I’ve been thinking about designing a tattoo for myself that has some glowing implants in it.
From my research I’ve found that the only way to have an implant glowing without needing power would be with a silicone glow in the dark implant, or a firefly implant. I love the way the firefly looks but I’ve seen enough threads on here talking about the risks that I don’t think I’ll go that route. If there are some other implants that glow on their own that I missed please let me know!
I’ve been looking at Steve Haworth’s glow in the dark implants, but I absolutely hate how they seem to always be placed in a way that they have a large bulge in the skin that really grosses me out for some reason (no hate on others, it’s just something I really don’t want on myself). My other implants (not silicone) did not have this, so I’m wondering why every picture I’ve seen of these silicone implants do?
If I do go through with this idea the location would likely be on my forearm or lower leg, but I haven’t had much luck finding example pictures of the implants anywhere other than the ear or hand. I’m guessing the glow will be less visible anywhere other than those locations, so I’d like to see if anyone else tried it first. Has anyone installed theirs somewhere other than ear/hand and be willing to share photos or say how well it glows?
TLDR:
Are there any glowing implants besides silicone glow in the dark or firefly that glow on their own?
Why do glow in the dark silicone implants seem to bulge out of the skin and is there a way to prevent or avoid that?
If you have a glow in the dark implant placed somewhere other than ear/hand would you share pics or say what you think about it?
silicone implants from body modders are all designed to add “relief” to the skin… to bulge out in order to make a shape or design visible on the skin. the glowing aspect was an afterthought and considered an enhancement to the design, not the point of it.
i don’t know of any simple small glow in the dark implants that are meant to be thin and unobtrusive and just glow.
Thanks for the reply, that was kinda my guess. I wonder if Steve Haworth would be willing to do some custom pieces to make them thinner and different shapes
Got two glowy silicone implants myself, so I’d like to share some information. Pictures are found a lot around this forum, like this:
and this (among other stuff):
So yeah, especially the power button is designed to be (very) visible even in normal light. But that’s exactly what I wanted, so no problem for me - but maybe one for you
The star, on the other hand, is nearly invisible. There is a little bump on my finger, but unless you know it, you most likely won’t notice it. And it still glows nicely when it’s dark. Both are Haworth implants, obviously, and I think it might be interesting for you to check the “mini” ones - there is a mini power button, which is about 2 mm thick, and the mini stars with a thickness of 1.59 mm. Depending on where you put them (skin has different thickness all over the body), they might very well be invisible, especially on arms (upper side - the underside, where I have mine, has thinner skin) or legs.
But this brings a little problem - the thicker the skin, the less light reaches the implant, so you will most likely lose some glow. In general, please don’t overestimate the glow - it is very bright in a pitch black room or when activated with a UV flashlight, but it’s not like you can see it in a club or a dimly lit room. Just saying that so you’re not disappointed, I love it the way it is
Depending on the design you have in mind, it might work to just use several of the mini stars, though you will have to take a lot of care that they don’t move during the healing time. Splints, tape, whatever.
Nope, sadly not. Though there are some experiments with glowpowder in this forum (including by myself, trying to do glow in the dark tattoos - doesn’t work as good as I hoped yet, but I’m working on it ). Another person who tried out a lot in that field is @mrln, maybe he has some good ideas I forgot
They do because it was the whole point of silicone implants, until Steve decided to make them glow as well
There is no way to avoid that, because they can’t be placed deeper or such - they are always fully underneath the skin, and it’s not possible nor healthy to go deeper. The only way to avoid a visible bulge is to place a relatively thin implant under relatively thick skin.
If you have any questions left, feel free to ask - I’m not that active here currently, but I’ll try my best to help.
Oh, on that point - yes, this is theoretically possible, but it might take some (like, a lot of) time. Do you already have an artist who would do the install for you? If so, it might be a good idea to let them contact Steve, because there might already be some connections that could speed it up a bit. But better be patient
Wow thank you for the response! Your power sign implant and the scarification look amazing!! I kinda hate that the bump from silicone implants grosses me out, because at the same time I think they look freaking awesome on other people.
