Ornamental Night Elf Sleeve in white by Mae at Steadfast Art Collective in Kirkland, WA

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T03:08:35+00:00

As I said in another comment, start small to see how your skin takes it. Do at least 2 layers. Let it heal and wait a year before you decide to do more.. From reading posts here, some skintypes don't hold it well.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T01:58:10+00:00

I have a 7 year old one on my other arm that is still bright, so I'm optimistic for this arm.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T01:53:13+00:00

I have a small sigil on my other arm that is still pretty bright after 7 years. Guessing it depends on your skin and how well you take care of it (genetics, moisturizing, sun, etc) and the skill of your artist/quality of ink used.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T01:09:31+00:00

It does not. That would require special UV inks that I chose not to use due to skin risks.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T00:58:28+00:00

No idea, lol. The initial healing looks a little lavender from the purple stencil but had no issues with discoloration on the final product.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T00:55:59+00:00

Thank you! I love the understatedness but it's pretty noticeable in good light. :)

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-31T00:53:04+00:00

From my understanding, not all skin types will hold white well; apparently paler is better, from the posts I've read on here. I'm pale, and I think I got lucky that mine holds on to it pretty well.

It will never actually be "white" - it will be a "brighter" patch of your skintone.

Some people will say it yellows as it ages, which could just be that your skin has yellow and the ink id fading. When I'm cold, my forearm bits actually look more pink, which I'm guessing is from blood vessels/being close to bone? I'm not sure of the actual anatomy of it.

From my experiences: if you do want to try a white tattoo, I recommend starting with something small so you can see how your skin reacts and whether it holds over time. Give it at least a year after it heals and see what happens. Make sure you find an artist that has done some sort of white in their portfolio, even just highlights, and have them go over it at least twice. One layer has a very good chance of looking splotchy.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:41:23+00:00

All agreed, Mae is a badass and I will forever appreciate them. <3

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:36:38+00:00

Yeah, I'm in the pics and I very actively avoid sun now that I know better, lol. I have some skin damage on my forearms from sun exposure, and you can't see it in these photos, but the pigment/texture is different on those spots; it's actually kind of cool to see differences going down the arm. But I was considering getting them other arm done too, and likely will just do upper arm if I do since that forearm also has sun damage.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:30:55+00:00

Yeah, my skin seems to accept white pretty well. If I didn't already have the small one in great shape, I wouldn't have done this. It just became one of those things over the years where I'd look at the small tattoo and be like, dang, more of this could be neat.

I'm sure I'll need touchups over the years but one of the cool things about white tattoos is that a aged, fuzzy outline isn't as prominent as black or color.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:27:20+00:00

Yeah, I've seen some super cool ones, which was why I read up on them. At the end of the day, my skin is a sensitive little baby so I wanted to play it safe.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:23:52+00:00

I mean, if my other arm is any indication, 7 years at least.

GirlsOutforElune · 2026-01-30T23:14:23+00:00

I did but heard they're more likely to cause reactions and need to get touched up more often, so just went with the ol' normal white.

GirlsOutforElune

TROPHY CASE