Tattoo artist creates 3D-effect nipples for free

National World - Viral Videos

Northumberland tattoo artist Kirsty Collett provides a free valuable service that many people might not realise exists. She creates 3D-effect nipple tattoos for women - and men - who have had their own removed to breast cancer or other surgical procedures.

Transcript

00:00I've had people that like try to offer and like pay for it because I know it's like important to

00:03them and they want to give something back but because I do this full time I don't need the

00:08money to do it so I don't think like we don't think patients should have to pay for that

00:13because it should be like a right to have a nipple. I'm Kirsty, I own White Wolf Tattoos

00:18in Bedleton, Northumberland. I went to a tattoo convention last May and there was a stall there

00:24from a woman called Lucy and our Instagram is Lucy Nipple but she runs Nip charity and she was

00:30trying to get more artists to get in contact and like train up to do the nipples areola tattooing.

00:35It's a three day process for people that have survived breast cancer and are 12 months post

00:42treatment. The NHS offer you an areola tattoo but it's not a permanent because they don't use the

00:51permanent inks and so it fades within a matter of months it'll start fading they'll only offer

00:58you pink or brown and these areolas just fade over time which really are not good for people who have

01:06already gone through a cancer situation to then find themselves with a tattoo and that just keeps fading.

01:14If there is an existing nipple there we will colour match to the existing one,

01:18if not we'll try and colour match a tone that they're happy with and that they feel comfortable

01:22with with their skin tone and we've got a large range so that we can actually do skin tones with

01:26different skin types. This is an example of one that we did on the practice skin so we do them for

01:33many different skin types for men for women because it's not just women that get breast cancer men do too

01:40and you just build it up and the whole idea is so that there is a nipple protrusion but there isn't

01:45actually one it's just a 3D effect so that you don't actually have to go through nipple protrusion

01:49surgery. I mean I showed a very good friend of it and even she couldn't work out how they had

01:56how they had done the the nipple because she had to look to the side and look at it because she thought

02:02they had actually made the nipple an actual fact they haven't it just looks like it's got a nipple

02:09and it looks amazing. You have to do them in two sittings so that the skin like the first sitting

02:14is just getting the basic areola down and then you let it heal have them come back and then you put

02:19all the details and like the final touches in so this might be a two sitting process. Every time I took

02:24my clothes off all I saw was this blank picture of a breast without an areola and so

02:32it gave us so much confidence. It's just really nice seeing how much more confidence they gain like

02:39so when they come in for their second session they're basically bouncing through the door and

02:44they're just really really happy about it. It took us ages for my husband from it or even to show

02:49my husband because I didn't like him and I thought well he wouldn't like me anymore but it wasn't like

02:56that you know it was very supportive but it's the best thing the best thing that I've ever done.

03:04You can just see the complete difference of the confidence that it makes just when they come back

03:08in over those two sessions and I've had it a couple of times now and it's it's really nice to see.

03:12I'd tell anybody don't go without, don't go in silence with this, go and have it done. It'll be the

03:22change of your life in terms of the experience. The NHS foundations pay through the NHS so any

03:30patients will not have to pay a thing so I don't want to pay any, take any payment for it because

03:36it's just a nice thing it's especially if I've got this skill like why not utilise it.

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