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Holy grossness. I have heard some weird things in my day, but this absolutely takes the cake. N.E.R.D singer/rapper/producer Pharrell Williams has told the Mirror that he doesn’t like his old tattoos. Nearly every inch of his body is covered, and he seems to find some of it juvenile. Not tattoos as a concept, but the art he’s chosen. So what’s a guy to do? Have major laser tattoo removal? Why do that when you can have someone GROW SOME NEW SKIN for you. Yes I had to write it in caps, because that’s the hysterical/freaked out tone in which I say it.
Laser tattoo removal? That’s so yesterday, according to Pharrell Williams. The hotshot rapper and producer has decided to have new skin grown in a test tube just so that he can change his tats. Williams says he’s prepared to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on the space age technology to get rid of his current crop of tattoos.
“There’s an institute called the Wake Forest Institute in North Carolina for Regenerative Skin Treatment,” he told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper. “It’s going to be pricey, but … it’s worth it. I got fire on my arms, I don’t need fire on my arms! I’m a grown man.”
Explaining how the icky-sounding process works, Williams said, “It’s basically like getting a skin graft, but you’re not taking skin from your a– or legs - these guys actually grow the skin for you.” Contemplating his new blank canvas, he added, “When it has healed you can go get whatever tattoo you want.”
[From the Daily News]
Raise your hand if you’re totally and completely freaked out. Oh good, I see it’s all of you. I cannot even put words to this. It’s not offensive or anything, but I have this really gross mental image of a Petri dish with a hunk of skin growing on it. And somehow the thought of skin that’s not attached to a body is just too much for me to wrap my brain around.
Pharrell is clearly willing to go to some pretty extreme measures to start fresh. I can sorta understand why this idea might be appealing, as laser tattoo removal still leaves a visible scar. I don’t know much about it, but I can imagine it’d be a huge pain to do for someone who’s as heavily tattooed as Pharrell says he is. But I can’t imagine having new skin put on would feel a whole lot better. I thought about looking it up to find out, but I am way, way, way too afraid there might be pictures. So I’ll assume it’s safe to say Pharrell is really serious if he’s willing to go through all this.
Here’s Pharrell Williams with N.E.R.D with performing live at Roter Salon in Berlin on June 27th. I don’t think he’s all that tattooed – personally I’d move on to the chest before I’d start slapping on new skin. Images thanks to WENN.
Written by JayBird
Posted in Gross, Health, Pharrell Williams, Science, Tattoos
26 Responses to “Pharrell Williams is having new skin grown to replace tattoos”
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How hilarious! He really thinks he can just be flayed and get new skin? Who wants to bet he hasn’t thought about: a) the intense pain involved, and b) HELLO, the fact that skin grafts are really a scarred mess.
My dad has skin grafts from melanoma, and the places that were grafted do not have any sensory nerves, and it looks just like what it is - a patch job where the only advantage is that you have skin there, instead of not. Not exactly a fresh batch of skin, is it?
Somebody please tell me in the medical field if they’ve perfected this and I’ll shut up. But until then …
… Dumbass.
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@gg
Even if they have perfected it, who’s to say he won’t get tired of these next tattoos? Yeesh. It’s not like he’s a wizened old man.
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Doesn’t he realize that skin replacement causes scarring? His skin wouldn’t look like a blank canvas, it would look like frankenstein’s monster! Oh yeah, the patchwork quilt look is sooo hot! *roll’s eyes* What a moron!!
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Am I the only one who thinks he was joking? Especially the last comment on how it you can go get a new tattoo - what’s the point if you changed skin (which as far as I know is not possible like this anyway) to get rid of your tats?
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Weird. To think that on such a large scale this would work. I mean i could see covering one tattoo like a skin graft but your entire arms? …. im not so sure that’s … possible.
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@Amy: lol! I concur.
I bet MissMara’s right. That hadn’t occurred to me.
I hope for his sake that he’s just joking, which is kinda funny. Anybody know if this guy is really that stupid?
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This just screams “you have too much money”. If you chose bad tats that’s part of who and what you were/are.
Donate the money to someone disadvantaged, don’t be so self involved, it looks so bad as to what kind of person you are.
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I’m working on getting my most visable arm tattoo removed now. I’ve been to 2 laser treatments. It’s lighter, but so far I’m not seeing any results.
