Matthew Whelan 48 Hr Full Body Tattoo Challenge

A TATTOO-obsessed Midlander (from Stetchford, Birmingham)is planning an eye-watering world record session under the needle – to cover his ENTIRE BODY in ink.

Determined Matthew Whelan, 31, admits he is risking his health to complete the dangerous 48-hour challenge.

He is already known to friends as Body Art because of his multiple tattoos –and has even legally changed his name to King of Inkland.
Now unemployed Matthew is bidding to break the world endurance record by suffering an excruciating TWO DAYS of tattooing to cover his whole body.

"My body is a temple, and these are the decorations,".

"I know it’s a risk to take on this much tattooing in one go, it’s a huge amount of stress to put on your body."

"There is a heart attack risk, and there’s a possibility of blood poisoning. It’s like any endurance event, there are risks and rewards."

"At the moment I’m interviewing tattoo artists to find someone I can trust for the world record bid next month."

The Brummie first went under the needle at the age of 16. Now he has had so much ink on his body that he will have to undergo laser removal treatments to make room for new artwork.

"I would class myself as only having one tattoo, I have got one body and all the designs are all part of the same piece of art," he said.

And the "King" gets a strong reaction to his extraordinary appearance when he is out and about.

"I see it as extreme art, it provokes people, they see you and they go Whoa!," he said.

"That’s one of the reasons I’m taking on this record, I want to keep pushing boundaries."

"There’s no guarantee that I’ll succeed, the last person to try and do it went into extreme shock after just 17 hours. I’ve had long sessions before, up to 14 hours, but this is unknown territory and obviously very dangerous."

Tattooing may be a lifestyle choice, but the "King" says his love of ink has led to discrimination in the job market.

"Getting work has been a problem, there is a lot of discrimination and most places have a very strict dress code," he said.

"My family have mixed reactions. My dad hates tattoos, but my sister loves them."

"Mostly they don’t really understand why I’ve done this to my body, they think I’ve ruined myself."

"My gran and some of the others say to me, ‘you used to be good looking and now you’ve ruined it."

"I don’t see it that way. As far as I’m concerned, my body is a work of art."

Sources
La Sumisa
Sunday Mercury


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Latest Trend: Dental Tattoos

Getting your body inked is passe. GenNext is going for dental tattoos, so don’t be surprised if the girl next door breaks into a toothy grin to show off an angel or a skull, depending on choice of design.

"The trend is fairly popular among urban Indians. In the last two-three years, dental tattoos have gained popularity especially as youth today are more savvy and adventurous than before", Heman Verma, orthodontist and implantologist, Dental Styler in Gurgaon, told IANS.

"College-goers and young professionals these days like to leave a distinct impression among their peer group by making a unique style statement. Dental tattooing offers them an option to do so."
Although the trend is relatively new in India, in the West it is a common phenomenon and has been in use for many years.

"Dental tattoos are not new; it started in the West about 8-10 years ago when hiphop singers and rappers started sporting them in their music videos and then youngsters started aping them. In India, it became popular in the last couple of years," said Mumbai-based Ranganatha Rao K. Jingade, a dental surgeon.

The age group that usually goes in for dental tattoo treatments is 14-35 years. Both girls and boys go for the procedure. Girls like to get stars, apples or angels while boys like to get more masculine designs like skulls or geometric patterns.

Animal shapes are also quite popular. Other designs that are usually preferred are of name initials, heart and arrow, musical symbols, bull, mickey mouse, arrow, sign of victory and lips.
Dental tattoos are of two types – temporary and permanent.

In case of temporary tattoos, designs are in the form of templates that are stuck on the teeth. Various kinds of designs are available. You can also get a custom-made design in a dental laboratory, which your dentist can then stick on your teeth. "Permanent tattoos are drilled on the teeth. Once done you cannot get them removed," explained Verma.

"While sticking a temporary tattoo takes just 15-20 minutes, drilling permanent tattoos can take hours depending on the design," Shikha Pahwa, a cosmetic dentist at Everbrite Dental Clinic in Chandigarh, told IANS.

"There are no side effects, but it depends on a person’s dental hygiene. If a person is lacking hygiene, then there could be cavities – but this can happen even without a tattoo."

Usually the preferred areas for dental tattoos are the upper lateral incisors, upper canine, premolars and molars. Although the procedures are not painful, it does burn a whole in your pocket.

"The dental tattoo procedures that we undertake costs anywhere between Rs.10,000 and Rs.15,000, depending on the design and detailing," added Pahwa.
However, if you don’t want an elaborate design, you might get lucky by paying a lesser amount.

"For a basic design one may be required to shell out Rs.800 and the cost increases as the design becomes more intricate and complex. It may reach up to Rs.15,000," said Verma.

In order to be a part of the latest fashion trend, many are willing to loosen their purse strings.

"I saw a dental tattoo for the first time recently when my friend got it done. Everyone gets a tattoo on the body but this is different. That’s why even I’m planning to get one very soon," said Monisha Rawat, a 19-year-old student.

"The best part is it’s not even painful, unlike body tattoos," she added.

Sources
News One
La Sumisa


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