New nipples with a new perspective;
local artist provides 3D areola tattoos
for breast cancer survivors
Sadie Chung & Jackson Stevens / April 16, 2021. (BCIT News)
New nipples with a new perspective;
local artist provides 3D areola tattoos
for breast cancer survivors
Sadie Chung & Jackson Stevens / April 16, 2021. (BCIT News)
For breast cancer survivors, it may be triggering or provoke self-conscious feelings after undergoing a mastectomy. To repair a sense of normalcy for those who want it, it’s possible to get an areola tattoo, which reconstructs the way a nipple looks with restoring pigment, detail, and dimension to make it appear more natural and realistic.
A Vancouver restorative tattoo artist is helping women who beat breast cancer restore that sense of normalcy and confidence post mastectomy. Candice Falcon is the owner and restorative artist of Falcon Artistry Specialty Tattoo.
Appointments generally take around three hours. From there Falcon and her clients discuss shape, size, colours and textures. But tattooing nipples isn’t as straightforward as any other tattoo.
“There’s so much medical background that you need to know about it as well. You’re dealing with compromised skin, thin skin, radiated skin, lymph removal, scarring, these are all things that are not done typically by regular tattoo artists. So this isn’t something that people just casually book in for.”
As you walk into Falcon’s studio it’s very vibrant, with flowers, music, a disco ball and mirrors on every wall. Falcon noticed it helped distract her clients before the tattooing procedure. “So when you come in, I have a wall of mirrors. And they’re all different shapes and sizes. The way it has been working is people don’t really notice them coming in, and then when they’re all done, and they’re heading out, they’re looking in all the mirrors. So it worked out to be an even cooler concept than I thought it would be.”
“I‘m really fortunate to be able to spend time with people and hear their story and the process they’ve gone through… The whole experience is actually such a celebration and kind of that finishing phase and finishing touch on everything. There was definitely a point where I was getting a lot of shirtless hugs.”
Candice FalconRestorative Tattoo Artist
Victoria Ward has been battling breast cancer in both breasts, since last June. Having had double mastectomy and weekly chemo, she is still in treatment until October of this year.
“The day I got to remove my bandages, it must have been five days post op surgery, I was excited actually, that’s gonna sound kind of crazy. I was excited to have the relief of knowing that the cancer, the tumours had been removed, and I was feeling quite positive with moving forward, kind of, with a new me.”
Before her mastectomy, Ward was given the option to remove her nipple in her first surgery and save it to then eventually stitch it back on. But Ward declined, leaning towards a tattoo after her treatment rather than another surgical procedure.
Falcon says 3D areola tattoos help women feel a lot more comfortable and familiar with their bodies again and Ward is staying optimistic, looking forward to exploring nipple tattooing when she completes her treatment.
