattoo.

But the thing that anyone getting a glow in the dark phosphorus tattoo needs to stay aware of is that phosphorus is a known carcinogen and has some safety concerns attached to it. There is no known phosphorus solution that the FDA has yet approved as safe. Because the side effects of phosphorus when it comes in contact with skin are severe blistering, severe pain and rashes, some tattoo parlors will not even consider working with them.

UV Glow in the Dark Tattoos

The other alternative if you want a glow in the dark tattoo is to use UV inks, some of which are even approved for use by the FDA as safe to use. These tattoos will only show up when exposed to UV light or what is commonly called “black light”, making them perfect for clubbing. Because a wide range of items glow under UV light, including club soda, vitamins A and B and even white cloth, it is easier to find a safe material to make these inks. In fact, there are glow in the dark UV tattoos with colors such as blue and red as well as the usual glowing white.

So you see, when you ask just what are glow in the dark tattoos, the answer is a little more complicated then you would think. The basic idea is pretty cool, that you have a tattoo that is completely invisible until night. Most of the glow in the dark tattoos I have seen take advantage of the “spooky” nature of them and have a goth skeleton theme to them. You have to admit – having a glowing skeleton on your arm that only shows up at night or when you are under a black light can be pretty awesome looking!

But then there were some paparazzi pics of her that definitely showed off her knuckles, and this time it looks more like the gal has indeed gone and done the deed.

But the celebrity tattoo bonehead move to beat them all came when boxing champ Floyd Mayweather tweeted pics of his 13 year old son’s new tattoos, which are not small or insignificant.

Of course, part of me is not exactly pleased that Mayweather has bad enough judgment to allow someone like 50cent to “babysit” his son. Yes, I have heard the word –they are good friends and both have sons and have been seen hanging together a lot lately. Doesn’t change the fact the kid is just 13. In fact, without the father to give permission, whoever did the tattoo should not have done it.

But I guess if you are a tattoo artist and 50Cent walks into your place wanting a bunch of tattoos for his friends son, who am I to deny that bit of glory?  With any luck, the things will fade in a week or two. But they look pretty permanent in the pics I have seen.

And finally, Dallas Bradan has to have gotten one of the silliest tattoos for any celebrity tattoo I have seen for a while. Dallas is the pitcher for the Oakland As baseball team. He had recently done a commercial shoot with famed baseball pitcher Rollie Fingers and must have been really impressed by the guy. Not long after the shoot, there he was showing off his latest tattoo – of Rollie riding a dolphin over a rainbow. Not sure what the significance of the dolphin and rainbow are – but aren’t they cute?

So it may only be January but I think this may be the biggest year yet for a new batch of weird and wild celebrity tattoos. I guess only time will tell!

Royal Tattoos

The one person who really made tattooing popular amongst the upper class however was when the Prince of Wales visited Jerusalem in 1862 and had a tattoo done at the time to commemorate the visit. It was a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross and he not only got the tattoo done, but his sons when they were older had the same tattoo done by the same tattoo artist. We know this because they wrote home about it at the time. Both of them, including the Duke of York who was later to be King George the V were said to have even more tattoos, as they also had tattoos done while they were in Japan. This is because their father instructed their tutor to take them to the master tattoo artist Hori Chiyo while they were there. The truth is, many royal houses in Europe embraced tattoos. For a look at just how many, be sure to read this reproduction of an article from a magazine published in 1898 that names just who in the many royal houses of Europe had tattoos. You may be surprised.

Tattoos and Crime

Another area where tattoos began to surface in Europe in the 19^th Century was for the identification of bodies. The most well known case was of a body found in Berlin in the 1850s that started a discussion of the use of tattoos to ID the dead. The publicity that surrounded this particular case created a storm of discussion on the use of tattoos for identification amongst the various law enforcement groups in Europe. Criminologists and forensic scientists soon were brought into the discussions with police officers and the talk continued throughout the century. A record of these discussions on why people got tattooed, what various tattoos could tell us about the person (such as their country of origin) and the various techniques employed for tattooing are still a valuable resource for tattoo historians today.

