worrying trend in my area , shops offering haircuts, manicures and tattoos!

[sleepy mel]

hello everyone this is my first post so sorry if I screw up, I live in East London and as the title suggests I have seen a rash of shops springing up offering manicures, hairdressing and tattoos surely a tattoo is something that takes thought and planning not an accessory for a night out? Also it may be a coincidence but there are also a lot of teenagers who are getting tattooed underage which is somewhat worrying , on a lighter note I love this forum and I love reading and seeing wonderful work as I have just taken the plunge and got tattooed myself with some lovely work from Stefano at Frith Street just wish I had done it years ago sorry for long post Mel.

[MsRad]

this trend has been going on for years in the US. welcome to the unfortunate state of tattooing.

[Avery Taylor]

I would let Tim Lehi cut my hair.

[jade1955]

hello everyone this is my first post so sorry if I screw up, I live in East London and as the title suggests I have seen a rash of shops springing up offering manicures, hairdressing and tattoos surely a tattoo is something that takes thought and planning not an accessory for a night out? Also it may be a coincidence but there are also a lot of teenagers who are getting tattooed underage which is somewhat worrying , on a lighter note I love this forum and I love reading and seeing wonderful work as I have just taken the plunge and got tattooed myself with some lovely work from Stefano at Frith Street just wish I had done it years ago sorry for long post Mel.

It is a worrying trend. Tattooers that knowing tattoo under age teenagers usually turn out shit work as well. Good to see you've been tattooed at a great studio.

I've got a couple of tattoos done by Stefano. He turns out some very nice work. My avatar is a tattoo by Stefano.

It would be really nice to see your tattoo on the LST gallery.

[Scott R]

I guess you could look at this several different ways. Tattoos are mainstream, more and more people are interested in getting them or are atleast accepting of them. A tattooer faces different challenges in that alot of people who just want to cash in on popularity get into the business. I assume some ill informed people fall into good work, and with the insurgence of tattoo parlors surely a percentage of these people will go into a shop and get work by artists who are not up to par. I would have fallen into this catagory as I was tattooed underage and have nver been tattooed in a shop. When a market is oversaturated and the customer is uneducated in the product mistakes on their part will be made and good artists will potentially tattoo less in the short run. I would like to think that the old saying "the cream rises to the top" applies here.

[rleger]

It is not a new trend at all. In the early 1900s many tattooers worked out of barber shops, especially in New York. One that i can think of (who is still around) is Stan Moskowitz. I do understand and agree with your dissappointment. I don't consider a haircut as much more than a temporary grooming procedure(i am bald). To keep a positive light i will try to think of this as things going full circle and remember that water always finds it's mark.

[David Flores]

The owner of shop tattooed a hairdresser in exchange for her cutting all of our hair at the shop. Will never do it again, I spent the next week cleaning up hair. Luckily it was done away from the tattoo area, but always think of this when one of those haircut, massage tattoo parlour opens up. I would like to think people would not get tattooed in these places, but I would also like to think people wouldn't get tattooed in kitchens either.

[Lochlan]

This is a trend that I have been seeing more and more over the years. The first one I saw was one which took over the Rumblers CC old clubhouse in Williamsburg, NY next to the BQE. I wonder what other new tattoo shops trends are to come......

[jade1955]

Drive through tattoo shop?

[David Flores]

I was going to say a tattoo shop in the mall and then i remembered Vegas and realized that there is not much farther to go for rock bottom.

[Ursula]

there's been a place in the town next to the little one i grew up in that has been around for about 15 years called "It's YOUR Body" (worst name ever) and they offer tanning, piercing, tattoos, and other spa treatments like manis and pedis.... i hate to admit that i actually got pierced there as a teenager... I got my bellybutton done which never healed and stayed infected for about a year before i finally gave it up.. i also had my nipple pierced there which never healed, migrated to the point of being so lopsided that it looked disgusting and then i had to take it out.... and of course i was 15 years old, no parental permission, never even had to fill out a form or show any kind of i.d. ...... so yeah, i totally recommend places like that.... the tattooer who works there used to do parties where someone would throw a party at their place, pay the guy like $250 and then he'd tattoo anyone who wanted something small...

