1. Research, research, research. Now, some people may disagree with me but I personally think you should research tattoo artists, tattoo styles and inspiration before booking in/walking in to get a tattoo, or at least your first one. It took me a good few months of (underage) research before I got booked in for my first tattoo (of legal age). I was then on a year-long waiting list before I actually got my first ever tattoo. It's definitely worth the tedious research and the long wait, remember you're stuck with it for life.
2. A tattoo is for life, not just for fashion. This might just be me having a little rant, but a lot of people seem to get tattoos for fashion or "on trend" tattoos that their fave celebs/fashion models/everyone else has. If you wanna get a tattoo that someone else has and it makes you happy, then that's great; but I personally think that tattoos should be custom drawn art pieces that you and only you have. Just saying.
3. Be willing to travel and pay the big bucks. Again, potentially controversial but if you find a tattoo artist that you love the work of but they live 3hours away and charge £80 an hour, don't settle for a poor imitation, save up and go for it. I can assure you that it will be worth it. Other than my latest piece, my other three tattoos were all done in London at Frith StreetTattoo- a two hour train ride away which becomes a whole day adventure once a year (money permitting).
4. Does it hurt? Why yes, yes it does. Lets think this through guys, you're having a needle which is vibrating at an alarming rate dragged through your skin, depositing ink under several layers. But it's worth the pain when you get a beautiful piece of art on your skin. Some people like to listen to music or talk whilst getting tattooed, or take lots of breaks-artist permitting- but personally I like to zone-out and just experience the process as its happening.
5. Keep it clean. Once the pain is over, it's time to heal. In all likelihood, your tattoo artist will wrap your new work in cling film and tape you up (to keep any ink or blood in, ew). When you get home, remove the cling film, dispose and rinse your tattoo with warm water. Then, I personally re-wrap it for bed simply to avoid getting ink and/or blood all over my bedding. The key therein is to keep it clean, wash it regularly until it starts to crust over and scab (ewy ewy) then I personally use Bepanthen- nappy rash cream. This keeps your new tattoo clean by providing a barrier to protect it. Try to keep your tattoo uncovered for the first few days if you can, to let the air get to it. You might go red, or swell up but these things are all temporary and should go away after a few weeks. I wouldn't recommend going swimming or exposing your new tattoo to the sun any time soon.
So there's just a few pointers about getting tattoos. I could go on forever with this post but I'd probably end up pissing people (and myself) off so I think I'll leave it at five. I can't wait for my newest tattoo to heal! For anyone remotely interested I myself have: black and grey angels on my feet; a black and grey owl and roses on my arm and now a cat and crescent moon in colour on my leg. I don't like showing blatant photos of my tattoos because they're personal to me and I don't want no copycats! But you might spy them in outfit posts on my blog.
I hope you enjoyed this post and found it somewhat helpful, it's a bit out of my comfort zone and feel like its just one huge disclaimer but alas, that is the curse of the Internet! I'd love to know what tattoos you have or if you're planning to get any. Thanks for stopping by x
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