If you’re into your ink, you probably keep an eye out for the latest, greatest trends and up and coming styles in the making from the world of tattooing.
Whether you’re a hard-core ink junkie who’s on first-name terms with your artist of choice or simply like to see what’s new now and again, I’ve done some of the legwork for you, so check out my findings on two of the latest tattooing trends-and some of their potential drawbacks.

...or how a dark subculture can be a metaphoric light.   

I am no stranger to woe and darkness, for I am made of gooey gothic splendor.
One of the major misconceptions about the goth scene is that it’s only about the darker side: death, gloom, and despair. Despite this knee-jerk association, the reality is that some of the rather sunshiny constructs from the field of positive psychology apply quite easily (and amusingly!) to goths and the goth scene.

If you’re into any alternative subculture, you’ve most likely heard of cosplay. If you, however, are not much into it, you probably don’t know what it’s like on the other side of the hobby, in the very heart of cosplay community. To do cosplay, before play you will obviously need a costume. To get a costume, you will either need a certain set of handy skills to make it yourself, or money to pay somebody to make it for you. But to go out there in a costume of yours, you’ll also need courage and nerves of steel.

In the moments before the artist’s whirring tattoo needle touched my skin, my mind flooded once again with decades of judgments and admonitions. Listening to the echoing voices in my head, you would have thought that getting a tattoo meant the instant perks of gang membership, a career in the illegal sex trade, and the very real possibility that one day Charlize Theron would gain 30 pounds and shave off her eyebrows to portray my ruination in a movie.

Seductive, style and monumental, these are the three words that describe the band Eleine, whose lead singer Madeleine is the official face of Althemy for the month of January 2016, and we are talking with Madeleine and Rikard, the lead guitar player and song writer together with Madeleine for this band, so you can check out interview with them and its transcript right below.

“…Going through a bit of a goth phase,” I overheard one of my parents sigh to someone on the other end of the line. “Goth phase,” I snickered to myself, “yeah, they’ll see, this is who I really am.”

Years into this “goth phase,” every time I exited my teenage goth bedroom, my latest goth outfit – nah, creation! - was met with furrowed parental brows and the pleading look that said, “are you really wearing that out?” I’d double down in my resolve, and meet their look with my own defiant (albeit overly-eyelinered one) that silently said, “of course.”

The face of Althemy for the month of December is incredibly talented Okkido, a cosplayer and gothic model from Hungary who has gathered much attention with her amazing costumery and detailed handicraft. She is known for cosplaying numerous characters across many fandoms, but also specifically for her state of the art Warhammer 40.000 armors.

Recently, we had the opportunity to welcome wonderful Obsidian Kerttu here at Althemy for an interview. This beautiful and immensely talented girl is well versed in styling and modelling. She shows her artistic side through every aspect of her rich modelling career across many styles, paying attention to every detail, from styling her own apparel, to choosing the best photographers to immortalize her work.

This month’s Face of Althemy is Xilmordas, an intriguing and talented model, video producer and photographer from Sweden. Even though his appearance is quite dark and mysterious, somewhat spooky, he is actually one very chatty and warm person, who talked about his alternative roots and childhood influences, as well as about his creative processes and future plans.

Althemy team had a great pleasure to talk with Ferasha, a multi-talented cosplayer, festival organizer and Japanese culture promoter, from Belgrade. This charismatic girl managed to build and maintain a cosplay society in Serbia, that haven’t existed before. Her energy is vast, just like her intellect and education. Talking to her was very inspiring for the Althemy team, who made her Face of Althemy, for the month of August.