No pain, regrets with temporary tattoos

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Tired of the same old thing? Then why don't you try something different, like having a tattoo. The good news is that you can have a non-permanent one. It will fade after only a few weeks.

Moreover, there is no need to fear that the needles will hurt you, or that you have to wait for hours for the process to be completed.

The temporary tattoo, as many teenagers here have dubbed it, uses brushes to apply the ink and will take less than an hour to dry out.

Many celebrities, including actresses like Mira Sorvino, Demi Moore, Liv Tyler and Madonna, are known to have tattoos.

And here, tattoos have also become a trend, just like other fashions.

In public places teenagers and even adults proudly display their skin art to the public without fear of being associated with criminals as used to be the case.

"It's temporary and painless," said Nila, 19-year-old university student of her experience of having a tattoo of a rose painted on her waist.

She said she only followed the trend. "Many of my friends also have had themselves tattooed and I think it's cool," Nila said.

She proudly displayed her tattoo while wearing a tight red mini shirt that stops just a few centimeters above her waist when she went to Seibu shopping mall with some friends.

"And my boyfriend loves it... he thinks it's sexy," she added with a laugh.

As if anticipating the trend, temporary tattoo services can be found in many shopping centers and even cafes.

Cafe Kupu-Kupu in Bulungan, South Jakarta, for one, offers services for both temporary and permanent tattoos.

"Our customers are from all walks of life. Children, teenagers, executives, even older women and men. Maybe because the designs are artistic, not scary," said Natasha Manurung of Cafe Kupu-Kupu.

Tattooing is a serious business as the ink, which comes in powder form, is imported directly from Australia, tattoo artists say.

"The tattoo business is booming here," said Natasha.

To have a temporary tattoo is not difficult. Interested customers can select the most desirable pattern from several catalogs available in stores. One can pick various patterns, ranging from the funny representing cartoon characters to the more exotic items like dragons, butterflies or flowers.

Prices for getting a tattoo are reasonable and mostly depend on size. Simple designs that look like a ring cost about Rp 15,000 while Rp 25,000 will get you a bracelet. But a dragon tattoo will force you to dig deeper into your wallet as it will cost around Rp 50,000.

"The simplest pattern is our most popular," a male employee of a tattoo corner at the Metro Pondok Indah shopping mall said, referring to the bracelet tattoo. "But the dragon pattern is also popular. Maybe because they say dragons bring luck to you," he added.

Applying a temporary tattoo is not as complex as applying a permanent one. Most of the time the shop assistant will directly sketch the selected pattern on to the customer's skin. After the sketch is completed, the assistant will draw out a deeper color with ink.

A bracelet tattoo, for instance, is usually completed in less than 15 minutes and one will only have to wait for about an hour for it to dry. Most temporary tattoos last for at least three weeks.

To have a permanent tattoo is almost the same as having to make a lifetime decision. One cannot back out after the tattoo is applied, unless you have a bundle of money to undergo plastic surgery.

In creating permanent tattoos, the artist will make the sketch before beginning to prick one's skin with buzzing needles full of ink.

Unlike a temporary tattoo, it might take weeks for the permanent variety to heal. Once finished, the permanent tattoo needs to be bandaged for at least three hours before washing, it is not to be rubbed or scrubbed for several weeks. And one should apply hand lotion for two weeks and then stay out of the sun for a few more weeks.

It is the simplicity of temporary tattoos that makes teenagers interested in having them. Apart from teenagers, some children, who are accompanied by their parents, and adults wearing elegant clothes, can also be seen lining up to have their bodies tattooed.

"It's okay if they want to be tattooed on an open part of their bodies like the wrist, arm or ankle, but if they want to have it on their shoulders, waist or chests, I feel uncomfortable," admitted a shop assistant at a tattoo corner in Mal Taman Anggrek shopping mall in West Jakarta of his female customers.

Some women do like being tattooed on special parts of their bodies.

Ina, not her real name, had her left chest tattooed with a flowery pattern before her friend's wedding party last month.

"My gown makes it possible for me to display my tattoo. My friends like it, they tell me it's very attractive," said the former stewardess of a private airline.

Now, when the color is fading, Ina is already planning to have another tattoo. "I want to have a dragon tattoo on my arm. Not a big one, a small one will be just fine," she said.

It is not only women who are lured into having tattoos to follow the trend, but also men.

Dani, a student of the Gunadarma University in Depok, has just had a dragon tattoo on his left arm.

"My friends persuaded me to have this one... but I like it although some people might be scared of me," he said, laughing.

But he did not regret having a temporary tattoo.

"If it's gone, no problem with me. I didn't want to have a permanent tattoo in the first place. I just followed my friends," Dani said.

Some people, however, were already attracted to the skin art long before temporary tattooing became a trend here.

Ira, a university student, had wanted to have a tattoo for a long time but kept canceling her plan after many people, including her parents, told her of the painful process.

She said that for her a tattoo was not simply part of a trend but more a personal thing. And she was not afraid of people's response to her tattoo.

"Tattoos don't change people. They're simply coloring your skin, not your personality," Ira said wistfully.

Now, she has tattooed her left shoulder with a butterfly pattern and has a bracelet on her left ankle.

"Because a permanent one is almost impossible for me, a temporary one will be just fine. If my tattoos fade away, I will have them done again," promised Ira.