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Butterfly tattoos are growing in popularity all the time and are one of the designs most commonly requested by women. And it's not surprising. Butterflies are beautiful to look at and these designs carry a rich symbolism due to the short yet amazing life of these creatures. And due to the vast range of colors and species available, there's no reason why your tattoo shouldn't be absolutely unique to you.

There are almost 25,000 different types of butterfly and they range in size from an eighth of an inch across to a massive twelve inches in diameter. And then of course there's the color to consider. Many butterflies display the most beautiful range of bright and vibrant colors imaginable.

There are four main stages in the life of this amazing creature. They begin life as an egg, which turns into a caterpillar. At this stage (the pupa stage) they make a chrysalis or cocoon from which they emerge as an adult butterfly.

It's this transformation from an unspectacular caterpillar into a graceful and glorious butterfly that inspired the mythical Greek character called Psych who had the wings of a butterfly. Psych is the Greek word for both butterfly and the soul, hence the deep symbolic meaning of the butterfly tattoo. Many ancient people believed that the amazing transformation of the butterfly was similar to the soul's journey from an earthly body to a spiritual body.

However, despite this long chain of transformations, the final part of their lifespan (as an adult butterfly once it emerges from the pupa state) lasts only two weeks. This brief yet colorful contribution to life has been taken to represent the fragile nature of human life. Perhaps that's part of the appeal of butterfly tattoos.

But due to the vast number of choices available it can be incredibly difficult to find the right butterfly tattoo design. It's often said that finding the right design is as much an art in itself as the actual creation of the tattoo. So here are a few things to bear in mind when searching for your butterfly tattoo.

1) Start by working out why you want this tattoo. What do you want it to represent? This knowledge will help to influence and shape the look of the tattoo when it comes to selecting a final design.

2) Work out what type of butterfly design you want. What type of butterfly? What colors? What size? What style? Where will it be located on your body? Once you have a rough idea of what you want, you'll find it much easier to narrow down your options.

3) Start looking through tattoo designs and pick out a few that you like best. At this stage you don't have to like the whole design. Just take a note of all the designs that contain an element or a style that you like. These ideas will all contribute to settling on the final tattoo design. The internet is a great tool to help find tattoo designs. It allows you to look at a large number of designs and pictures of completed tattoos in a short space of time. This will help you to narrow down that sort of thing that you want. You may even be able to find a reputable tattoo artist if you don't already have one.

4) If you can't find a design that's exactly what you want, try sketching a picture of the type of design that you want. And if your artwork isn't that good, do your best and then get an artist or an artistic friend to draw what you describe. These drawings will be useful later on, because even if you find a design that you like, you can use your own drawings to add your own unique touch to the final design.

And finally, don't proceed with your butterfly tattoo until you're absolutely 100% sure that you've found the right design, because it's going to be with you for a long time.