You and the doc put on safety glasses and he shoots you w/ a laser gun. The only portion of your skin that absorbs the laser is skin that’s pigmented (the tattoo, any existing moles).. the pigment heats up and cools down rapidly, breaking up the structure of the skin on a cellular level.
Then your body’s lymphatic system absorbs the damaged skin+ink and it gets purged through your liver. The rest sloughs off as regular exfoliation.
Anyways, it’s pretty painful. Not the purging, addictive pain as getting a tat either. And expensive: it can take up to 8 treatments. At 200$ a session that would be 10x’s what the original tattoo cost me!
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Ok, I’m not really as squicked as you JayBird, by the idea of that whole procedure, but then again, I’ve worked with mummies. Well, not so much with as on.
Anyhoo: I think that if he is serious about all this, he is falling for a really good scam. As far as I know, it’s true that grafted skin has no nerve endings. Sucks. And what’s more, if I were in his shoes doing this, I’d always have the icky feeling that my tats aren’t really gone, they’re just hidden by a new layer of skin. And psychologically, the point is to have them gone, right? At least that’s possible with laser treatment.
Last thought that came to my mind while reading what you said about imagining the skin bits in a Petri dish: why doesn’t he have them tattooed first and then grafted on? Would spare at least some pain, right. And if you don’t like the results, go on to the next skin.
This guy is weird man. Really weird.
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If he really wants to show that he’s a grown ass man, he should learn to deal with his life choices and move on.
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It appears to be real. (the place i mean)
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Yes, and they can grow a “human ear” on a mouse’s back too, but that doesn’t connect with total skin replacement from healthy, albeit scribbled, skin.
http://docinthemachine.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/mouse_ear.jpg
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This is disgusting, if it is true. Vanity, it’s one of the seven deadlies.
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Ahh…life is so simple and everything comes to me so easily…. Obviously that is the mindset of this guy and those he runs with. Life is precious and it’s damned hard work to get it right. Perhaps he should have a little pride in what God gave him instead of marking it up beyond recognition and then make plans to purchase new flesh? God, I sound like an old lady, but really now, isn’t this all becoming a bit too much?
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Just….EWWW! And…. OWWWW!!!
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Well, my view is he should go ahead then and try this little trick. Then he’ll be the poster boy for stupid surgery because the poor lad will look like gumby-stein. dammit.
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He really isn’t that heavily tattooed. Why get inked if you aren’t gonna keep them forever? I mean, thats the whole point. I don’t love some of mine, but I’d never get rid of them. Cover them up maybe, but not totally remove the skin! :shudder:
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It’s a real place, and it’s in North Carolina. I didn’t see much about skin specifically, but maybe that’s a private matter.
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He should go for it, pay millions and be an experiment to make the search advance for greatly burnt people. I say he is a visionary
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Good for Pharrell! He doesn’t like his tats anymore and he’s doing something about it-for him. It’s no different that someone getting a cosmedic surgery to feel better about themself (unless you come out lookin more crazy!) There’s such a huge tatoo culture out there, and you never hear about people eventually being unhappy with their ink. You only hear about the No-No of getting your lover’s name tatooed! There’s gotta be tons of people out there who regret their tatooes. Maybe they don’t complain since it’s, for most, permanent-no point cryin over spilt milk right?! That’s why I’m glad I’m ink free!! No tramp stamps here!!
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sometimes i hate the world.
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how do they get the skin to match exactly? wouldn’t the shades of color vary?
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Ewwwwwwwwww never mind the custom grown skin grafts! Someone get the man to a shower with some body wash…EWWWWWWWW
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So gross.
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P Aint Gettn Skin Grafts I Waz Readn An Interview Frm A Cpl Dayz Ago And He Said That He Waz Just Talkn Shit That He Will Get Them Lazerd Off If He Decide 2 Remove Any Of Them
MissMara:
gg:
Amy:
JR:
AC:
jinx:
northwesterly:
Melissa:
Alexis:
CeeJay:
Because I say So:
Bodhi:
Jody:
Frenchie:
YUP:
lulu:
drm:
Jaundice Machine:
mrs williams:
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I must admit I have a bad crush on Pharrell… looove the sweaty pics!
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