temporary body art/color ideas [longish]
karasu
Killing time while waiting on someone to call...
Wearing a lot of solid black, I've taken up the habit of adding a tiny bit
of color or art to myself for a bit of contrast and as a focal point for
some outfits. I do this on a fairly regular basis(2-3 times a week), so
I've come up with a few different things along the way. Thought some of
y'all might be interested(yes, my Texan upbringing betrays me again ;) ).
Last night we finally started taking pictures of the more complicated little
bits of color or art I'll add before we go out clubbing, so if this becomes
a habit I may toss a Web page up eventually with these ideas and
accompanying photos...
-- little girls' stick on earrings(the little flat jewel-like squares or
circles or diamonds you can find on a sheet of 20 or so in Walmart or some
kids' toy stores) - These come in all kinds of colors: pink, blue, green,
purple, orange, yellow, etc. Take one and stick it on the hollow of your
throat... as long as you don't scratch at it for some reason, it'll stay on
all day. I love wearing these because I usually get a compliment or at
least a puzzled look as people try to figure out how it's attached to me.
No one yet has known they were stick-on earrings. To reuse them once the
sticky back has worn away, use eyelash glue or a dot of body glitter gel to
keep them on.
Because I dance so much I don't wear them clubbing(as I tend to sweat them
off) but if you're the more passive clubbing type these look good at the
corners of the eyes, done in threes along the hollow of the throat and
collarbone, one pressed into the top of cleavage(think of it as a more
subtle Breastee ;) ), etc.
-- body glitter done in sweeps across the arms and chest, maybe a hint on
the face.
-- symbolic art! Nothing complicated here, just any kind of symbol or
pictograph sort of thing you're attracted to. The bottled kind of body
glitter or any good eyeliner will work for this... I personally recommend
Glitter Art and Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner for color that will
not move short of scrubbing at it.
Examples:
1. For one ankle-length black dress(short sleeved mock turtleneck) I didn't
really have the option of necklaces and I don't wear bracelets much. So I
took red body glitter and drew in the rune Mann just below the sleeves on
both arms, wearing red lipstick to match. Mann is the rune for humanity,
compassion, and general goodwill towards others... which is an important
ideal to keep in mind if you're ever in Austin traffic. ;) A decent summary
of basic runes can be found here:
http://www.freespeech.org/secondstar/runes2/runelist.html
2. I've written about this next one before... using Japanese/Chinese
characters on the arms, wrists, back or chest(Japanese took the Chinese ones
long ago and gave them their own pronunciation). For clubbing awhile back,
I wrote a verse from a Japanese/English Bible I have up both arms and it
looked pretty good(John 1:5 if you're curious). For simpler, quicker
ones(or for those who haven't studied Japanese at all), here's a few basic
ones from a site that even has little animated .gifs to show you how to
write them...
star - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/48-050d.htm
moon - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/4a-0001.htm
sun - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/48-0001.htm
fire - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/56-0001.htm
sea, ocean - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/55-06a7.htm
water - http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/55-0001.htm
(the site's kind of dense to wade through, but here's the address if you
feel like looking around more -
http://members.aol.com/rtdrpt/kanji/writutor.htm )
3. Last night for clubbing I wore a strapless black bodysuit with my knee
high black patent boots that left the whole upper half of my back bare. I
had a friend draw simple sketches of three Tarot cards on my back(the Hanged
Man, the Moon, and the Lovers) in black eyeliner and accentuate it with
glitter. In a basic three card layout the three cards represent one's past,
present, and future, and I felt these were the best and most positive
representations of my own times.
http://home.pacific.net.sg/~mun_hon/tarot/tarot.htm has quick summaries of
the cards... click on 'major arcana' to the left once the site's loaded up.
-- Kiddie body art markers. Don't laugh... I found a Tarzan purple body art
marker in a dollar store that has a plain tip on one end and a purple spiral
stamp on the other. I'll put one on the first joint of each finger, one at
the corner of each eye, around the neck, and so on. Think of it as Mehndi,
only cheaper.
That's all I can think of for now... hope someone gets a few ideas from
reading this. :)
--
karasu
5 yards of black tulle and nothing to sew?
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~karasu