Blog posts of '2015' 'February'

Aaliyah had three tattoos. She had a Shooting Star with an "A" to celebrate her love of being on stage and her feeling that she was going places. Her friends Kidada Jones and Nicole Richie share similar tattoos. She also had a music symbol, another tattoo in dedication to performing music. Aaliyah had a dove tattoo as dedication to her grandmother. She always said that one hurt the most but it was worth it because of sentimental significance. Dovetattoos often mean peace, tranquility or the holy spirit.


Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 - August 25, 2001) was an American singer and dancer. She became famous during the 90's with several hit records including "Are You That Somebody," "Rock the Boat" and "One in a Million" which was produced by Timbaland and Missy Elliot and sold over one 11 million copies. In addition to her musical success, she also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two movies. On August 25, 2001 she was returning home from filming a music video in the Bahamas when her plane went down, killing a total of nine people.

African tribal tattoo art is among the most unique forms of indigenous tattoo art. While most types of tattooing techniques and designs ultimately originated with the principles of opening the skin and rubbing in some sort of pigment that would remain under the skin after the wound had healed, African tribal tattoo art is actually a texturing process rather than simply a dying or pigmentation process. This makes it not only unique due to the procedure, but also unique because it can be quite painful. It is not surprising that African tribal tattooing is often used to mark passage into manhood or womanhood, which can also be very painful if one is part of an indigenous African tribe. 

There are a fair number of indigenous tribes in Africa today. Some are nearly untouched by the modern world, while others preserve many of their rich traditions while also interacting with their more modern neighbors on a regular basis. Either way, the African tribal tattooing process is both primitive and elaborate. To get an African tribal tattoo, one must work with someone who is well versed in the art. Usually, in an indigenous tribe, these would be some form of elders who would supervise a child's passage into adulthood, arrange marriages and officiate in public meetings. The African tribal tattoo design is cut into the flesh with a knife or other sharp object. Because of the dark pigmentation of most African people, simply pigmenting or dying the cuts is not sufficient to create a clear, distinct tattoo design. To resolve this issue, the cuts are packed with dust, ashes or colored soil to create a raised design. The resulting scar is the tattoo. 

Of course, this practice is by nature excruciatingly painful, but it will clearly indicate whether a girl becoming a woman or a boy becoming a man will be able to withstand the difficulties of living the often hard life that is part of membership in an African indigenous tribe. These tattoos are highly prone to infection since the tools used are seldom sterilized according to modern standards, and packing any wound with dirt poses an inherent risk to healthy healing. However, these tattoos, which often indicate age, affiliation and rank, are highly prized because they are not only symbolic of a major accomplishment in determination and hardiness, but they also are ruggedly beautiful and work in conjunction with the lines of the body to create an beautiful and mysterious element of danger. Furthermore, certain tribal symbols often indicate particular milestones or accomplishments, and having one of these symbols literally engraved on the body is a way to let everyone know your worth to yourself and your tribal family. 

In more modern areas of the world, African tribal tattoo art is popular as a way to remain in touch with one's roots and celebrate one's history. Darker, ethnic skin tones often react differently to the tattooing process than lighter tones, and some scarification is not uncommon with darker skin tones. Also, often a greater quantity of dark ink is necessary to make the tattoo visible on the darker skin, so this can also contribute to the inflammation and irritation in the area that leads to a raised design once the tattoo is healed. 

Traditional African tribal tattoos often originate in West Africa. These designs indicate certain characteristics about the owner of the tattoo, and they are highly indicative of a closeness to one's heritage. For example, adrinka designs, which are geometric symbols, include the adinkrahene, which indicates greatness of character and charisma, and the akoma, which means literally the heart and indicates patience and tolerance. Just as with any other tattoo design that you might get that is in a language or symbolic text that is not your native tongue, you should always work with an expert or a scholar before actually getting a traditional African tribal tattoo inked on your skin to make sure that you are very clear about the meaning of your new tattoo. African mask tattoo designs are also extremely popular and are a great way to show appreciation for art, culture and heritage all at once.

Show me more African Tribal Tattoo Designs

Are you going to a rave, or a really hot club? Is there a masquerade, festival or party coming up, and you really want to make an impression? Then maybe its time to consider airbrush body art tattoo designs.

With them, you can transform yourself into nearly anything from a wood nymph, to a fairy, to a monster or demon. You can use art to transform your body from flesh into a magical canvas showing hints and peeks into a strange and magical land. You can become a cosmic goddess covered in suns and stars, or a goddess of nature whos body art displays butterflies and flowers.

Regardless of what image you choose to portray, with full-body airbrushed temporary tattoos, youre sure to illicit some kind of response!

In an interview right after the release of her multi-platinum album ''Jagged Little Pill'', Alanis Morissette said, "No tattoos. During the last 27 years, there hasn't been one word or phrase that I felt I would be able to look at every day and think, "I still believe that." I dig the word faith. But I don't want a tattoo on me that says faith. Apparently, Alanis changed her mind later because now she has a tattoo on her left forearm that says "Gentle" in cursive script.

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer/songwriter and sometimes actress. Although she began her career as a child actress in Canada, shequickly moved on to pop stardom, recording two dance-pop albums under MCA. However, her rock-influenced ''Jagged Little Pill'' became an international hit in the late nineties. It remains the best selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S. and the highest selling debut album worldwide in music history. Through her career, she has won 12 June Awards, seven Grammy Awards and sold over 55 million albums worldwide. Morissette has been romantically involved with Dave Coulier and Ryan Reynolds.