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Got this from Eli Quinters at Smith Street at the beginning of the month.

So I wasn't sure if I was going to post any of my new tattoos but decided in the end to just go for it. I moved to France four months ago and have been sat in a lab isolated from the world pretty much ever since. I went to the Mondial du Tatouage show in Paris for three days as a birthday present to myself. I booked in with Stewart Robson and Valerie Vargas from Frith Street and also Greg Christian. I ended up getting tattooed six times in three days. It was also my first convention and I'm going to make sure I go to a few more :D I stole all the pictures from the respective artist's instagrams apart from one which I took with my phone. Demon head on knee - Stewart Robson (Frith Street Tattoo) Geisha Girl Head - Cody Miller (Blackheart Tattoo) Flaming Torch - Greg Christian Castle - Cody Miller (Blackheart Tattoo) Medusa Head - Valerie Vargas (Frith Street Tattoo) Devil Head - Nick Roddin (Blackheart Tattoo) I can't wait for the convention next year

Hey Folks, Just wanted to share my experience from a few years ago dealing with contact dermatitis after a new tattoo. Back in late 2011, I had started a thigh piece on my left thigh which covered basically almost the entire front and side of the left thigh. After a couple of days, I developed a bunch of red spots on the back of my thigh, all outside of the tattoo itself. It wasn't a localized rash as it ran up and down the length of thigh and was in random areas but nothing on the ink itself. My artist unfortunately was just doing a guest spot locally and returned to his country. Best I could do was send me him pictures and even he was puzzled to the point where he recommended I see a doctor. But before seeing a doctor, I luckily had the benefit of three very good friends to contact. These were old college friends, all of whom were pharmacists and have encountered all types of ailments. One was even tattooed, so I called her first. She hit the nail on the head with her initial diagnosis. She asked if the spots were small and if any had popped and oozing clear serum. When I confirmed, she knew it was contact dermatitis. It basically happened because my skin is normally sensitive and was subjected to the trauma of tattooing. Add to the fact I normally wear briefs and switched to boxers to be comfortable and let the tattoo breathe but by doing so, added new cloth material contacting an area that was already irritated. Plus the shaving and the tape holding the saran wrap in place didn't help either. The fix? Good old Benedryl, both in pill and topical cream format in over the counter form. Within a couple of days, all the spots cleared up. More info on contact dermatitis from WebMD: Contact Dermatitis Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, & More I know everyone wants their tattoos to heal up without any issues and try to be diligent about aftercare. I know I do and sometimes verge on madness since it is a permanent investment in my eyes. I did myself a huge favor by getting to know my own body and what works with it. There's no one true formula or cure all that's ideal for everyone. Speak to your artist and the shop management about their recommendations for aftercare and then turn it into your own personal regime that suits you. Ideally, if at all possible, share your experience with the tattoo community so that others can benefit from your experience. Cheers.

I'm surprised I never posted any of my skulls here. My favorite is from Stewart Robson:

Jesus Christ, @asradin! You got a better collection in a weekend than most people get in a lifetime.

I've got myself an appointment with Dana Helmuth on May 7th to get started on mine. I am very excited. *And that wasn't even an April fools joke!

Got these skulls from Jondix back in October...

Jeeeeeeesus H. Christ.. I turn my back for less than 24 hours and we got some of the most fun tattoos ever! I'm not even gonna tag motherfuckers, you all know you're doing it right.. but Ivarro with the knee and that thigh tiger though dude @lving4today. Shit yeah. It's 5:30AM and I worked tonight and you're all doing just fine. File this in the inebriated thread. I WANT TO BELIEVE. @dcostello where you at already

I have a lady head in the ditch of my right arm, and it's really well designed so that there is minimal distress in the hot spots.

Remembered I'd posted in here way back in October right after I got the collar rocker about how much I wanted the chest eagle. I was worried if I could sit through it... I could and I did! It hurt just about as much as I thought it would!