[rleger]

there was one in cincinnati.

[mario desa]

i stopped caring about shit like this, or i'd be angry 24/7/365. either way i'm tattooing and will continue to tattoo, i don't give a shit what's going on where...

[Ursula]

I was going to say a tattoo shop in the mall and then i remembered Vegas and realized that there is not much farther to go for rock bottom.

There's tattoo shops in the malls in Jacksonville, FL.

It's fucked because it's home to one of the best shops in the world and they've got 5 locations, yet people still go to the shitty mall shop when they could be getting tattooed by Mike Wilson for the same price and actually get a piece of art they can be proud to wear for the rest of their lives.

[dari]

I would let Tim Lehi cut my hair.

Scott Sylvia does do my hair.

[Liesel]

The owner of shop tattooed a hairdresser in exchange for her cutting all of our hair at the shop. Will never do it again, I spent the next week cleaning up hair. Luckily it was done away from the tattoo area, but always think of this when one of those haircut, massage tattoo parlour opens up. I would like to think people would not get tattooed in these places, but I would also like to think people wouldn't get tattooed in kitchens either.

Excellent point. I am a hairdresser so I can definitely say hair gets all over everything. If I need to look busy at work I can always sweep and wipe off all the surfaces b/c even if I did it 5 minutes ago there will be hair all over them again. And I have heard a lot of horror stories about nail salons being unsanitary. I will never get a proffesional mani/pedi because of some of the pictures I've seen in continuing ed.

[ShawnPorter]

Scott Sylvia does do my hair.

Is he available any time soon? Cause I'm past due and am starting to look too shaggy.

Wheres my flowbee

[dari]

Is he available any time soon? Cause I'm past due and am starting to look too shaggy.

Wheres my flowbee

Cuts happen in the kitchen on random mornings, just show up between 8 and 9. Color is done in the evening, best in front of Dexter, and involves lots of grumbling and god-dammits. Send him your hair reference via email asap.

[backwardsn]

Tattoos and BBQ? Maybe I'm just hungry....

[MsRad]

Cuts happen in the kitchen on random mornings, just show up between 8 and 9. Color is done in the evening, best in front of Dexter, and involves lots of grumbling and god-dammits. Send him your hair reference via email asap.

i really want to see this.

[sleepy mel]

Hi everyone what a lot of interesting points, I didnt realise this trend was happening everywhere , anyway thanks for making me feel so welcome

[Hank]

I was going to say a tattoo shop in the mall and then i remembered Vegas and realized that there is not much farther to go for rock bottom.

I saw a place that was a smoke shop/tattoo shop an a PC REPAIR SHOP!!! this is also in Vegas, It was pretty mind bogglin'.

[chrisnoluck]

maybe it was meaning eyebrows/make up being tattooed on? i know a lot of older women around here get that shit done.

[chuck chapin]

Horrible trend. I think that piercings have nothing to do with tattooing, but haircuts? not even close.

[Amelia]

I feel that, although these shops may be unsanitary and probably don't care much about the quality of tattoo turned out, that the only people going to these shops are the ones who want Google tattoos, etc... i.e. people that wouldn't have even been getting tattooed before the advent of shops like this. The rise in popularity with tattooing means more bogus shops, but then again, there are more than enough infinity symbols and shit-exploding-into-birds to go around. Good collectors, or even discriminating "consumers" (i.e. the guy who wants the best artist in town to do his family crest), will go to reputable artists.

That's not to say that tattooers shouldn't "teach" clients about what makes a shop good, just that maybe it's better to focus on one's own work and ignore this stuff. I think it was Paul Rogers (Someone correct me if I'm wrong) who said that tattooing is like a pyramid, with the game-changers at the top, the good, solid tattooers below them, and then a sea of crap beneath that. And think about how many more tattooers there are now. The sea of crap is even huger, and includes manicures.