Russian men are paying tattoo artists for facial scars 'to look more masculine'

More and more Russian men are paying tattooists to give them cosmetic scars to make them appear more masculine, according to local media.

Muscov reports that demand for scarification in Moscow has risen by 20% and men are paying around £19 per centimetre to look more brutal and intimidating.

Scarification is a form of body art that involves scratching, etching, burning, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin and can take up to a year to heal.

Many social media users mocked the men paying for scars. A VKontakte user called Gosha Bachinsky said: “No matter how you dress a donkey, it will never become a horse.” Another commenter, Denis Gagarin, said: “It’s always been fashionable to be a moron.”

Some defended the scarred men, with one responder saying: “It goes both ways, they can do whatever they want with their bodies. It's stupid yes. But let's not get judgey. The only intolerance is for the intolerant.”

Alexandra Volka, a tattoo artist at the Ink Devil tattoo studio in Moscow, has specialised in piercing and scarification for a decade. She said: “In principle, piercing and scarification are the same, only from a slightly different angle.”

One of the most famous cosmetic scar fans is Aleksandr ‘Alex Terrible’ Shikolai, lead singer of Russian deathcore band Slaughter To Prevail.

In a message to fans, he said: “I just find it cool, I wanted a cool scar, I did it. I’m not brutal, I’m not tough, I’m not a great African fighter or a f***ing killer, I’m just a simple guy who loves death metal and I want to have a cool look, like a character from a movie. If you don’t like that, f*** off.”