Go to the guy whose portfolio blew you away! Do you have an idea of what you want for the cover up, or is it just a tattoo you want covered up and don't care with what? The artist will have a definite idea of what can and can't be done and will work - sometimes only very loosely, which can actually be awesome and liberating! - with the idea (loose or no) that you have for the cover up. If the dude makes you feel super uncomfortable then it is probably not the right fit for you. That said, tattoo artists have to deal with a bunch of different people and different concepts every day, so maybe it was just an off time? If he told you to call, do it! Get excited about being able to get an awesome piece to replace (or surround?) your old one. It's like a new beginning with an old body :)

I'll second this, it's great to have a Laser Technician posting on the forum :D

Thanks for always putting forward really solid and useful information.

Hori Tsuki Kage aka Shad

just wanted to let you know that the mandala thing you posted as being by someone named "kristy walker" is a tattoo by guy le. i have a personal preference for floral work over the ditch and anything that ends up being sort of diamond-shaped.

that guy id so versatile... such a great tattooer and a great dude to boot....

Digging this little ditty from Gakkin Harizanmai

the spot on my arm I hated the most. I appreciate ones that accent the action of the ditch, but anything there that looks good is a tattoo that works. Nothing beats a good ol' hinge but I can't find any good ones. Wish I had ore time to fish around on IG and whatnot but I'm on my way out the door to work. So here's some shit from Google. Sorry for sizing, I'm in a rush. Robert Ryan Someone named Cassy in Bournemouth Person I havent heard of named Kristy Walker Knee ditches are great too. Mitch Allenden I'd post mine, but they aren't stand-alone tattoos; the ditch in an over-all sleeve aren't quite the same in impact.

So last week I had a bunch of meetings and one ran late. Since uncle @Lochlan was at the house already I asked if he could pick up our 2 boys from pre-school. Then I called the school to give them a heads up that the random totally tattooed guy was not trying to kidnap my kids. I tell the supervisor who is very sweet but a little goofy that: Uncle loch was going to pick up the boys. He is a handsome guy covered in tattoos. She says no problem and Loch picks up the kids. Today at drop-off one of the teachers came up to me and said: Remember the day the boys got picked up by their uncle....the supervisor came in and told us to expect "a handsome guy in tap-shoes" and I was listening for tap shoes

Agree with JeffK, some of my tattoo's on the inner upper arm, calf, knee did the same. Swelling, getting red/pink and also they got warm. After a few sessions on the legs I took one or two anti-inflammatory tablets to help with the healing process and to avoid any inflammation. I am not a big fan of taking medicine if I don't have to but it made quite a difference to past sessions and helped the healing.

Green / Blue / Teal aren't resilient to laser treatments, you just won't start seeing the fading until the technician gets to a point in the tattoo where the joules is more intense. If the tattoo was all blue, you would set the machine up just for that, but I'm guessing you have black in it, so until the black has faded to a point where you adjust the "intensity" of the laser, you won't see a whole lot of progress in that section. There are some facilities that have a "Ruby" laser, which operates at a different spectrum then most Q-Switched Nd:YAG lasers, but depending on the manufacture of the laser and the tech, the Q-switched one can be adjusted to treat those colors successfully. What are you being told for total removal, treatment number wise?

The tattoo's on my inner-forearms do that everytime. Get's red/pink, swells more then other spots, get's warm and all that (and I'm OCD about wound care since I work at a hospital.) It's just how my skin reacts there is all. It calms down after about 4-5 days and totally stops around 5-6. The skin on different parts of your body is different and may react different to the process.

I stumbled across this one the other day...not as epic as some of the awesome pieces posted earlier in this thread, but a cool idea, me thinks. Rosie Camanga flash tattooed by Mike Adams. Speaking of Mike Adams, had not seen his work before, but I'm digging lots of the stuff I see on his blog! There was a sick tiger head and a rad peacock somewhere in there. (posts for other threads, I think!)

This was so hilarious to me that I had to actually read and submit acceptance of posting guidelines for my first post...to say that I have had some great laughs from this post!

I usually take antihistamine the day of and d ay after a tattoo....it helps me relax plus helps with my bodies reaction. Good post/story.

Saw that on IG, wondered if anyone I "knew" had gotten it...very, very kool!

