A young woman from in Senegal named Marième gets her gums tattooed black.
*We see plenty of beauty trends come and go. Some of the trends are gone in a season.
The latest “beauty” trend out of West Africa may never catch on in America though…for more reasons than you might think.
The Senegalese women have long had a tradition of tattooing their gums black. The idea is that the darker the gums, the brighter the teeth, thus a much more attractive smile.
According to the village woman that performs the procedure for the girls in the community, red gums are unacceptable because …
The procedure looks painful and messy. I’m always amazed at the length people (mostly females) would go through just to be “beautiful”, I just don’t get it. SMH