Top 10 Things We Wish We Knew Before Getting Tattooed

TOP 10 literally means they are in a particular order: from worst (10) to best (1)

Please no more sound effects.

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Whenever someone grabs my right arm to look at my sleeve, I'll use my left hand to grab their arm while I stare them dead in the eyes. It has been the single quickest and most effective method at getting people to let go of me.

Fire video

I wish I knew to not getting new tattoos in SUMMER. I'm gonna die, it's so fucking hot and I can't wear a T-shirt.

Honestly worried about the pain, cause I don't want to start super small. 🔟

The itchiness is so real. Also though my hip would hurt but it was fine but the back of knee #-$-#&# (expletives)

I got my tattoo and didn’t know it was supposed to peel , I woke up freaking out 💀

How often i would choose to cover it to avoid sunscreen/how much easier it is to force myself to wear sunscreen.

This is coming from all men if you are a woman please do not get tattoo

just got my 7th and 8th tattoos a few days ago. the smaller one is definitely itching like crazy already so i am not ready for the bigger of the two to do that, especially because that one is on my arm and kind of in my inner elbow pit as well (which hurt a lot)

Yeah the huge flowers and huge text tattoo guy is just not it ( for me atleast) just looks like a kid drew large ass flowers and the huge letters i dislike more looks like a brand they putt on clothes, again my opinion its fine if you like it 😅

I wish I had taken better care of my skin as a kid, way before I ever got tattooed.

Re the pain: Just remember that the closer you are to a bone or a joint, the more it will hurt. Even for the insides, like your inner elbow, back of the knee, and armpit. The least painful areas are on top of fat, like your bum. The worst one I have was the top of my foot. My leg was shaking from the nerves being hit, so the artist had to hold my foot down. One time he let go quickly and my leg went right up and kicked him in the face (not too hard & I'm tiny at least)! I apologized profusely but he was a great sport. I made sure to give him a big tip too lol.
Re the itching: Never scratch your tattoos, but you can give them a gentle slap (with clean hands oc). If you can keep your tattoo moisturized as it heals, it will really help the itching. I do NOT mean putting lotion on a healing tattoo! Use a gentle soap for sensitive skin to cleanse it because a harsh soap will dry out your skin and just make peeling and itching worse. Ask your artist what to put on it as it heals, but I've had great luck with A&D Ointment which helps to soothe the tattoo and gently moisturize it to help with itchiness. It's used for baby's diaper rash so it's definitely gentle and soothing, same with Aquaphor ointment.
*Bonus Tip: Once your tattoo is fully healed, apply a moisturizing sunscreen lotion daily to help preserve it. If you're going to be in the sun, be sure to reapply sunscreen as needed (the travel stick formulas are handy).

I’ve contemplated getting a horse related tattoo. I don’t have any, but anything I’ve seen online is like… a horse shoe, or a silhouette… I’ve yet to find a horse related design that really speaks to me…

Getting tattoos is one of the few things I look forward to, so I find myself getting them frequently. (Maybe 2-3 times a year. That’s frequent to me.) I feel like I need to slow down sometimes but I don’t find my self regretting any of them.

I wish I’d have known how to tip… I was young and dumb and didn’t have anyone else to like tell me the culture, and now that I do know, I feel like such an asshole cuz my artists were amazing people that made sure I was comfortable with both the process and the design….

Since I can't explain what I want I like to draw my idea

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I have a horrible reaction to the bactine /numbing spray. It makes the colour lose saturation for me, and it also makes the pain 10x worse - and that is after 5sec. So it doesn't even work, just makes it more painfull and makes my tattoos look weird. If an artist had sprayed that on me without telling me or having my permission? OH HEEEEEELL NO! I have tried 3 diffrent sprays now, just because the 1st, I didn't know my body's reaction. the 2nd was all bout how they used a different type, so I was willing to give it a go. and the 3rd was super pushy and just kept telling me it would be easier if they just used it so in the end I let them because I was already exhausted and in pain. The got payback in that they tried tattooing me after putting on the spray and me vomiting from pain on their table haha. (It's a shit experience, but I have to laugh about it). 1 & 2 are great artists and I'll gladly go back to them. We simply book smaller sessions now so that my pain never reaches that stage. artist 3 is still an ass, and don't believe anyone can feel more pain from a numbing spray, so I'll never go back to them

I love watching your videos if I ever visit LA I want you to tattoo me 🔟

I couldn't find the emoji you said at the end but I am a real one 💟

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Oh my what was said about the biggest scariest looking guys are just silly gooses. This is Nuke Milk to a tea, super talented very sweet personable guy, but an intimidating giant lol

Number 1, especially about people reacting to your tattoo, I absolutely get. After I got my first one almost a year ago, I got a lot of positive reactions, a few customers started calling me “Chainsaw” (because it’s a chainsaw that says GROOVY on the blade in “blood”), and everybody keeps asking when I’m getting my next one. 😂

I would love a jewelry collection video or something, I am obsessed with how you put together your accessories!

