If You Want To Place Your Tattoo On Your Face, Here's How To Do It

There are seemingly endless tattoo-worthy locations on your body, including spots where no one will be able to spot your ink, as well as areas where they'll be on constant display. When it comes to the latter, getting a tattoo on your face is surely one of the most visible places to get a tattoo which might make it more extreme or more meaningful depending on the reason behind the body art.

"Our bodies are like a temple, and we decorate and adorn our temples and give offerings. It's a form of self-expression, it's a form of identification, but mostly for me it's a form of communicating with my ancestors," Elu Aiyana, a Portugal-based tattoo artist who uses body art to connect to her Kurdish background, told Teen Vogue. At the same time, Aiyana acknowledged others who may get tattoos for different reasons. For instance, she addressed musicians who choose to have their faces inked, saying, "It's also a choice of the rapper to claim [their] own body, to choose to have that marking on [their] face forever."

If you've been thinking about having a tattoo done on your forehead, cheeks, or other spots on your unique visage, you'll also want to consider how you feel about having that particular art on your body forever — unless you go through tattoo removal, of course. On top of that, there are a few other things to keep in mind if you want to place a tattoo on your face.

Tattooing your face is a brave, bold, and pretty hardcore step to take, which is why you'll want to do it properly. Along with deciding what kind of design you're interested in, you also need to do some research when it comes to the artist that will be doing the work. You'll definitely want to ensure that the person who will be adding ink to your face has plenty of experience with this specific spot on the body, according to Very Good Light. It's important that the professional knows how to deal with the delicate skin on the face in order to prevent the ink from bleeding into areas where it shouldn't be.

Beyond that, dermatologist Charles Puza, MD, explained to Byrdie, "In dermatology, there are 'dirty sites.' These are places on our bodies that naturally harbor more bacteria — armpits, groin, mouth, [and] mucous membranes. These spots are more prone to infection." If you end up with an infected tattoo, you might notice redness, bumps, and a rash on your skin, per Healthline. You might also notice swelling and hardness around the body art and end up with a fever, shivers, and fluctuating temperatures among other unfortunate symptoms. If you face the latter, you should take a trip to the doctor in order to have the situation checked out.

Of course, before this becomes a problem, you can avoid issues by taking certain steps to care for your face tattoo.

Offering your face tattoo a little TLC can go a long way. Not only will it stay clean and hopefully prevent a bacteria-ridden situation, but, in turn, it'll help keep your tattoo looking as good as possible for longer than it might otherwise.

Fortunately, Tattoo Me Now has some advice on how to care for your new tattoo. First, you'll want to keep the inked area clean by washing your face in the shower. Use gentle warm water as well as soap that doesn't include any artificial colors or fragrances that could irritate the tattoo as it heals. Once you've dried off, you'll want to add a thin layer or moisturizer on your tattoo while also refraining from adding too much, which can prevent much-needed oxygen from reaching the skin. That's also why you'll want to uncover your face tattoo when you're at home if you've been keeping it covered to keep it safe during the day. While it's a good idea to protect the new ink from the sun and dirt, you also want it to breathe as it heals.

In the end, after taking the right steps to ensure that you've gotten the best tattoo possible and have taken care of it to the best of your ability, you'll surely want to display your body art by proudly showing your face off to the world.