‘Australia‘s most tattooed woman’ has revealed what she looked like before her extreme transformation.
Amber Luke, who is widely referred to as the ‘Dragon Girl’, has reportedly spent $300,000 on ‘tattoos, plastic surgeries, piercings, and injections’.
And now, she’s provided IGV with photos to show just how much she’s changed.
Although Luke has reportedly covered 99 per cent of her body in inkings, she says she has no plans to stop.
The model tells IGV: “There will never be a point where I am done self-evolving – both inside and outside. Call it whatever you will – but I see change and self-growth to be beautiful and bold.”
Luke has pursued an extreme look for many years, revealing that she decided she wanted to undergo one of her biggest modifications when she was 20 years old.
“I knew I wanted my eyeballs tattooed from 20 years old, I saw it online and thought it was so strikingly unique. I knew it was meant for me,” she says.
Eyeball tattooing is permanent colouring of the white of the eye. It’s performed by injecting ink with a needle underneath the top layer of the eye, in several locations, as per NSW Health. It’s permanent and non-reversible.
Luke found that having her eyeballs tattooed wasn’t a smooth sailing experience – it led to her being blind for three weeks.
She explains to IGV: “It is not meant to happen like that. You are supposed to see straight after and feel no pain or discomfort. The eyeball has no nerves at the front of the eye – unfortunately for me – he hit my retina.”
Although there are success stories when it comes to eyeball tattooing, it’s highly dangerous and underregulated.
Due to it being a relatively rare procedure, the long-term consequences of the procedure are unknown, as per WebMD.
And this isn’t the only tattoo mishap Luke has experienced.
The model recalls: “I have had a mad infected wrist tattoo. It took two rounds of strong antibiotics and painkillers to heal the infection. Turns out you shouldn’t go swimming with fresh tattoos… little did I know they when I was 16.”
While Luke loves her tattoos and body modifications, she’s acknowledged that it’s caused difficulties in her life.
She explains to IGV: “It affects everything I do. My bodysuit is stigmatised to the point I can’t even go clubbing. No face, hand or neck tattoos since 2013 have been allowed or regulated.
“Finding ‘regular’ employment has been a challenge, but I ain’t one to shy away from a good challenge.”
Anti-tattoo dress codes still exist in Australia, despite the growing number of people getting inked.
A woman with cultural tattoos previously went viral after allegedly being denied entry to a Brisbane bar, per 7News.
Speaking to Brisbane radio show Robin, Terry & Kip, the Aussie model shared her own experiences of discrimination.
“Everyone has their own opinions of what beauty is,” she said.
“You see these cultures [where people] stretch their necks, their ears, their lips. But at the end of the day, we all are entitled to our opinion and that’s okay.
“But, what gets to me is when someone expresses their opinion to me in public and comes up to me and says, ‘Oh, you’re ugly’, or, ‘You’ve ruined yourself’.”
Luke responds to IGV: “It’s pretty intriguing to know just how many strangers are willing to put someone down they don’t know anything about – because they look different.
“Individually comes with a price – emotional turmoil from the close-minded general public.
“So to those who say I’ve ‘ruined myself’ – my response is that not everyone is supposed to find me beautiful or what I’ve done beautiful – everyone has their own ideals of what beauty is.
“That does not mean you have the entitlement to bring me down for doing me. That’s not on.”
Fortunately, Luke is surrounded by people who have supported her journey.
“I don’t have people in my life that don’t support what I do for myself. It’s that simple,” the model expresses.
And now, Luke has shared what she looked like before her extreme transformation began.
Discussing her before look, the Instagram star tells IGV: “I absolutely despise it. Losing my visual identity is a rough trot!
“All those years, blood and sweat gone into my bodysuit – gone.”
