JBluewind

@marley mission I have a pretty solid plan for my left calf. I want a fairy standing by a lake in the woods by moonlight. Her body will be in profile on my outside calf in a black silhouette with black pixie cut hair with her arms at her side and elbows at a 90 degree angle (gray lines to show the separation between her arms and body) with palms upturned. An orb with the symbol for hope on/in it will float over her palms. Her wings will be realistic (female Diana Fritillary Butterfly) and wrap around the back of my calf. The background will be the moon, a river or lake, and trees. If I only ever get the fairy done, I'll be happy (although I would at least like the moon too). The fairy was originally going to be all realistic with aqua blue hair, but I realized I could never save up enough for that so I gave up on it. I still might give her aqua blue hair though. I'm not 100% on what I want to do for my right calf. The only thing I know for certain is that I want it to be black or black and gray to contrast my left. I'm not sure if I'll ever ink any other part of me. I know I won't do thighs/upper arms (because weight fluctuation), high friction spots (pits, elbows, knees), stomach (female), breast, or face. I might eventually be open to doing the top of my feet, the back of my neck, my wrists, somewhere on the rib area, or something dainty like somewhere on my ear. I sometimes toy with the thought of getting a piercing as well, but I always decide against it. I have never been able to keep one. It took 3 different tries and several months to get a simple earlobe piercing to stick because my body would reject even stainless steal (also, I had no idea at the time how bad guns were). Even now over a decade later, I can put in white gold/surgical steal sterilized earnings and my earlobes will get sore and red after a while. Doing another ear hole or a nostril is just asking for trouble. @oboogie I wasn't that much of a fan of his music (he was big when I was too young and wasn't really my style when I got older save a couple I liked), but from what I seen of him he seemed to be genuine and a good person who tried to help out his community without asking for anything for doing it (including the publicity). I really hate the fact that there are so many people out there that are insulting him right now and even jumped all over one woman who said he wasn't a real Christian (he was, but why does that matter?), that his life didn't matter because he didn't accept Jesus (um...), and he was a drug head who died of an OD (which she said like a couple hours afterward). At first I thought she was just a troll, but then after a while I realized she was a real person who truly believed all the mental diarrhea she was spewing everywhere. So I replied with a detailed post saying in the nicest way I could about how her logic was flawed with a list and the information to back me up and then asked her to do the Christian thing and be a good person. I might not have been a big fan, but there's no excuse to insult a dead man.

@Devious6 I'll try my best. My dad cussed me out several times over getting it (bad idea, waste of money, ugly on a women especially at this size, tacky, and so on) even though I told him before and I'm an adult, so there was a moment I looked at it and wondered if he was right and I had went to big, but it didn't last long. I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. It's so freeing to stop pretending to be someone I'm not. :) I'm thinking of fudging the time a little. He said to take the film off Monday, but midnight is still Monday right? ;) I look forward to see your awesome piece as well! I actually started a tattoo thread in the atheist I frequent. It's been pretty fun to talk with them and even see a few awesome pictures. One of the members said he is going to get 666 tattooed on his butt as protection against Christian rapists. I know. It's terrible and in bad taste, but it was hard not to laugh at the time XD @oboogie Looks like you have quite the collection going. When did you get the Prince one? My entire life is one long running bad luck streak. The awesome days are when something isn't going wrong XD Crib notes version: Abusive mother who starved me for years and tried to kill me a couple times, watched my papaw slowly die in front of me over months as I cared for him when I was 13, verbally abusive father, polyp on my thyroid caused me to have to have radioactive iodine treatment, severe form of a rare type of migraine (Hemiplegic Migraines) which forced me to drop out of college and go on disability, major depression, OCD, asthma, a laundry list of smaller problems, and several severe allergies that (depending on which one) can trigger a migraine attack, cause hives and/or anaphylaxis, or cause intestinal bleeding. So, yeah. I'm a bad luck magnet XD

@oboogie I don't at all. I'm 30. This tattoo was part because I came out as an atheist and wanted to celebrate that, part because I felt ugly and old after my ex left me for a 21 year old right before my birthday and I wanted something beautiful, part because I finally realized that a switch didn't flip when I turned 30 that changed who I was or how my body worked, and part because I've wanted a tattoo since I was 13 and finally felt confident enough to to do it. He's the owner of the shop and the only tattoo artist there. He also has a piercer who works there who's super nice. They are currently out at the Ink Masters expo (he has a purple beard) having fun and staying busy, but he still took the time to check up on me and answer a question I had. @marley mission No problem. I totally get where everyone was coming from and know it was just a simple misunderstanding caused by me not providing enough information. I can't wait to share pics of it once it heals!

