Scars are a visible sign of a past traumatic event, be it injury, surgery, or self-inflicted. Though it's definitely possible to learn to love yourself for your scars, choosing to cover them up doesn't mean you love yourself any less.
In fact, for many people, hiding their scars with a tattoo is a way of taking back control over their own body; of finding confidence again by turning a difficult time into something beautiful.
Telling tattoo artist sorrymominkoly that she "feels so pretty" now, this woman's large pelvic scar has been transformed into an intricate garden. Alive with bees, flowers, and intricate lines, the tattoo not only covers up a past scar but frames her body perfectly; enhancing the shape that's already there and making the woman feel beautiful again.
Never a light moment when a scar is covered up, to some, replacing a scar with something beautiful can be a physical representation of their own growth. Though some scars may never heal, transforming them with tattoo art can show your own mental healing, signifying how something special and unique has grown out of the pain.
Mastectomies are never easy to go through, and often the pain of the experience carries on much further than through the surgery itself. Afterwards, it can be hard learning to love your body again, and while some people manage it, others find their way there with the aid of tattoos.
Transforming this woman's mastectomy scar into something absolutely beautiful, artist Robin Snyder helped her client regain confidence after her surgery; with flowers that hug her body like they were always meant to be there.
Shy at first to share her double mastectomy scars, this beautiful woman now excitedly reveals her healed floral chest piece. Completed over the span of almost two years by talented artist Elize Nazelie, the flowers chosen are of a "mutant" variety, a floral representation of the mutation that caused her surgery.
Looking absolutely vibrant and stunning, aryn.rachel's tattoo was completed by the talented artist Rachel Hauer. Confident and proud of her transformation, she states to her Instagram followers, "Here's to many more years of health and being able to live as my most genuine and honest self".
Like tattoos, scars can also tell a story - tattoos, though, are a story that you choose to tell. Do you have a scar you'd love to transform?
