Illustrated by Ly Ngo.
It's official: The art of tattooing has moved into the mainstream. A recent survey conducted by a money-saving website, VoucherCodesPro, reveals that one-in-three Britons who have a tattoo claim to be addicted to them. Woah, there. In age when attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, why is such a permanent form of skin artistry becoming so popular?
The survey asked over 1,800 people from the U.K. aged 18 and over about their tattoos and their opinion of them. Of the people who admitted to having a tattoo, 46 percent were between 18 and 25 and 37 percent were between 27 and 40 years of age. Thirty-four percent of these individuals agreed that they were addicted to this inky art form, while a paltry 16 percent said they regretted getting a tattoo in the first place.
The survey also revealed the top three factors people considered when deciding to get a tattoo; the first being the reputation of the tattoo parlour, followed by the personal meaning of the tattoo itself, and the price of the permanent design. If we take as an example two of our favourite inked celebrities, Cara Delevingne and Rihanna, these top three reasons are pretty spot on. The supermodel and the singer have both visited the legendary tattoo artist Bang Bang, a.k.a. Keith McCurdy, for their indelible designs. And, while we can only guess at the meaning behind their tats (seriously Cara what is with the silence tat?), we're pretty sure we'll continue to see more body art as self expression from these celebs and others. Whether that means full sleeves remains to be seen.