Think your job is interesting? Try Terri Benamore.
She’s a tattoo artist who’s been using her skills to create life-like nipples on women who survived breast cancer.
Her job has been changing the lives of women, as she gets to witness them put their battle with breast cancer behind them. To date, she's tattooed over 500 nipples.
“I’d always loved art and studied it at A-level. I got my first tattoo as a teenager – a playful cherub on my back (although I loved the results, it was a painful experience) – and from that moment on my dream was to become a tattoo artist,” she wrote in an article for Metro.
Since she never liked the look of a traditional studio, she worked hard to make hers “welcoming and inclusive to all.”
As for her tattoo style, she specialized in full-color realism and loved to create realistic tattoos of birds, animals, and botanicals.
It sort of just happened one day. A woman who survived breast cancer heard about her work and contacted the studio.
“She’d had a mastectomy and reconstruction on the NHS, but the nipple tattoo she’d been given as part of her surgery looked awful and had begun to fade straight away.”
The woman was so happy and grateful for the results. This led Terri to wonder if there were other women who needed her help.
The process of tattooing a nipple is quite intense. "Base tones, mid tones, highlights and shadows as well as veins and nipple pert fusion blush tones are all part of the process," she wrote.
"This skin behaves very differently and the pigment needs to be applied with skill and care to ensure it’s not causing further trauma to such a delicate area."
She's become an expert in the world of nipple tattoos. "As well as my realistic nipples I can also cover scar tissue with beautiful designs if that’s what my clients prefer."
Getting to help these women who have gone through breast cancer has taught her a lot about resilience and recovery. She also finds it incredibly rewarding to help them feel better about their bodies.
"I’ll never forget her testimonial afterwards, she said I’d ’treated her like the only person in the world that matters,'" Terri shared. "I absolutely love my work."
"My clients tell me their new nipples are life-changing, helping to restore their confidence in their bodies and celebrate getting their lives back on track. Hearing that gives me the best feeling in the world."
H/T: Metro
