A few years ago, I finally took the plunge and got my first tattoo. I was 19 years old and I had wanted this particular tattoo for a good few years before actually getting it! It’s been three years now and haven’t had anymore additions since (more to come on that later), but I remember when I was contemplating getting my first tattoo. I had so many questions and to a certain degree concerns when getting it, regarding pain, cost, aftercare, how do I know if I’m going to love it when I’m older etc. This is a very specific post, but it’s here for anyone who’s in a similar position to what I was, answering all the questions, that were going through my head!
| THE TATTOO
My tattoo is a rosary around my ankle and despite me being a Catholic it doesn’t have a proper meaning. It’s a piece that I wanted consistently for four or five years before actually getting tatted. There are so many tattoos that I like, but this is one that, even three years later, I still love and I feel like I’ll love for many years to come and it’s such a simple (and in my opinion non-offensive) piece.
| FINDING THE RIGHT TATTOO ARTIST
When I finally hit 18 and was initially looking for a tattoo artist, I literally tweeted saying that I was looking for a tattoo artist – don’t do this. In my opinion, if an artist has the time to be scouting people to tattoo, they’re not in high enough demand and I sort of don’t want them to tattoo me – no offense. About a year prior to getting tattooed, I was watching Extrasunbeamsjess on Youtube and she vlogged a day where she was getting a tattoo and hers turned out so beautiful and she later done a video talking about it as well as the tattoo artist and studio. I first started researching Sang Bleu – the tattoo studio to see if there was anyone whose work was perfectly in line with what I wanted and then I found Ruby Quilter – however she now works in Sang Bleu in LA :(. That being said, it’s obviously really important to find a tattoo artist whose work you love, because it could be the difference between getting a tattoo that you love and one that you need to cover up in the future!
| HOW LONG IT TOOK
The tattoo itself took about an hour to complete, however at the beginning of my session, I met Ruby, spoke to her about what I wanted and gave her my reference material and she went away to draw up the cross. A little bit later she came back and we went through to the tattoo bed and she started positioning and drawing the beads of the rosary on freehand. This took quite a while as I wanted to be sure of the positioning of the cross, sizing of the beads and just overall look of the tattoo. During the actual tattooing, I tried to use my phone to try and distract me and take my mind off it but that failed as the pain and feeling was so new to me. Like I said, before I went in, I had my reference materials, which were photos of some other rosary tattoos that I liked in addition to a list of things that I wanted and more importantly what I didn’t want. My list mentioned that I only wanted black ink and no colour, that I didn’t want the rosary beads coloured in, only shaded, that I wanted the rosary to ebb and flow, a small to medium sized cross without Jesus on it and one row of beads and not two – and all of my requirements were met and I love it!
| THE PAIN
The pain is a really difficult thing to describe as it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Most people say that it’s like a hot cat scratch, but what the f*ck even is that? For me the most painful thing was when Ruby was doing the outline of the beads and the cross and tattooing on my actual foot and near my ankle as it was quite close to the bone as well, however she made sure to complete the outline and shading before moving onto another part so that she wouldn’t have to revisit an already sensitive area. When it came to the shading, I wasn’t in as much pain – obviously except when it was on a boney area.
| THE COST
My tattoo cost £250 altogether. At Sang Bleu, you pay a deposit to confirm your booking and if you pay via PayPal, it’s £50 and in store is £100 which then included in the overall cost of the tattoo. I know absolutely nothing about tattoos, so knowing whether the cost is what it should be isn’t my forte, however from prior conversations with other tattoo artists and getting quotes from different artists, the fee was very much in line with those.
| HEALING & AFTERCARE
My tattoo finished properly healing at around 3 weeks. In the first few days, I just concentrated on keeping it clean. I was advised to use a gentle soap and warm water to clean it 2-3 times a day and to re-wrap it and then after a couple days, to start using a light layer of cocoa butter to keep it moisturised and once it was dry to stop wrapping it. A few days later, it was really starting to itch which was the hardest thing about the healing process as I knew I wasn’t supposed to scratch it as it was obviously healing and getting ready to form a scab. I knew that it would scab towards the end of the process, but I thought it would be a similar scab as to if you were to get a cut on your knee, but it’s not and to the naked eye, you can’t really even see it. NOTE: Tattoo aftercare is a very conflicting topic. Every tattoo artist will have his or her own preference when it comes to aftercare and I would recommend you follow the advice of your artist!
| FUTURE PIECES
I’m a bit undecided on whether I’d like any more pieces in the future. It’s been almost 3 years and I still love my tattoo and definitely don’t regret it, however I feel like when you’ve just got your tattoo and it’s all new, you’re extremely excited about it, however then it has to heal which takes on average 2-4 weeks and by the time it’s healed, you start forgetting it’s even there. I love tattoos on other people and in the past, I’ve even contemplated getting a half sleeve on my arm or a leg sleeve, but I’m not too sure as that will completely alter my look – a lot more than a little piece around my ankle. I’m really selective about what’s going to go on my body, as I don’t want to be inflicting more pain on myself by undergoing laser surgery. So if my next piece is in a month or ten years, then so be it, as I’m not in any rush to undergo that needle anytime soon!
Do you have any tattoos? What’s your stance on body mods?