I asked what kind of ink and such because I have several really bad allergies to certain things and wanted to be sure his ink didn't have that stuff in it. I also told him I had OCD (his wife does too). Without me saying a word about it, he actually showed me everything, explained how it all worked, showed me the needles and ink, what the witch hazel did, his training, aftercare, everything to expect with healing,... everything! I was entranced and sincerely fascinated. It really helped me to relax more. He said he knew how someone like me thought and was completely cool with it. I'm really glad I found him. As far as price, like I said I didn't haggle. I made it clear that I was willing to pay the amount, but would have to wait a bit. He's really a nice guy, explained the reason behind the price, and then lowered it. I fully intend to give him $30 when I see him again because he earned it. In the meantime, I've been telling inked people and interested plain skins alike about his shop all over town. I know I've sent him at least one customer who is getting her first tattoo. Edit He's a perfectionist and likes to inspect his work after it heals and fix every minor thing like a little spot without ink.

It wasn't that I haggle with him. I know better than to haggle with an artist. He quoted me $150, I was a little taken aback as friends said it would be $50 or so (they flipped over the price and thought he was overcharging me) and I had budgeted $100 with a $25 tip, I told him I was willing to pay but my friends were bugging me (they really were because they said it was a simple 30 minute tattoo that wasn't complicated and 1 color) to find out the reason for the price, he told me (quality tattoo, $50 ever 30 minutes, aftercare included in price, and free touch up at 3 months), and then (without me asking) he said he could come down to $125 which made me ecstatic because that meant I didn't have to wait to save up the extra $25 and could get it done before I had heavy work in the garden (it will be covered). I plan on giving him a tip when I go back in for my touch up. He never let up on it and packed a lot of ink in the little space. It definitely sounds slow, but he looked to be working fast judging by his movements and he was constantly dipping in the ink (he used a full cup to the very bottom). I think the speed had more to do with the fact it was straight liner and he used 14 needles or less.

Yes. That's about how long I sat for it give it take 10 minutes. He used a liner (one with 14 needles and one with just a few) on the entire thing rather than using a shader. He does that on pure black because he said using a shader will give you a viable outline later on down the road because the center will be lighter than the outline. So it was and hour and a half of pure tattoo time even though it looks like it should take far less. The price was more than I expected to pay (it was $150, but he agreed to $125), but he was constantly packing ink during my time there, had great aftercare, and will touch up after it heals at no cost.

Thank you! I really love how it turned out. It's getting a hair itchy now, but not bad. I really expected to be sore, but I haven't been. It had a little warmth the first 24 hours, but that's it. Considering I've hit my tattoo several times over the last few days (because I'm a klutz, a little nearsighted and have dogs), I'm glad I had the film over it to protect it. I'll post another pic after I take the tegaderm off on Monday and another once it's fully healed. By the way, my artist used a liner for the whole thing and fresh disposable needles. I think the ink was Fusion if memory serves. It took about 90 minutes of pure tattoo time. He put a little A + D on it afterward, wiped it clean, did a tight witch hazel wrap for 10 to 15 minutes (he put something like a paper towel over my ink, soaked to towel in witch hazel, and wrapped it tightly with a self adherent wrap) to pull out some of the plasma, dried it well, then put on a Tegaderm film (leaving over an inch between the edge of my tattoo and the edge of the film to leave space for plasma buildup) with instructions to leave it on for 5 days, use an ice pack as needed, keep it out of the sunlight, and use tattoo safe lotion and gentle soap once I take it off. His shop was nice, clean, kid friendly, welcome to all religions (from Christians to Pagans to Atheists), LGBTQ+ friendly, and full of jewelry made of natural materials. The piercer was a fierce looking woman with various piercings and tattoos (including her scalp which was shaved) but a total sweetheart (she actually took a minute to tell me about what she does and checked out my ink when he was finished).

