‘Needlez’ covers breast cancer scars with art

In honour of a young friend diagnosed with breast cancer more than a decade ago, Candice 'Needlez' Davis has been giving free tattoos to survivors who wish to cover scars on their breast during October.

October is globally recognised as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and she wanted this free service to be in alignment with it.

Davis' journey to tattoo artistry began at just eight years old when her aunt took her to a tattoo shop, sparking a fascination that only grew as her school days took her by a tattoo shop owned by a woman. Although she fulfilled her mother's wishes by earning a Bachelor of Laws from The University of the West Indies, Mona, she ultimately pursued her dream and opened her tattoo business, 'Needlez.'

"I had a client who we went to university together, we were the same age, and she came for a cancer [ribbon symbol] tattoo. When my clients come, we almost always bond... and in the process I said, 'Do you have somebody that's battling cancer, and she said, 'It's me'. I was surprised and this is 11 years ago," the now 33- year-old entrepreneur who owns the tattoo shop located in Clock Tower Plaza and in Florida, told THE STAR.

That breast cancer survivor has completed a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and removed both of her breasts, leaving her with scars.

"It traumatised me a little. It shook me up, especially because she's a hot girl. She was a hot girl at university. She's still a hot girl now, and when I listened to her and I listened to how horrific it was for her to wake up every morning and looking at herself without vital female organs... It was horrific for me, and at the time, I didn't know how to do the areolar tattoos, and she showed me. She showed me on Facebook this lady overseas offering the service, and I said to her, 'I don't know if I can do it, but I know that I can try' and she said we are going to figure it out," Davis said.

In addition to this, Davis has been touched by breast cancer by seeing women suffering and fighting the battle with the deadly disease.

"I'm no stranger to breast cancer and cancer in general. I had a history of cancer in my family, but one of the primary reasons why I started offering this is because I feel like Jamaica in particular, don't have enough options as it relates to beautification and helping persons who have suffered this trauma, to just feel better about themselves. We kind of just treat it as a 'Hey, you beat cancer, [so] live with it'. I want to be the avenue to help women feel beautiful again, after going through something that is so traumatic," Davis told THE STAR.

"Another thing is that it is a super expensive procedure, even outside of October, I charge way less for it, because I feel like it's my way of giving back," she said.

She educates that there are two types of mastectomy tattoos which persons can get.

"Mastectomy tattoos where once the woman or man has lost the breast, we cover the scar with a design. With that type of tattoo, most persons cover the scar with flowers or things that empower them and make them feel better when they look at it. And the other type is areolar. What that is, is putting an areola and nipple on the area via tattooing which looks realistic. It helps boost confidence for women who have lost the nipple and areolar," Davis, who is graduate of Immaculate Conception, explained.

She expanded her business to Florida because she realised that the demand was coming from that US state for her, and now she has no regrets expanding.

"I did my market research and I asked myself 'Would it make more sense to open another studio in Jamaica or branch out to another country?' And when I did my market research, I looked at stuff like revenue traffic and other Caribbean islands, and I still market the Caribbean as Jamaica, so it made sense to go where a lot of Jamaicans are, and, of course, Florida is like a little Jamaica," she said.