A mother-of-seven who is covered with tattoos has revealed strangers have spat at her in the street. Melissa Sloan, 45, is covered in the colourful ink and admits she is addicted to the buzz of getting a new tattoo.
Her whole face is covered, and she even has tattoos on her private parts. But though Melissa is regularly abused by strangers – to the point where she now does not socialise – she is intent on getting even more inkings in the future.
Melissa, from Wales, says: “I love my tattoos. My kids love them too – it’s all about self expression. But I’ve been pushed and spat at and called: ‘Miss Piggy.’
“People can be so rude. I don’t go out socially in the evenings, because I would fear for my safety. But that doesn’t mean I will bow to the bullies. I will carry on getting tattoos until I am 90”. Melissa estimates she has spent thousands on her tattoos to date and now has her own kit at home, which her partner is trained to use.
She got her first tattoo, aged 20, of the Kray twins, and that remains her favourite design. Aged 39, she got her first facial tattoo – and then the abuse began.
She says: “People treat me so appallingly. I’ve been spat at by a man in the street. I’ve been called awful names. I was in the GP surgery one day and someone just shoved me out of the queue. It’s as though I am no longer a person behind my tattoos.
"There's always drama. It doesn't matter if it's in the supermarket, or wherever, people look at me. Some are really nice and complimentary about my tattoos. But all that matters is that me and my children like them.
“I have seven kids, most of them have grown up now, but they think they're fantastic. My mum always said to me: 'you've got to be yourself'. That's what I'm doing."
After getting her first few done professionally, Melissa now gets tattooed sometimes twice a week by her partner at home. She added: “I still have some room left on my back and so I can fit in a few more. I just love my tattoos, I'm proud of them. I will be getting them until I'm 90. People can say what they like, but at the end of the day it's all about being yourself."
