Want to cover or adorn your scars? These temporary tattoos may be for you.
Guest post from Denise O’Connell of TuckTats.
"It was an admittedly tipsy New Year’s Eve when Amanda, my BFF, and I were celebrating in her living room and looking toward the year ahead. We both felt burnt out with our 9-to-5s and prayed that the new year would bring something refreshing. Talk of burnout naturally leads to talk of vacations. I was going on a holiday, and I mentioned that my giant hip-to-hip tummy scar would be out there for everyone to see on the beach, and I said casually that I wish I had enough pain tolerance and gumption to get a cover-up tattoo. That’s when Amanda looked at me and cocked her head sideways. “What about a temporary tattoo to cover scars?” she asked me. “They don’t make ‘em that big,” I lamented, “and the ones out there are sort of ugly.” “So let’s make better ones!” she replied.
So that night, TuckTats was born. We started out creating beautiful and realistic cover-up tattoos for tummy scars, and I remember the first time I put one on, I knew they were something special. Not only did they cover the scar perfectly, but I had a certain pep in my step while wearing them. It wasn’t long before word got out to survivors and previvors who had undergone diep flap reconstructions. A loyal following of reconstruction patients who had tummy scars began to amass, and they were begging for more. As we presented at a Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) day in Toronto, Canada, conversations with those who were contemplating reconstructions went like this:
“I don’t know if I want reconstruction. I think I’d stay flat if I could just feel confident.”
“I think I want reconstruction, but I don’t know if I’ll ever feel okay with all the scars.”
“I feel weird about my missing nipples.”
And most heartbreaking to hear:
“I don’t feel normal. I don’t feel beautiful.”
Amanda and I knew that diep flap patients were only a small group of survivors and previvors contending with their changing bodies. That was when we set out to create what we affectionately call our “TitTats” line — temporary boob and foob tattoos that cover (or highlight) breast scars with beautiful tattoo art by some of the best tattoo artists around (shoutout to Shane Wallin of Garnet Tattoo in San Diego).
And this amazing group of survivors and previvors keep schooling us on what they want and need. Recently at Camp Breastie, a grown-up camp weekend for survivors, previvors and their supporters, our flattie friends surprised us by placing abdominal tattoos directly across their chest, creating the look of a full breastplate tattoo. It looked stunning, but mostly the smile on those faces wearing them was the most beautiful thing Amanda and I had ever seen.
We feel privileged to be a part of this circle of healing for survivors and previvors. Every giant smile we see and every thank you we hear makes any feelings of burnout, like on that long ago New Year's Eve, quickly dissipate. So every time we get a thank you, we give back a thank you. Your joy is our joy."
