'Unbeatable' tattoo record finally broken by man with multiple layers of ink

With tattoos on top of tattoos, Ephemeral Remy’s body is a work of art.

The Canadian – real name Jeremy Schofield – has had at least 90% of his skin covered in ink since 2005. He’s been covered and re-covered in approximately 40 layers of ink, with some regions of his body even filled in more than 100 times.

His dedication to body art has brought him the record for most tattooed person living (multiple layers) (male).

The former cook, who now manages tattoo shops and social media companies, started off quite small with his tattoos, first just having his son’s name inked on his left inner forearm.

Remy, who is featured inside Guinness World Records 2027, was already a fan of body modification, with over 100 piercings, but says he didn’t originally plan to have his whole body covered in tattoos.

Since then, he’s even had someone pull his bum cheeks apart so an artist could get right in there to add some ink.

He told us: “I honestly never expected or planned to have a world record for this, but my passion for the work itself had me come to this quite naturally, it was around 2019-2020 when people started asking me if I had a world record for hours and layers tattooed, by around 2022 I knew that I did just based on a lack of documentation from any other living person that rivalled or surpassed my own.”

Remy says his first layer of tattoos came quite gradually during his early adulthood and that through years of personal growth and change, he kept adding and adding to his body art.

Now, he tends to have his next three to six months of appointments planned out as he continues work on his impressive body suit, which he says is an “ongoing process of learning and evolving”.

Read about more people with amazing body modifications in our Human Body section.

With not much skin left showing, you might assume Remy is done, but he still gets tattooed two or three times every week.

Many of his designs, including the eye centrepiece on his torso, were ones he drew himself as a kid and later had an artist work from.

Like most people, Remy says there are some areas on his body that have hurt more than others while being tattooed, like his inner crotch and bum cheeks.

When asked if he has any interesting stories about being tattooed, he confessed: “You could say I have many, but one that always comes to mind was the time I had one artist stretch my bum cheek so that another artist could fully saturate the inside of it, as the prior week he had thrown out his shoulder attempting to stretch the other side.”

Remy’s look is sure to turn a few heads while he walks down the street, but he says reactions are usually positive, although of course there is sadly some negativity too.

“Honestly I get nothing but positive feedback anywhere in real life, lots of compliments and curiosity,” he said. “But on social media it’s a different thing altogether. Online I receive lots of positive feedback, but lots of insults, negativity, and even death threats, which is a sad sign of the times. Fortunately my lived experiences in public, nothing like this ever occurs, and likely never will.”

Closer to home, he has the support of his loved ones.

He said: “Honestly because I’ve always been a bit of a weird looking guy between elaborate hair dos, many facial piercings, alternative clothing styles, everyone who knows me has gotten used to me, and unless I directly point out something new I’ve done they don’t even notice anymore.

Taking a closer look at Remy’s impressive collection of tattoos, you’ll notice things like roses, sea creatures, demons, a classic depiction of Nosferatu, and even a dog wearing a tuxedo.

He’s spent well over a thousand hours in the chair and has had more than 40 artists contribute to his body art.

He said: “Pretty much everything we’ve done on my body was previously thought to be impossible. Prior to my vlogs on this subject there was no public database for any of this type of layering, and all there was was clouded in obscurity and gatekeeping.

“Since documenting this journey publicly I have inspired other artists and clients worldwide to try this themselves, and I hear from them about their experiences daily. It has been my honour.”

For anyone thinking about getting their very first tattoo, Remy has some advice.

He said: “Take it slow and enjoy the ride, too many people want be ‘covered’ in a hurry these days, good things take time, this is a marathon not a sprint. We need to stop looking at buying tattoos like T-shirts or cheeseburgers and start looking at them as lifestyle pursuits not unlike fitness.”

Remy was actually brought to our attention by Lucky Diamond Rich (Aboriginal Australian, Quandamooka People of North Stradbroke Island, b. New Zealand), who felt he should pass his most tattooed man record over.

But on investigation, we found that while Lucky had a bigger percentage of his body covered in ink, Remy had more layers, meaning they could both have a world record.

Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday explained: “Lucky, Remy and I met for the first time on Skype, giving Lucky the chance to explain why he felt that Remy should be considered the absolute record holder for most tattooed person. It occurred to me during the call that there were actually now two records up for grabs: one held by Lucky for the most extensive all-over (100%) tattoo coverage, and one for Remy for the most extensive layered tattooing.

Lucky Diamond Rich

“If Remy ever one day decides to cover his entire body - including face, palms and soles - he would be the holder of both records. For now, though, both of these tattoo legends can each claim a record. For me this the fairest outcome. I was also touched by Lucky's generosity and honesty about the record, and his willingness to hand over the baton to Remy.”

Lucky now holds the record for most tattooed person living (total coverage) (male).

He has spent over 1,000 hours being tattooed with colourful designs before opting for a 100% covering of black ink, including his eyelids, the delicate skin between his toes, into his ears and even his gums.

Remy said of Lucky: “It was an absolute honour to speak with the man who for 20 years has held this record, and I told him that even if nothing ever came from it that it was an honour to call him a friend, he is an absolute pioneer and inspiration in his own right.”

He added: “Honestly, because I never expected to win a record for this, I still feel like it has been a dream I’ll wake up from, it has been a huge honour to me, and I never expected to receive it given I’ve refused to fully cover my face.”

Read about Remy and more amazing record holders in Guinness World Records 2027 – on sale worldwide now!