About Face: Face Tattoos Are Not (As) Taboo Anymore
By Sidra Lackey
Two of the most popular rappers in the world, Drake and Cardi B, just got their first face tattoos (Drake got his mother’s initials, Cardi B’s face tattoo ironically still remains unknown) done days apart from each. Are you really that surprised? Face tattoos are the norm these days in American tattoo culture, especially within the Hip-Hop industry (even the controversial robot rapper FN Meka, who just made a debut, has face tattoos!). Face tattoos are also very popular with everyday tattoo collectors. There once was a time however, when face tattoos were not sought-after unless the tattoo collector was: a tattoo artist, criminal or extreme tattoo collector.
“Even among tattoo aficionados, the face was sacrosanct, a canvas of last resort when the rest of the body was covered,” style reporter Steven Kurutz said in his New York Times tattoo piece, “Face Tattoos Go Mainstream.” Face tattoos used to be frowned upon generally speaking. Now, someone having a face tattoo is mostly praised and considered almost bragging rights, as a tattoo collector. But with the rise of face tattoos, is the fascination of having one lost, because they are no longer truly taboo?
“Taboo” is defined as: “proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable. Prohibited or excluded from use or practice,” by Dictionary.com. By definition, then face tattoos aren’t taboo anymore since they have seemed to reach their height of popularity and acceptance. Yet, this may not be the case for some tattoo artists.
To tattooists, giving a face tattoo comes down to morals. Many won’t give clients face tattoos unless the client-to-be has visible tattoos already. “I don’t do face tattoos. Especially if [the client is] not visibly tattooed already. I have a moral obligation to educate people before they get one. It’s not my job to ruin somebody’s life,” said tattoo artist Carlos Delgado, formerly of Andromeda Studio 33 (now at 4Five) in the New York Post article on face tattoos, “Tattoo artists feel a ‘moral obligation’ to stop face ink.” But then there are other tattoo artists who don’t care. Tattooist Carmen Figueroa of Nice Tattoo Parlor stated,“If they’re really sure, I don’t feel like it’s my place to deny them. It’s not my job to mother them.”
So, how did face tattoos become as prevalent as they are now in American culture? According to scholar Dr. Anna Felicity Friedman, creator of the website Tattoo Historian who has been researching the history of tattooing for nearly 30 years, explained that in the 1990s, it was common for celebrities and reality stars to have tattoos. And as Americans started to really embrace tattoo culture, tattoos in turn started losing their rebel status. “The creep upward, past the neckline,” was the result, Kurutz further reported in, “Face Tattoos Go Mainstream.” “If you want to be transgressive — and a lot of rappers want to create a transgressive character — the last frontier is the face. Some of it is to give them a rebel/criminal allure. And some of it is a more artistic or free-spirit reference,” Friedman said.
Face tattoos are unanimously trendy now, but will they evolve to become as common on a tattoo collector as lower back (aka "tramp stamps") tattoos were in the late 1990s - early 2000s? Perhaps. Will face tattoos ever become actually mainstream where tattoo collectors with professional jobs in the public eye, sport one (a la Oriini Kaipara, a New Zealand reporter who in 2021 was the first person to anchor news with a traditional Māori chin tattoo)? Probably not. Unfortunately, face tattoos still have a long way to go before being accepted in any professional career in American culture.
Tattoo collectors, are face tattoos yea or nay? Would you get a face tattoo (if you don’t already have one)? Tattoo artists, what is your policy on giving a client a face tattoo?