Jewel,

I love my boyfriend, and I have been dating him for one year. I have come to the realization that he has a strong attraction to women with dark nipples. All the magazines he looks at feature these types of women. Jewel, I really want him to be attracted to me. Is there any way to tattoo my nipples darker?
Samantha

Dearest Samantha,

The concept of altering oneself to attract one’s partner is not new. It is perfectly natural for one to seek the admiration and respect of his/her partner. However, the lengths to which one goes to be desired can at times be unhealthy. And from your letter it seems that you are heading towards the no-man’s land.
Being the good sex columnist that I am, I still inquired about your desire to change flavours. I received mixed responses from different tattoo parlors. For instance, Eric Newstead, a tattoo artist from the well-reputed New Tribe (232 Queen St West), does not recommend getting this type of tattooing done. When he discovered that my reader wanted to make this change for a boyfriend, he quickly responded, “The tremendous pain involved is not worth doing it for a guy.” Whereas Mino Betancourt, an associate from a smaller tattoo parlor called Lower East Side Tattoo and Body Piercing (2234 Kingston Rd), claims that “this form of tattooing is perfectly safe and looks natural.” According to Betancourt, side effects are few, if any, so long as the skin is normal. He could not give me a price range because the cost would depend on the size of your nipples.
A safer route for changing the colour of your nipples is to have the procedure done by a permanent makeup artist. George Kizoff, of Permanent Make Up Artistry (113 Yorkville), claims that although permanent tattooing and permanent makeup are the same in certain aspects, the main difference is that “the pigments don’t go in as deep as in the case of permanent tattooing.”
Furthermore, the results don’t last as long, as in this case the colour of your nipples would remain for up to 5-6 years. The price range for this treatment is between $500-$600. Keep in mind they only tattoo the skin around the nipple region, and not the nipple itself.
So there you have it. The choice is yours, Samantha. Please take into consideration that your boyfriend has been committed to you for an entire year. From your letter, it seems that he has not put any pressure on you to revise your looks to please him.
Perhaps you should also question your reason for wanting to tattoo your nipples. After all, what are you going to do if you break up with this man, and the next man you date prefers strawberry to chocolate?

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