These days ‘think before you ink’ adage serves not only as a warning or a reproach (told you so!) but also as a piece of good advice and that’s how it usually appears in articles on the subject of tattoos.  And that’s where ‘Temporary Tattoos for Girls’ pick up and do the job for you.

Does the title sound wacky? It actually does and makes you not expect much from it. But then again, why you should expect much from temporary tattoos? They are temporary after all!

So what’s worth some of your time (and possibly money) about this one? First of all, it contains a few sheets of not bad quality temporary tattoos. They offer a wider choice of designs than your ordinary bubble gum ones. The designs also illustrate the chapters of the book, so if you decide you like animal or symbol tattoos the best, you can apply a tattoo of animal or symbol of your choice and just see if you are going to like it for more than just a few hours.

Secondly, the book is addressed for young women (and girls), so it offers more feminine designs (there is also a similar book offering temporary tattoos for guys, though, so it’s  an equal gender opportunity). It consists of short chapters on 10 most common designs and each chapter is illustrated with decent pictures of women with tattoos. Each chapter also provides some information on the meanings behind a given design and most popular placements (seeing as it’s all about expressing your individuality;)).

Sadly, as it’s been the case with other books on the subject published by Chartwell Books, there’s no bibliography listed, so you can’t use it as a pointer toward more detailed research in case you decide to get tattooed after all.

I’m not really satisfied with the contents of this book information-wise but seeing as I bought it only because of its choice of temporary tattoos, it’s not that bad after all. To sum it up, if you want more information, look somewhere else; but if you would like to play with some fake tattoos (just for fun or you have a kid with a tiny obsession with tattoos), this book may actually be an acceptable purchase.

A.      Rattigan, B. Badwater, Temporary Tattoos for Girls, Chartwell Books, Inc. 2010;