The Guinness World Record holder for the most body modifications has issued a cautionary message to others considering similar changes.
Maria José Cristerna Méndez, often referred to as the ‘Vampire Woman,’ hails from Mexico and has been fascinated by tattoos and body modifications since her youth.
She got her first tattoo at the age of 14 and has accumulated a total of 50 body modifications over the years.
Due to her extensive collection of tattoos and body alterations, Maria achieved a Guinness World Record as the most modified woman in 2012.
So, where are Maria’s body embellishments?
Unsurprisingly, they cover nearly every part of her body.
Her forearms and arms are enhanced with implants, and Maria’s entire body is adorned with tattoos from head to toe.
While many people may have tattoos on common areas such as legs, arms, or back, Maria’s tattoos are in some less typical locations.
In a particularly bold move, she even has tattoos on her eyeballs, which must have been incredibly painful.
Maria also sports multiple piercings in her eyebrows, lips, nose, tongue, ear lobes, belly button, and nipples, in addition to having dental implants.
In a 2022 interview with Guinness World Records, Maria remarked: “In the beginning, my dad didn’t agree with the idea. But after that, he took me to the tattoo studio to get my very first tattoo.
“Art runs through my veins. Since I was a little kid I loved art and now I can express it through my body.”
In 2022, Maria shared her aspiration to cover her entire body with tattoos, saying she doesn’t ‘care what people think about me’.
However, she did offer a word of caution to those who might want to emulate her.
She advised: “The advice I would give is that you have to think about it a lot as it is irreversible.
“I love the way I look, but you have to understand that there are young people who are very open to tattoos and piercings and everything. It’s become fashionable, so we might get to a point where it’s not what we want anymore, and we might not like it anymore.
“So you have to think about it very hard in order to love it and be able to defend it your whole life.”
Maria further explained that her passion for body modifications emerged after a difficult period in her marriage, during which she felt unable to express her true identity.
“You always can reach your goals. There are no limits. Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it,” she concluded.