I haven’t locked down someone to do the implant yet but I have a couple shops in mind that I’m pretty sure would do it, I just need a lot more time to finish making the design and save up the money for it. I just wanted to see if it was possible before I started putting in a bunch of time into it. I’m expecting this project to take at least two years of planning and saving before I actually get it done. (In general I like taking a long time to design my tattoos, more time to be absolutely sure it’s how I want it)
The basic idea for the design is a serpent/snake /dragon with a a couple glowing scales, 4 point stars (although I’d imagine the sharp edges may make those too risky), and some circles of different sizes.
Do they move around a lot? My install plan was to finish the design, have a few guide points tattooed, install implants, and get the full tattoo when they’ve healed. My thought is that if they move I can change the design a little to fit, but if they move more than 1/2 inch it may be a lot harder. I may just end up doing a much simpler design with just circles.
This is a very good point and something I was worried about, I feel like I may be better off waiting to do this design later and hope someone finds a way to make a brighter glowing implant. I may just install a small star in my wrist in the meantime to get my need to glow out of the way lol. What size star did you have implanted in your finger? I think I wouldn’t mind that much of a bump on myself, and maybe I can see if a thinner one could be made.
One last question for you, do you see your glow implants glow when you’re indoors and turn off the lights or do you need to “charge” it with uv light to see it properly?
I kinda did but it was custom made by Amal and based on a Flexnext
It was a bit visible but overall flatter than silicone ones.
I don’t know if Amal would be willing to make ones again and without electronics in them though…
I’ve seen stars before. The tips are rounded a bit and silicone is quite soft anyway so it should be fine.
Yes, for my flexnext so I assume you can see silicone ones too. The photos in the thread are long exposure with the implant fully charged but in day to day I coulds see a hazy green circle four a couple hours every time I went to bed.
I like long-term projects like that
It’s usually a good thing to think everything through - not that I’m not prone to spontaneous piercings and the like, but bigger projects require some planning. Take your time, choose your artist wisely, and you’ll be happy with the results.
Not at all, once they’re healed. But my power button seems to have moved a tiny bit when healing, so it’s a few degree off (nobody would notice it, but I got a nice scarification around it that is partly symmetric, so now it shows a bit).
It can be a bit problematic if you install several little implants (like the stars, or the classic beads) through one entry wound, because they might slide around a bit and might need some fixation. Depending on the design you have in mind, this might or might not be a relevant problem
My artist chose the biggest one, so it’s 5.59 mm x 1.59 mm - the size itself is perfect, but I guess it had to be a tiny bit thicker to be visible as a defined star during daylight.
Once the eyes got accustomed to the dark, I can see it very well. I love to see it when I go to bed, and when I wake up at night, it usually still glows. In summer, I’d say it glows until 4-5 o’clock, in winter a little less.
But many people think it’s somehow flashy in a club or something, and it definitely isn’t - it’s nice and discreet.
Totally agree, especially the little stars are no problem at all. The big stars can be tricky on spots with thin skin, like hands, but the smaller ones are definitely safe.
This is such a big improvement compared to the time when Haworth and others implanted surgical steel - it is uncomfortable as hell and you have to be pretty careful not to bump it too hard, while silicone is really forgiving
Just a warning about UV ink from my experience. It gets pushed out pretty quick. It has the consistency of water when it’s applied. I think during my healing process my plasma pushed a majority of my ink out. I am going to go and get it again in about a month in hopes the scar tissue helps retain it.
Yeah, while I like the idea of UV tattoos, I haven’t really considered them for this project because of the fading issues I’ve heard some people have, as well as the fact that I’m not around UV lights all that often. I really want it to glow on its own without having to apply a power source like a phone for a blinky or a UV light for activated ink.
