Feeling uninspired by traditional tattooing, several people in HCM City have chosen a new, more vivid form of the art which includes deliberately scaring their skin.
Scars make a new tattoo
In order to have an expected tattoo of this option, a costumer has to endure severe pain when the tattooist cuts out huge pieces of his skin to facilitate the process.
A tattoo of such kind develops as a result of well-designed scars on the customer’s skin.
New trend
Qui, 19, the son of a gold shop owner in HCM City’s Ben Thanh Market was very proud of his special tattooed lips and tongue.
“I was bored with everything else, so I put up with the pain to get new tattooa,” Qui shared.
According to Qui, the traditional form of tattoo was done using injection needles to prick the customer’s skin following a pre-drawn design before injecting the chosen colours.
For those who are more yellow-bellied, temporary tattoos are an ideal alternative option as it allows them to remain trendy without the burden of a possible permanent mark.
However, sick skin tattoos are the fiercest and most stylish way to express their individualism. Now he has some on his arms.
Qui is not the sole fan of sick skin tattoos. Hai, who lived on working as a hired debt collector in HCM City’s District No. 4, is notorious for a dragon holding a bloody skull in its mouth on his back. It’s a product of sick skin tattooing.
This new trend of tattooing is not only popular among men but also has attracted some young women.
Loan, 21, a student at a private university in HCM City’s District No. 3, is also an avid fan.
After trying different types of tattooing, she emulated with her friends by getting a sick skin tattoo early this year. She now feels very proud whenever showing her outstanding tattoo to her friends.
Strange ideology
Each sick skin tattoo carries a certain meaning to the owner but most of all it’s about expressing their individuality.
Many Saigonese are choosing sick skin tattoos
A young Vietnamese spent nearly USD20,000 on travelling to New York to get a sick skin tattoo.
Both Qui and Loan also got their sick skin tattoo from overseas services.
Qui, who got a sick skin tattoo from Thailand, shared, “It requires top technique to make such a tattoo. Amateur tattooists cannot do it. A minor error during the process could destroy the entire product.”
Almost all the fan of sick skin tattoos consider them to offer protection from bad luck.
An anonymous sick skin tattoo fan said they believed that mysterious curved tattoo on his back is a symbol of maturity or bravery among indigenous peoples in South America.
Some other believe that possessing a sick skin tattoo with monstrous designs proves their power and great domination in the community.
T, an owner of a tattooing shop in Hoang Van Thu Street of HCM City’s Phu Nhuan District, said he met a young woman who had a tattoo resembling a tulip flower on her hip. She thought that the tattoo helped enhance her charm and was an indicator of her passionate in love affairs.
Trung, also a owner of a tattooing shop in District No. 1, shared that the trend of sick skin tattooing has only developed in Vietnam recently and all fans of such pleasure have to get the jobs done overseas, mostly in the US and Taiwan, as the country current has no shop that can provide it.
“I don’t think sick skin tattoo is an art due to fierce pains it causes customers. This type of tattooing also poses some health concerns, including dermatitis and possible HIV/AIDS infection,” Khanh Huan, an tattoo shop owner added.