Welcome to flower power hour - a series where we get up close and personal with many of the natural ingredients that we use in our products. Today’s focus is Orange Essential Oil! I am certain that you are familiar with oranges, considering they are the most widely cultivated citrus fruit globally, constituting 50% of all citrus fruits produced. However, you may be unaware of the definition and uses of orange essential oil, as well as the eco-friendliness of oranges. Unless you have been comatose since the 1600s, this information is probably not new to you. Find out all this and more in this ..read more

“The darkness was overwhelming and the tension unbearable” reports one Yayo special correspondent upon recalling the scenes prior to deployment. “We waited for the silence to be broken - a booming voice did so...” “Listen up maggots!” cried General Toco Pherol as his troops bravely formed rank to prepare for battle. “Our objective today is simple and it is critical for the continuation of this company of heroes. Large groups of free radicals have been identified occupying Skingrad, it is our task to liberate that fine city and reinforce its existing defenses. The call to arms has been sounded ..read more

Welcome to Flower Power Hour, the series where we get up close and personal with the natural ingredients used in our products. This edition will be a bit different as we get to know Activated Charcoal as well as the importance of sustainability! The world is changing. The past 36 months alone have been interesting, to say the least. Each breaking news alert has brought a new wave of existential dread. The world feels increasingly hostile, our position as a species grows all the more precarious. One of the latest horrors? The fact that the ocean - the single largest body of water in t ..read more

When one of your oldest friends and a local legend (Benjamin Elton) tells you that you need to check out a tattoo studio you sit up and listen. The icing on the cake is the fact Rebel Base Tattoos are big fans of Yayo and recommend Yayo products to all their customers. So I hopped into my X Wing Fighter and set a course for Rebel Base.   I was meant to be driving to Tuxford to go and interview Andy Hunter in person, but a RTC at the weekend had left me without a car and stiff and sore. Instead I rang him up and interviewed him in my garden in an effort to get a good phone signal. I start ..read more

I’ve known Ben Elton since we were spotty teenagers. No not the sell-out comedian Ben Elton, I mean the other one, the guy who is so metal he shits bullets. Yayo sent me out to have a chat with my old mate and find out why he loves Rebel Base, Yayo and playing with thrash legends Testament.   Covid got in the way again, I should have been meeting Ben for a few pints and a chin wag but the wretched virus has put that on hold. Instead I’m sat sniffling at my desk transcribing an audio message from one of Nottingham City’s metal royalty. “I first got tattooed in Mansfield; I can’t even reme ..read more

Trailblazer, Renaissance woman and post modern miracle Veronica Blades truly operates in a sphere all of her own. A piercer and body modification artist of unparalleled skill, Veronica is embracing post lockdown London with renewed enthusiasm. Yayo sent out resident blog writer Matt Haddon-Reichardt to get the low down on life post covid and discover Veronica’s unique body transformation journey.     “I had to change artist,” explains Veronica, as I shift around the house trying to get a good phone signal. “I have been planning my full body suit for many years and I had a disagreeme ..read more

2022 marks my 10th anniversary writing for the tattoo trade. In that big time tech companies have clawed at our beloved craft, media empires have risen and fallen and a whole new breed of artists have taken over tattooing. In this blog I look back at the past decade in tattooing and explore the good, the bad and the ugly.   YouTube, Instagram and Facebook eventually killed Tattoo Master Magazine.    Back in 2012, when I got my first article published in Tattoo Master Magazine, tattooing was taking over the shelves of every newsagent in the land. Thanks to the popularity of sho ..read more

Will facial tattoos ever go mainstream? Or will they always be a taboo that is seldom broken? Yayo sent out regular blog boy Matt Haddon-Reichardt to find out.     Back in 2016 Justin Bieber broke a social taboo, that I expected to herald an avalanche of tattoo change. It was a time when he was transforming from clean cut, mediocre pop singer to bad boy, mediocre pop singer. A huge part of this reinvention was a bunch of mediocre tattoos. The tattoo that caught my eye, and got me thinking was very small, but one fact made it stand out from the rest. What caught my eye was the fact M ..read more

Roy Robinson is a tattoo collector, metal work artist and life saver. For Yayo’s new blog series, Interesting people with Interesting Tattoos, we sent Matt Haddon-Reichardt out to meet Roy to have a chat about all things ink related, metal unicorns and working on the front line during covid.     When did you get your first tattoo? “I got my first tattoo when I was 21 as I started to go through my body modification late compared with most people. I went to Steel City Tattoos in Sheffield as he was recommended by a friend. I decided to go with a triple Yin Yang as it is supposed to re ..read more

I’ve just begun a Masters in nursing and its proving illuminating when it comes to tattoo healing. I’ve been writing for the tattoo trade for nearly a decade and one issue that comes up time and time again is side effects from tattoo aftercare products. When tattoo healing doesn’t go as expected, the first port of call to park the blame bus is the aftercare product that’s been used.   As part of my introduction to nursing we have to do mandatory training that covers the basics of nursing care. These include taking blood pressure, medication dispensing and wound care. It was during my wou ..read more