Body Modifications: Beauty is Skin Deep

While major body modifications are very noticeable and exaggerated, there are other forms that have a great historical background, but have been heavily used in recent days to create subtle, yet impressive, body art. These include alterations to the skin called scarification (cutting and branding) as well as subdermal saline injections.

Scarification is any permanent damage done to the skin. This has been a cultural instrument, much like tattoos, for many tribal civilizations as a ritual that has even been known to produce euphoric effects. In today’s world, modern technology has made it easier to safely damage flesh without many of the risks associated with such means. Both cutting and branding can now be broken down into a scientific process that is minimally harmful, and can be somewhat reversed by skin grafts should the need arise.

Cutting refers to simply cutting skin, usually into designs, and popularized today as an alternative to tattoos. Instead of ink, trained artists surgically slice the skin using scalpels, then allow the tissue to heal, but leaving a slight gap for scar tissue to form (while still keeping it clean to prevent infection or bleeding out). Many people prefer this method to tattoos because the process is less painful than injecting ink, just as long lasting, and is a lot more subtle because of the natural flesh tones.

Branding is the burning of skin, typically with very simple shapes or patterns. Like animal branding, a person must use either a very hot tool to inflict the damage, or they can use much more recent equipment such as lasers to etch designs into skin. Laser branding has become really popular, since it is far less painful and much more accurate than other means. Lasers can carve intricate patterns in very little time, with lines as fine as you can imagine. Laser branding is typically pretty expensive because of the equipment requirement, so there are a lot of people that simple use more common tools and burn themselves rather than hire an artist.

The last form of body modification I will discuss is also one of the most bizarre and recent inventions. Saline injections under the skin can cause the effect of temporary 3D designs in body parts, and many people that use this art form tend to show off their crazy creativity. One of the most common places to have an injection is in the forehead, and often this is seen with a slight pressured dimple made at the injection site to produce a ‘donut’ shaped 3D form. While this is not widely used, the effect of being seen in public with such a modification can be quite startling, with a lot of the users bringing their new look to parties and events.

I hope you have enjoyed these segments on body modifications, and stay tooned for more awesome body art!