Did You Know? 7 Fun Facts About Tattoos Think you know everything there is to know about tattoos? Check out these fun facts below!

#1) The $1 Million Tattoo

Ever wonder how much the world’s most expensive tattoo cost? It’s just under $1 million, $924,000

to be exact. The tattoo, featured on BornRich, is a brilliant floral design that’s comprised of 612

individual diamonds of roughly half a carat in size each. This isn’t just your ordinary tattoo, though,

as the South African jeweler Shimansky funded the project to promote its brand.

#2) Cosmetic Tattoos

A growing new trend is the use of cosmetic tattoos (also known as permanent makeup). As the

name suggests, this involves tattooing with special inks that mimics the appearance of removable

makeup. Being that it’s created with a tattooing gun, however, the results last significantly longer

than standard makeup. Cosmetic tattoos may consist of lip liner, lipstick, eyeliner, and more.

#3) Tattooing Involves Up to 3,000 Skin Pokes Per Minute

This fact is not one for the squeamish or faint of heart. While tattooing techniques vary, a typical

session will involve the skin being pierced up to 3,000 times per minute. Of course, there are some

tattoo machines which operate much slower, at just 100 pokes per minute.

#4) Social Security Number Tattoos

It’s frustrating when you can’t remember your Social Security number. You don’t want to write it

down out of fear that someone will steal it, but some people just can’t seem to remember those

critical nine digits. Back in the 1930s, though, some Americans came up with the idea of tattooing

their Social Security numbers on their arms.

#5) UV Tattoos

The tattoo industry has come a long ways over the years. There’s now special ultraviolet (UV)

tattoos which are invisible during the daylight but glow under UV light.

#6) The World’s Most Tattooed Person

Gregory Paul McLaren, who goes by the name Lucky Diamond Rich, has held the Guinness World

Record for being the most tattooed person since 2006. The New Zealand native is 100% tattooed,

with ink covering his entire body. And, in case you were wondering, McLaren has sat through more

than one thousand hours of inking.

#7) Martin Hildebrandt was the First US Tattoo Artist

As of 2015, there are around 21,000 tattoo parlors operating in the United States. However, Martin

Hildebrandt is believed to be the country’s first modern tattoo artist. After opening his shop in New

York City during the mid 1940s, hundreds of men and women began pouring into his parlor in hopes

of getting inked. Reports indicate that his parlor even attracted soldiers from the Union and

Confederate militaries during the American Civil War.

Photo credit: https://flic.kr/p/boEjqD