Many people turn to ink as a way to cover up their personal insecurities, scars, or imperfections on their skin. Cellulite is a result of fat pushing up against connective tissue beneath your epidermis, which causes indented, dimpled, and lumpy skin. But can this imperfection be covered with a tattoo?
Table of Contents (clickable)
Related:
- Can you tattoo over stretch marks?
- Can you get a tattoo over spider veins?
- Can you get a tattoo over scars?
What Is Cellulite?
Cellulite is a result of fatty tissue beneath your epidermis, increasing and putting pressure on your connective tissues, like muscles and ligaments. It creates dimples or lumps in your skin.
Cellulite is more common in women than men, and it’s more prevalent on your thighs, abdomen, and hips region, because that is where you are able to hold and store more fat on your body.
Cellulite is often hereditary and influenced heavily by racial genetics, but can also be caused by age, lifestyle, or sudden weight gain.
Can Tattoos Cover Cellulite?
It depends on your definition of cover! Unfortunately, tattooing your skin involves depositing the pigment within your dermis, which means it won’t “fill up” the indents, dimples, and dips in your skin caused by cellulite.
While tattooing may not highlight your cellulite, it won’t eliminate it through the masking of a design. The uneven texture which makes cellulite noticeable will not disappear following your tattoo. Unfortunately, you’ll just have tattooed cellulite.
What About Altering the Visual Appearance of Cellulite?
The good news is that cellulite, like the rest of your skin, can certainly be tattooed. If you’re wondering how your tattoo will turn out if you suffer from cellulite, that question is easily answered by being honest about how bad, deep, or prominent your cellulite is.
The more cellulite you have, the more difficult the region will be to tattoo and the more distorted your tattoo may look at the end of your session. But if you have minor cellulite and decide to tattoo the region, people are more likely to notice a beautiful piece of art on your skin than they are likely to notice the cellulite beneath it.
Using Color to Distort the Skin Appearance
Some people who suffer from cellulite opt for colored pieces as a way to distract from cellulite. There is no evidence that it’s any more effective than black and white pieces, but it certainly can help create a more blended or thorough piece that moves the eye away from the skin concerns.
Using Cellulite as Part of the Artwork
If getting a large piece doesn’t seem ideal for hiding your cellulite, you may want to consider embracing your imperfections and incorporating your cellulite into part of your design. Your artist would be the best person to discuss this plan with, but often cellulite has been tattooed as botanical blooms or cloud designs as a way to blend the dips and indents into the art piece.
Does Cellulite Need to be Covered?
Absolutely not! Cellulite can never be anticipated or truly prevented if your skin is prone to it, and though you may be self-conscious about this aspect of yourself, you never need to cover it or try to remove it. It’s a perfectly natural part of the human body and you should not feel ashamed for it.
Remember that, often, regions that experience cellulite are more sensitive than other parts of your skin. This may make the experience of tattooing over cellulite more painful for you.
The Different Types of Cellulite
The kind of cellulite you have may impact how your artist can work on your skin or create your design. Cellulite is also graded on a scale of zero to three, where zero means it isn’t apparent to the naked eye, and three is the most severe.
- Soft Cellulite - Often associated with sagging and aging skin. This can accumulate anywhere where fat can accumulate. It can also be the cause of weight gain or not toning your skin. Exercise can frequently combat this kind of cellulite.
- Hard Cellulite - Known as “orange peel” skin, this can affect anyone. It’s the indented or dimpled skin you often see on thoughts. Preventing it is not possible if you’re genetically predisposed to it. It’s difficult to treat or eliminate this cellulite.
- Edematous Cellulite - This cellulite is the cause of poor circulation. It’s not very common but is the most difficult to treat. It is often present in the lower legs area.
Treatments for Covering or Removing Cellulite
Unfortunately, cellulite cannot really be zapped completely away, but some treatments certainly help minimize the appearance of cellulite. These include:
- Pressotherapy
- Mesotherapy
- Acoustic Wave Therapy
- Radiofrequency
- Fat Dissolving Injections
- Laser Treatments
- Cryolipolysis
- Subcision
Home Remedies
Some home remedies to help treat your cellulite include:
- Exercise - Toning your body and increasing your circulation
- Clothing - There are suppression garments meant to help blood circulation and cellulite
- Dry Brushing - This method helps improve blood circulation and combat cell build up
- Tanning - Getting a spray tan is a tattoo-friendly way to even your skin tone and hide your cellulite
- Drink More Water - Staying hydrated helps maintain your lymphatic fluid balance which helps combat fat build up
- Massages - Massages are said to help combat fat build up
- Don’t Stay Seated - This can be bad for your circulation and lead to cellulite
Our Final Thoughts
While hiding and tattooing your skin insecurities is a completely personal choice, unfortunately, cellulite will not disappear with a tattoo. It is certainly safe to get your dimpled skin tattooed, and you may decide this is the best option to distract from your imperfections. Speak to a tattoo artist about what they feel may be the best solution for your placement, and how to best embrace your body through this work of art on your cellulite.
