Health and beauty

Fairy tattoos are a fairly recent development and they represent a certain range of interests or way of thinking. A fairy tattoo design can be cute and rather precious, like something out of a children’s book, but fairies are not as innocent as they look.

Fairy tattoos have a nostalgic appeal for those who remember childhood fondly and wish to keep the images of childhood part of their lives on an ongoing basis. In that sense, fairy tattoos are a symbol of our youth.

The fairy is a female mythological figure that has magical powers and originates from Celtic mythology. Usually they are small, beautiful creatures with transparent wings, a green dress and a human appearance.

They live in wonderland and can take people there as well. According to legend, there is little consensus regarding how big fairies were, and how human-like they were in form. The tiny, Tinkerbelle-type fairy is only one interpretation.

The supernatural powers of the fairy include:

• Flying

• Casting spells

• Foreseeing and influencing the future

The origins of fairies are not very clear, there are several beliefs of what fairies really are:

• A popular belief is that fairies are the dead.

• Another belief is that they are a kind of degraded angel.

• Others view them as an intelligent species, different from angels and humans. They used to live on the British islands, but were forced into hiding.

• Yet another belief is that they were devils.

  Like I told you, not all fairy tattoos are as innocent as they look. Fairies have a touch of evil, a dark side – in fact, they are far more likely to be mischievous or even fearsome. Among medieval societies fairies were feared.

  According to legend fairies would do things like:

  • Steal a baby and leave one of their own in its place (changeling).

  • Abduct older people.

  • They could poison livestock and ruin a harvest.

  • Fairies can even be deadly if a human falls in love with one.

  In short, they were to be respected and feared. So while there are some pretty and cute fairy tattoos, there are also fairy tattoos that are decidedly Gothic in tone and appearance.

  Tattoos of fairies blend well with other tattoo designs and these can create a delicate and pretty set of tattoo images – very feminine. Here are some of the most popular design combinations:

  • Fairy + butterfly tattoo.

  • Moon star fairy tattoos ( a combination with a shooting star is also popular).

  • Fairy + angel tattoo (or with a cherub).

  • Fairy + dragon tattoo.

  • Zodiac fairy tattoo.

  • A fairy sitting on a mushroom.

  • Fairy + clover.

  • Fairies blend in well with tribal or Celtic designs. They don’t lend themselves well to abstract patterns though.

  • Fairy + phoenix tattoo.

The fairy tattoo design appeals to a wide variety of people and they can represent a variety of lifestyles. They are very feminine of course and they add a touch of I’m-cute-but-don’t-mess-with-me.

A lone fairy tattoo on an upper arm or ankle is a nice, subtle tattoo. It’s quite unobtrusive, but more individualistic – even quirky – than many other feminine tattoo designs.

When talking about fairy art, it’s hard not to mention Amy Brown, a popular American fairy artist, whose watercolor drawings enjoy some popularity as a tattoo design.

Fairy tattoos are perhaps not common enough to be called a trend – but they do have a fair following.

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