Cara Delevingne Requests ‘Silence’ With Her Latest Tattoo, But How Many Has She Got Now?

In this week's Grazia we explore the tattoo backlash - or tat-lash if you will - as presenter Fearne Cotton admitted to regretting some of hers and actress Hayden Panettiere revealed she is getting an ink removed. But while some stars are opting to have their body art wiped out, there's one A-lister who seems to be increasing her tat count by the day. Cara Delevingne has taken to Instagram to unveil the latest in her collection of inks, which we think makes number 7.

To be fair, it's difficult to keep track. Earlier this week she showed off two relatively new tats during a photoshoot for DKNY in New York's Time Square, but now she's added the word 'Silence' to her wrist claiming, 'Silence speaks when words can't'. The ink was done at Cara's tattoo parlor of choice, Bang Bang NYC, run by the artist Keith McCurdy who goes by the name Bang Bang. It's also a favourite with her bessie Rihanna, as well as Katy Perry and Justin Beiber.

When we spoke to Cara at London Fashion Week last month just after she'd had a new tat done in New York we asked her if more body art was on the cards and she replied, 'Hell yeah! Shh, don't tell anyone. I can't stop.' It appears that the model has quite the ink obsession - after all it was only back in May of this year that she had her first tattoo done (by Bang Bang, natch) and at this rate it won't be long before she reaches double figures.

Let's take a look back at her short and sweet tat history...

5 & 6. XII and the Southern Cross

[Rex]

During her stay in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month Cara got the chance to show off her own creative skills when she tattooed a little cartoon dog face onto a fan called Deborah to go alongside the Cara she scribbled on her leg. To prove that the hand in the picture really is hers, Cara shared a video of her inking Debs. She also got a couple of inks of her own from local tattooist Daniel Tucci - 'Number 12' in black numerals on her side an a Southern Cross behind her ear. You can see the XII peeping out from her orange DKNY dress in the pic above, but so far Cara has been hesitant to show off her cross tat.

4. Pandora

Bang Bang NYC [Instagram]

On previous trip to New York with her pal Rita Ora, Cara paid a visit to Bang Bang NYC, where she had an ink of the name of her mother Pandora on her left arm. Rita went for a slightly different (and most probably way more painful) approach, asking the artist to tattoo a huge drawing of an Alberto Vargas pinup girl over her right ribcage. McCurdy told E! News, "[Cara]'s hilarious. She's genuinely fun, one of my favourite people." And customers too we reckon!

3. Made In England

Cara Delevingne [Instagram]

Not content with getting two inkings in recent months, the model du jour added another tattoo to her collection in July. Cara took to her Instagram account (where else?) to showcase the ink that reads 'Made In England'. It's a simple branding discreetly stamped on the bottom of her left foot to insure her high-fashion bosses like Burberry and DKNY won't be fussed. Along with the snap, she wrote, 'Made in England! Finally... @bangbang.'

2. CJD

[Rex]

A week after getting her first tattoo, Cara was back at Bang Bang NYC again. This time she got her initials CJD (Cara Jocelyn Delevingne) stamped onto her hand - just in case she'll forget 'em. But unfortunately her initials also stand for mad cow disease - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Woops! It's a Bang Bang tradition to let his A-List clients have a go at tattooing on his skin and then have them Instagram it (bien sur). As after getting tattooed, Rihanna gave him an umbrella with a R on his arm and Justin Bieber gave him a muscly mouse with the caption 'swaggy.' Cara followed her BFF Rita and RiRi's footsteps and picked up the needle and sketched her initials inside a heart on Bang Bang's leg.

1. Lion

Cara Delevingne [Instagram]

Want to know why Cara chose a lion as her first tattoo back in May? Well it had a little something to do with Rihanna! Bang Bang revealed the whole story to Jay-Z's website Life + Times: "Rihanna called me, she was in the Gansevoort Hotel, and she said she wanted a tattoo. I was like “Alright, I’ll be right there.” So I go to the Gansevoort and she’s like it’s not me, it’s my friend. So I met Cara, and Cara wanted to get her first tattoo, she wanted to write the word “Lion” down her finger. And I told her, I was like, “I don’t think that’s very sexy. Why don’t we do a picture of a lion like a piece of jewelry, like to decorate you?” Tattooing is so much of a fashion and people don’t really notice, but you got to do something timeless, because you don’t want to do something that’s a trend, like a lower back tribal tattoo that was cool in the ’90s and now people are covering them up all the time. So you really want to do something timeless and unique. Especially on somebody like Cara. So I gave her the idea, and she loved it, and we kicked that thing’s ass."

Take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly celebrity tattoos in the gallery below...