As you can see, the use of tattoos was much more widespread during the 19^th Century then our fuzzy concept of “Victorian Europe” could possibly comprehend. Royalty had numerous tattoos, the underclass used them as a source of pride and many police experts looked upon tattoos as an identification device for unidentified bodies. All in all, it seems that there may well have been a fairly vast underground world of tattoo art during the 19^th Century in Europe.

But the tattoos that pretty much floored me the other day were ones I saw in a fashion blog I was checking out for a client. It seems that a couple of gals decided it would be fun to create some temporary tattoos that you can sport on your boobs. On your ta-tas. I don’t know- what do you call them? Whatever you call them, I am not so sure that I would want even a set of temporary tattoos on them.

All I know is I tend to avoid t-shirts that have slogans placed strategically across “the chest” so why on earth would anyone want to put a couple of slogans on the skin? But it has gotten some good press across the web, well heck here I am writing about it! If you really do want to check it out, the site and I think company name is Ta-Ta Toos (okay- I will admit that is kinda cute) and you can see if this is what you want for your next birthday party right here.

1. Ask to see their autoclave and be sure you get a good look to see that the sterilization certificate is up to date. Note: An autoclave is really just a big pressure cooker that makes sure that everything is sterile. It is a good idea to see it up close and personal to see for yourself that it is clean and well kept. If they act like it is too much work to show it to you, don’t go to that shop.
2. Watch one of the tattoo artists at work – is he wearing gloves? Note: Artists need to wear gloves anytime they are dealing with tattooing because of the possibility of infection. Even though this is more to protect the artist than you, it shows responsibility and you want that in someone sticking a needle in you!
3. Does the artist have a training certificate? – This one should be obvious, you want someone who knows what they are doing!
4. Has everyone who tattoos been vaccinated for hepatitis? – This may be a low in your state or may not be, but you should ask. The better tattoo parlors do this voluntarily and it is a sign that they are a place where you don’t have to worry about the spread of disease.
5. Autoclave Needles are removed in front of you – This is to be sure that they are actually using the sterile needles when they do your tattoo. You should tell them this when you first come in, and if they act affronted, don’t use that place.

We know that prehistoric man had tattoos, although they were fairly crude affairs, because even the famous Ice Man found in Switzerland has them. But we don’t know why the 40,000 year old mummified hunter has them. In Rome tattoos were considered barbaric and used to denote slaves and in later European history tattoos were pretty much out of the picture entirely.

But when Cook and his sailors hit the Polynesian islands they were fascinated by the islanders and even borrowed the Tahitian word for them: tattoo. The facial tats on the Maori tribal members and full-body designs that included the buttocks on the Tahitians were minutely recorded by the expedition artist and astounded European audiences.

Sailors were fascinated by the ritual and soon had their own tattoos with their own meanings. In fact, the anchor we see on Popeye’s arm is a symbol that the wearer has crossed the Atlantic, no mean feat in the days of sailing ships. A sailor with a turtle on his arm was showing off he had crossed the equator. Gradually the concept of a tattoo for each port of call became popular and by the 1800s 90% of all US Navy sailors had a tattoo. And because the areas where sailors tended to gather was not exactly high class, tattoo parlors sprang up in seedy areas and were then associated with the lower class.

For a brief while in the late 1800s tattoos came out of the lower classes when the Duke of York, who later was to be King George V of England, had a dragon tattoo. This is when Jennie Churchill, Winston’s mother, got her serpent tattoo that went around her wrist like a inky bracelet. Still, she must have had a bit of rebel in her to sport a tattoo, because even then the idea of a woman with a tattoo was pretty risqué.

Even today far more men have tattoos than women. Back when they began their modern surge of popularity in the 70s most tattoo parlors would be lucky to see more than a handful of women in the course of a year come in for a tattoo. From Oxford dons to hip-hop artists, almost anyone you can name is liable to walk into a tattoo parlor these days and roll up a sleeve, or pant leg. And they are still by and large a very personal piece of art.