With all these crazy good tattoos getting done recently, you'd think there would be a few more entrants in this months comp... just sayin' ;)

So, I'm reaching the end of my recent spree of tattooing. I've got one more appointment on Wednesday, then I'm taking some time off. Letting myself heal for a while. I had two done today by Tim Pausinger at The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop. I'm going to post the eagle. The tiger head on my elbow is totally swollen and wont make for a good pic at this point.

Trying to sleep last night with a fresh knee cap tattoo I learned something new..a cotton sheet can feel like it weighs ten pounds.

George archer -Rock of Ages Tony hundahl - Rock of Ages Detail shot

Started this with Koeplinger a couple days ago. It's incredibly swollen, so it was hard to get a decent shot of it.

Thanks very much! I'll check these folks out. - - - Updated - - - I'd live to get a tattoo in each stop but I think Erin might not be on board with that. ;)

i wanna see newly-wed photos this summer then! get a tattoo in every city you stop in!

I just started my back piece last week and got the outline done in one session. One week in - who knew that a tattoo on your back would ITCH while healing????? :cool:

mainly tigers are cool and pretty badass.

Here's a pic of my chest/shoulders completed. I'm super stoked on the outcome :D Letters, which are a redo, by BJ Betts and the skulls are from Jeff Gogue...

I guess I've been living in the country too long... I was thinking "what's wrong with rooster tattoos? Lots of people have them!"

Lol dude Im from the central valley. We love E-40 and Too Short out here... but hyphy died when I started high school. If you like bay area rap, check out Andre Nickatina

7th session. 7 hours of snake scales

I'm a bit biased being an ongoing client, but I personally love Henning Jorgensen's tigers. I plan on getting one on my front right thigh soon as he finishes up my left thigh and the collaboration back piece he's working with Rubendall on. Check out the pics!

marky mark and bee bunch: nothing wrong with cats. ever. if i had instagram i'd post pics of my 3 cats all the time and then some since my life is pretty uninterresting if you don't know me.

A nice design - so hopefully the artist is up to it. Honestly - myself, I wouldn't recommend anyone start with their 1st tattoo on their forearm - especially where the person in question is so far from knowing what kind of profession you're going to be in 17 years (a lifetime) from now.

Here is a pic of my wife's chest (shhh don't tell her I posted it ;) ). Her right side by Trevor McStay and her left side by Jason Kundell. They are my favorites!

You're half right. Red, along with black fades the fastest and usually has the best reaction to laser treatments. It's not that green (blue & yellow too) are more difficult to remove, they just might take more sessions. If your goal is to cover though, just getting the green light should do the trick. I'd say right now about 75-80% of my business is lightening tattoos for people to either get them covered, or to hide them inside a much larger piece because the original tattoo is now in "prime real estate". Perhaps where I differ from the other med-spa places out there is that I actually encourage you to keep an open dialect going with your tattoo artist through the whole process. I'll tell you to stop in 3-4 weeks after a treatment with your artist and discuss your future tattoo, and he or she will tell you if it would be helpful to get 1, 2 or 5 more treatments based on the level of fading you currently have. I work with a ton of shops in my area because of this mutual respect. For my clients who are getting cover-ups, my goal is for them to get the best possible tattoo that THEY want, not the tattoo that will best cover or hide the original piece. Far too often people end up with large dark-belly owls, roses, lotus and sunflowers because it's easy to hide old tattoos inside, sadly that's usually not what the person wants.

That's a pure hipster thing to say :p:p

hey y'all...I am officially on the road now, for those that give a damn. I'm currently working at "The Ink Shop" in Baton Rouge, La. with Brad Andrus.A real nice group of people.Notsure where Im going from here. Im open to suggestions.

Anyone can pick apart any tattoo if they spend enough time staring at it. Just get more work so you have more to look at, and have less to worry about what is already done.

we used to take credit and debit and around 4 or 5 years ago the printer crapped out and they said they could send us another one for $400...you would think that they would want to not try and bend us over on replacing a printer since they were taking nice chunks of money on every transaction. ever since, cash only. honestly i like it better because its just one more way to avoid supporting large banks and credit lenders that are making money on our hard earned dollars.