Tattoo Tips
Today, I'm sharing some essential tattoo tips you'll want to consider before making that forever decision and getting a tattoo!
1. Tattoo Designs
Your tattoo designs are probably the number one thing you want to get right. I spent a ton of time on Pinterest looking at other people's tattoos and tattoo design drawings to narrow it down and find exactly what I wanted.
I'd recommend you taking as much time as you need to find a design you love before pulling the trigger.
Think long term - is this something you'll love forever.
I have friends who decided last minute to get a tattoos as a spur of the moment fun thing to do but ended up regretting it down the road because they didn't take the time to really figure out what they wanted.
As exciting as it all is, there is no rush!
Make sure you absolutely love your design before scheduling an appointment.
Once you have it, you'll have it forever! 🙂
2.CHOOSE THE RIGHT TATTOO ARTIST!
choosing a tattoo artist
Just as important as it is to choose your design, you also want to make sure you choose the right tattoo artist. When I was planning my tattoos, I looked at TONS of instagram accounts till I found an artist whose style I loved.
You'll want to look for someone whose lines and shading are beautiful. If they can do realism perfectly, they'll be able to do practically anything you ask!
Both of my artists were so talented, they ended up making recommendations I am SO glad they did to help me create an even more beautiful tattoo than I came up with myself.
If you want an AMAZING tattoo artist in Lancaster, check out Brayan Vallejo.
His work is stunning!
3. Tattoo Tips For Placement
It's also important to consider the tattoo placement. This basically means planning where you want to place your tattoo.
This was my very first tattoo!
When I originally was looking at reference photos, I loved the idea of a small crown on my hand. All the reference photos that I liked had them on the hand down close to the thumb and pointer finger.
This is the reference photo I liked. Me and Jolziah (my husband) were going to get a matching his and hers crown.
The only problem was my crown design was WAY too detailed to be as small as the reference photos I liked. Thats where its really important to have a good tattoo artist!
My artist suggested I place it a little higher up on my wrist so she could fit in all the beautiful details!
Thanks to my tattoo artist, I have a final product I absolutely love!
4.Make Sure Your Artist Uses a Stencil
Tattoo tip number #4! Make sure your artist uses a stencil!
A good tattoo artist will print your design out and stencil it onto your skin to test the placement and size. If you like how the stencil looks, they'll tattoo right on top of the stencil so it matches perfectly!
For this particular tattoo, we ended up wiping the stencil off a few times and trying different angles until we found the perfect placement.
If you get to your appointment and your artist tries to tattoo you without putting on a stencil first, you should NOT continue with this artist!!
In my opinion, no artist is "good enough" to not use a stencil. With something that's so permanent like this, you don't want to leave any room for mistakes!!
5. Tattoo numbing cream
I know most tattoo artists don't recommend numbing cream and there are a few reason for this. The numbing cream changes the consistency of your skin making it slightly more tacky. This can make things a little more tricky for your artist.
The other reason they typically don't recommend numbing cream is because if you're getting a larger piece and need to sit through hours of work, typically the numbing will wear off in a few hours. The pain after the numbing cream goes away is much worse than if you had built up to it.
Because the tattoo on my chest was so small, I decided to use numbing cream and I literally didn't feel a thing! Best experience ever haha!
This is the exact numbing cream I used and worked like a charm!
All you do is place the numbing cream over the area you plan to get your tattoo. Cover with plastic wrap so that the cream does not evaporate but soaks completely into your skin.
Do this 30min-1 hour before your appointment for best results!
6. Prepare for your tattoo appointment
Preparing properly for your tattoo appointment is so important!
Make sure you block a few hours on your schedule for your artist. My first tattoo I thought would take an hour or so but ended up taking about 3 hours to finish due to the detail of the tattoo.
Make sure you eat and drink plenty before you go or bring snacks along if you know you'll be there for a while! Its important to take care of yourself especially for longer sessions as you're putting yourself through something semi traumatic lol.
Support yourself the best you can!
Its' also been proven that you're more able to endure pain in the morning versus at night, so consider scheduling a morning appointment with your tattoo artist!
Bring headphones or come prepared with a phone charger so you can keep yourself distracted while sitting through the session!
7. Wear clothes that you can pull up or take off easily
Depending on where you're getting your tattoo, you'll want to plan what you wear! I have a tattoo on my hip, so that day, I wore short shorts so I didn't need to strip down to my undies.
It's completely up to you what you wear, but if you don't want to be in your bra and underwear, just plan accordingly!
8. Ask someone to come along with you to your appointment!
Its always nice to bring a bestie, bf or husband who can be there for you! Ask your best friend to come along and support you!
Its also super helpful to have a second set of eyes for placement and size when you're doing the stencil!
9.Tattoo tips For Aftercare
Aftercare is SO essential for making sure your tattoo heals and stays looking fresh for the long term. If you don't properly take care of your tattoo, you risk infection.
In addition to the aftercare instruction, make sure you stay out of the sun while your tattoo is healing. You'll notice your skin feels very sensitive in the sun, so its best to stay out of the sun until you're all healed up!
After your tattoo has healed, you should be putting coco butter on it weekly, if not daily for best results!
Here's the exact cocoa butter I use!
I LOVE IT.
I've tried a number of brands and this brand I've found this cocoa butter works the best and keeps my tattoos looking so good. It also smells amazing!
Well, thats it!
I hope these tattoo tips inspired you and gave you all the info you need to get a tattoo you'll love for the rest of your life!
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