Honestly I wish I’d had more confidence to say something when it comes to #5. While I do genuinely like the tattoo now, it is admittedly much different to the aesthetic I originally wanted. I’d shown the artist a bunch of photos of ones I liked (I wanted a geometric arrow) and literally all of them were more delicate, fine line, flowy type designs, but he came up with a more ‘standard’ geometric look. I changed one thing, and then went with that. I wish I’d said to him, “no, this clearly isn’t the aesthetic I wanted, please change it.” But as it was my first tattoo I had no idea what was appropriate in terms of changing designs, and my social anxiety was a bitch at the time, so I didn’t want to rock the boat. Again, now I do love it and I’m kinda glad I never spoke up, but it is something I’ll always have in the back of my mind.

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I got my first tattoo almost two weeks ago and I'm proud to say that I knew about almost all of these beforehand. 😊

Maybe it's because my tattoo is not too big and the line work is thin, but I didn't really experience much itching at all. And, it never scabbed. Some dead skin and ink did peel off, but that's about it.

Monday will be the two week mark and I'm really happy with how it looks so far! I've been babying it quite a lot though and I'm a bit nervous to start treating that area of my body (my shoulder) how I would normally. Mainly, going back to wearing a backpack instead of using an eco bag on the opposite shoulder. 😅

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I didn’t realize tattoo ink stained clothing. My first 2 were on my arm, next was sternum/ribs. My flannel got stained lol

Where do you get numbing crème?

Another thing to consider is the longevity of the subject matter. Tattoo designs and styles that have been around for a long time are probably going to look better to you in 30 years than a pop culture or funny meme tattoo. Just something to consider because Ive done funny party tats and thankfully they were all easy to cover.

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I wish i knew that bad tattoos are not just poor design, but also scars. And if u'll decide to get a cover up, it'll still show

I started getting tattooed after covid and it is so hard to connect with artists. Most of the artists near me mostly rely on social media for booking and portfolio. Every single artist I have reached out to have ghosted me or just don't elaborate much on designs or pricing. The only person I have been tattooed by is someone I met before covid and connected with😢

Didn´t think about the fact that i will have to sit on my freshly tattooed spot when getting a tattoo around my uper thigh

Great advice! What is the best way to find an artist’s healed tattoos examples?

Another one id like to add in there is not every tattoo has to be meaningful. Theres a big misconception that tattoos should have meaning or else its silly to get but its not! Get what you want no matter what

My body does random involuntary things when being tattooed. My hand kept going numb when my bicep was being done, and my foot kept twitching when getting my calf done

when i was getting my back tattoo at 19 i actually got my eyebrow pierced beforehand by the same woman who did my back and that was nice because it let me get to know her before i ever made the first consultation appointment. can confirm also that the itching was AWFUL. in terms of pain the lines didnt hurt at all i almost fell asleep but the shading was bad and the whites were the Worst haha. also this should be obvious but since im stupid: dont wear light colours if you wanna put that shirt back on when the tattoo is done lol

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I got my first ever tattoo for my birthday this March, done by a friend. I've seen the tattoo work he's done on himself and on his girlfriend (my best friend) and neither of them mentioned ever having any complications, so I wasn't expecting any issue.
The tattoo is a simple treble clef design on my wrist. Nothing fancy or elaborate, only about two inches of mostly line work and one slightly larger shaded area. The tattooing process went well, it came out looking great, and for the first two weeks, everything was totally fine. I had no redness or swelling, it never got itchy or anything, it was just a bit tender, as expected, and I thought I had won the tattoo lottery. Then, after two weeks of having absolutely no issues with the tattoo, I woke up to an intense shooting pain in my wrist that radiated through my entire hand and arm. I can't even begin to describe the pain in words, but it was debilitating and pain medications did nothing at all to help. I ended up with my arm in a brace for several weeks because bending it even a little bit was excruciatingly painful.
When this all started, I did a little bit of research to see if this was a known side effect of tattoos and found a lot of articles of other people claiming to have the same problems after a new tattoo, and while it seems like it hasn't yet been officially confirmed whether or not the tattoos were the direct cause of the reaction, I feel like it's a risk more people should be aware of.
The saddest part for me is that portion of my tattoo didn't quite stick, probably because it was over a scar, and I was aware of that risk with covering a scar, so I was fully expecting to have to get it touched up anyway, but after all of that pain, I don't think I want to risk going through all of that again to get it fixed. I also had other tattoo ideas in mind that would've meant so much to me, but I don't want to risk crippling any other limbs for it.
I really wish I had known of that possibility before I committed to the tattoo. It probably wouldn't have changed my decision, but at least I might've been prepared for it

Disclaimer about numbing cream— a lot of artists don’t allow it to be used because it can change the skin texture. Also when it wears off the pain can be significantly worse

I was so worried about the itching and convinced I'd be slapping at my arm almost 24/7, but I had about three times, in the entire six week healing period, where I had some very light itching. Hoping that when I get my second one, it's the same experience.