Chris Brown's new neck tattoo not a battered woman or Rihanna, he says

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Chris Brown, but the rumors that he got a tattoo of a battered woman's face -- one that strongly resembles ex-girlfriend Rihanna -- are not actually true.

The new ink is definitely a woman's face -- and she shares Rihanna's full lips and thick lashes -- but a discerning eye can tell that the woman has not been beaten, but is actually decorated in the traditional design of a sugar skull, associated with the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.

"His tattoo is a sugar skull and a MAC cosmetics design he saw," his rep says. "It is not Rihanna or an abused woman as erroneously reported."

He and Rihanna do have a very complicated relationship -- they shared a very public smooch at the VMAs on Thursday and she called him the love of her life while speaking to Oprah Winfrey.