A woman with most of her body inked says it’s cost her a relationship with her parents, but she’s got no plans to quit going under the needle.
Aline Prestes (28), a Brazilian body piercer, won Miss Tattoo in three of the past three years.
Her tattoos have cost her a grand total of £10,000 over the years after she first fell in love with tattoos at 21.
Prior to this, she was unhappy and feeling lost.
This all changed when she discovered the beauty of body art.
‘I was born in a small town,’ said Aline. ‘I am the youngest daughter, and my mother has always been strict with me. Even though my older sister had tattoos, it wasn’t for me.
‘I began body modification in the search for my identity. It was like tattoos.
‘Before getting my art I felt lost, very unhappy and overwhelmed by wanting to “be me” and having to repress myself for the sake of the family.
‘My mother always had a troubled relationship with me, while my father was more absent.
‘To this day, they don’t accept me. To avoid conflict, I rarely see them. I started tattooing my face when I left the house.’
Aline doesn’t regret the tattoos, even though they have caused her to be more distant from her parents.
‘I feel happy with the closed body of tattoos,’ she said.
‘Today I have a tattoo parlour and I work as a body piercer. I’m a strong supporter of body suspension. In the future, I hope to be able to modify my body.
‘I got my first tattoo when I was 21 years old because I couldn’t take it anymore.
‘I keep getting tattooed, and the last tattoo I got was my son’s name on my forehead.
‘The most painful tattoos I got were on my back and my glutes were pretty tricky. Given I only have about 10% of my body left to be tattooed you can trust me on that.’
This year alone, Aline has earned two titles for her tattoos – she was crowned Miss Tattoo Queen at the Santa Luzia Tattoo Convention on June 28 2022, and Most Beautiful Tattoos at the Vale Tattoo Festival in San Jose on September 1 2022.
‘Most people say that I look great like this, that the tattoos suit me,’ said Aline.
‘They tell me that my tattoos are beautiful, super colourful and match me.
‘I get compliments, many people like it, many like mine and drawings, they say I’m very well tattooed, but there’s always a minority that criticises me.
‘My friends are all tattooed, they like it a lot and support it.
‘However, with my family, it is a different story. They don’t understand my taste for tattoos, they think it’s an exaggeration. In fact, they hate it.’
Aline cares not for the opinions of others when it comes to her tattoos, because they’re a vital part of her identity.
‘If that’s what you want for your life, focus on that,’ she advises, ‘and move on from all the noise telling you not to,’
