Black skin vs. tanned skin

I noticed that I got a hit from someone who googled "Why a black person shouldn't get a tattoo." The answers to that question are the same for people of all skin colors.

However, there are special considerations for people who have either naturally dark skin or are heavily tanned.

Here's some of my thoughts:

If you are black, and you live in an area where you are in the distinct minority, look through the tattooist's photo book to see if there are any pics of tats on black people. Now, you may not see any 'cause the tattooist did a crap job of taking a photo. But never mind that, you should ask the tattooist about tattooing black skin. See if (s)he knows anything about it.

Here, where I live, a good amount of tattooists have never tattooed a black person. When I was tattooing, I had black people come in who were heavily scarred up by other tattoo artists. Why? Because naturally dark skin is more prone to keloid (heavy) scarring than white skin. Unfortunately, there are tattooist who do not know this! They see dark skin and think "tough" (as in skin). Black skin is not the same as tanned skin, which is tough. There is a reason why scarification is a tradition in parts of Africa. Black skin scars easily. The beautiful designs of traditional scarification are easier to see than black ink on skin that is naturally very dark.

When a tattooist looks at a person's skin, in advance of tattooing, they make some choices. They can pick a tattoo machine that hits the skin harder, faster or slower and more softly. You see a guy who's been working outside all his life, with dark tanned skin and you usually reach for a machine that's going to hit that skin hard. But if a person has black skin, that's the absolute wrong thing to do. That person will probably get scarred up.

As for you who tan easily (or go to tanning beds): don't insist on yellow flowers and then come back and complain that noone can see the color of your tattoo. Of course they can't: Your skin is darker than the yellow. It's just common sense.

And once again: There is no such thing as opaque ink. Ink is not paint.