It doesn't sound weird at all. Knowledge is a powerful and fascinating thing. Where is the original design? Can you contact that person? Maybe you can find information on it if you Google image search the original design.

Welcome! A pleasure to make you acquaintance. :) I think the book sounds very interesting. I hope you attract a few artists on here who are willing to help out :) Plain skins joining the forum is very common. I was plan skinned myself when I joined and now I'm healing my first piece. There are a lot of great threads with tons of information (I'm healing using Tegaderm for 5 days, then I'll switch to Hustle Butter). Artist wise, I decided on a distance I was willing to travel and checked out pieces online first to look for too many bad reviews or review patterns, bad line work, blowouts, ugly art, and so on. I also asked people with ink I liked where they got their piece (also ask if they know a place to avoid from previous experience). Once I had a decent group, I tossed out artists who's style I didn't like for my current tattoo (but might revisit if I ever wanted a different style tattoo). If you're still unsure what style you want, keep the ones with a style that interests you. Once I narrowed it down (but didn't have one that screamed it was the perfect place), I showed them to more experienced people to help narrow it further. Because of my allergies, I then contacted my top 3 via Facebook with a couple questions. One of them was kind of a jerk (which I had heard from someone else was the norm), so I was down to two (because he apparently didn't want my money). After seeing shops and healed pieces and learning about them, I had my artist. A lot of the artists and collectors here are willing to help narrow it down for you. It's nice to narrow it down at least a little yourself before asking for help as the list can be pretty lengthy if you are willing to drive a few hours (or even fly).

Nice ink! It looks beautiful. :D As far as symbolism is concerned, have you talked to your artist? They should at least be able to tell you where they got the different elements from so you can do further research on your own.

@jrayr90 This is my plasma buildup after 3 days. Again, solid black using only a liner, so more plasma/trauma then if he had just used a shader which would have taken less time. You can see its about the same as those with the same type who didn't use a tight witch hazel wrap, but did wait 10 hours to apply the Tegaderm.

Took this pic this morning. You can see the plasma buildup under the Tegaderm (which is awesome btw). It looks so weird! I showed it to people and they thought something was seriously wrong with it XD

It bothers me too, but at least it's food grade. There are a lot of good reviews and at least it doesn't have mineral oil, petroleum, or fragrance. I'm not sure if I could find anything else better by Monday. I know next time I'll order Hustle Butter. As far as the Fruit of the Earth Vitamin-E Cream, the ingredients just scream no to me. Water, mineral oil, glyceryl stearate, cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, glycerin, stearyl alcohol, tocopheryl acetate, collagen, elastin, aloe vera gel, squaline, wheat germ oil, retinyl palmitate, dimethicone, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, carbomer 940, triethanolamine, propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, methylparaben, propylparaben, and fragrance. I mean seriously? This has so many red flag tattoo no nos. I wish I had just ordered the Hustle Butter like I planned, but stupid me got talked out of it. This stuff smells too strong for me even want to use it anywhere! Is Lubriderm, Aquaphor, and Eucerin the same?

Thanks @9Years ! That thread made me like this stuff even more ^_^ From what I can tell looking and pics (and taking into account that mine was solid black done with a lining needle), the witch hazel wrap helped draw out enough plasma that my Tegaderm film that was put on minutes after the tattoo looks about the same as people who gave it 10 or so hours before applying the film. I wonder if it's the same for everyone who uses the witch hazel wrap before? I do have a new question though. His wife (who was well inked and medically trained) recommend Fruit of the Earth Vitamin-E Cream as my lotion after I remove the Tegaderm on day 5. What is yall's opinion on it? I raised an eyebrow at the ingredients and the fragrance when I opened it just now. Should I use A + D for a few days with it as well? Could it damage my ink in any way? Is it on par with other lotions mentioned (other than Hustle Butter as now I don't have time to order it before I remove the film)? If not, what can I buy at Walmart or Walgreens that will work best? I know @21stNow suggested Lubriderm, Aquaphor, or Eucerin, but does anybody know one free of mineral oil and/or petrolatum? Edit: The only local product I could find that was petroleum and mineral oil free was Tattoo Goo. Ingredients: Olive oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, wheat germ oil, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), lavendar oil, sunflower oil, rosemary extract, D and C, and green 6. Does it sound okay?

My artist had a trick to help with the plasma. He placed a clean sterile towel over my piece (but he said you could use a paper towel), soaked it in witch hazel, wrapped it tightly with a self adherent wrap, and left it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Some people feel nothing while others will feel it get warm (he said it's normal). It felt soothing to me. After that, he unwrapped it and you could see plasma on it. He said it helps draw some of the plasma out. He wiped and dried it well. Then he added Tegaderm with about an inch or better space all the way around. The plasma I'm getting is no worse than people who waited 10 or so hours to apply and my ink is pure black put on with liners only (so lots of trauma). I'm not having any redness, swelling, or anything close to pain with it. I put a cool pack on it after my shower and at the end of the day and that's it. Perhaps if you wait the 10 recommended hours and then do what my artist did, you won't have as many problems with plasma. Just make sure to leave a good space of uninked skin around it to give it space to pool and run if need be. If it starts running and gets close to the edge, you can always add a piece to where it's headed before it pops open the seal.

Has anybody else used Tegaderm? It's a fairly new method of healing and I'm loving it! My artist put on some A +D, wiped off excess very thoroughly, did a tight sterile witch hazel wrap to suck out excess plasma, wiped off again, and then applied Tegaderm. It let's it breath because air can move, but liquids can't get in or out. It's clear, sterile, very flexible, feels like wearing nothing, has kept me from feeling sore post tattoo, no hassle, and protects my ink from germs, dirt, and pain if it's bumped. I can wear whatever clothing I like without it bothering me, I just got out of a nice shower without any problems, and I didn't have to worry about staining my sheets! My artist said to leave it on 5 days. If plasma builds up, you can either lift a corner, drain, and replace or you can remove it, sterilize and dry, and add a new sheet (they sell it at stores such as Walgreens in the first aid section in the US). All artists recommend using it at least 3 days to get over the worst part of it. After 5 days, you take it off and the ink will be at the flaky stage. Then it's just a little lotion and gentle soap from there. No hassle and no infection risk like with dry healing. The only thing extra you could do during the healing process is use an ice pack as needed (which as yall know is recommended even if you dry heal). It's good for after showers or other times when it has some heat in it. I'll update with how it went in a week. :)

Wth!?! I tried to upload images but my galaxy says no images! Edit: It's up. It's up! Here's my freshly inked pretty. If the link doesn't work, just go in my gallery ;) http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/member/19447-broken-infinity.html&imageuser=56235

Woot! Got my ink today! Could you guys help me figure out how to choose the style and such for upload on here? Also, I don't remember the artist's name, just his business.

I use the White Dove bar soap. Is that safe? Is it better to use a bar soap or a liquid soap on a new tattoo? How often do I clean it? When would I use it and how often? Like right before bed at night? After the first few days? After washing it with soap? Is there anything else I can use from a local store (like Walmart and the like) for a bit? I am getting inked Wednesday and I don't think I can get it in time. My concern is having my fresh tattoo stick to the sheets and having to rip it off which (as many have said in the thread) hurts like a son of a bitch.

Anybody have any experience with the Tattoo Goo kit? My best friend's husband swears by it, but it's been a few years since his last piece.

@9Years Thank you for the advice! I have OCD, so it's in my nature to over think things. I'm eventually going to get a full calf piece on the other leg. This small one is as much practice as anything. I know it's a skin trauma and I didn't know if I should treat it how I would a nasty cut or something like it with ointment the first couple days to keep away infection or what! I forgot to ask, is aloe vera bad for them? I have a plant and figured using a bit of it might work to moisturize and help it heal. I've heard horror stories of fresh tattoos sticking to sheets or clothes. I wanted to know if I should wrap it before bed in some way so that doesn't happen and how many days I should do it.

@Devious6 Thank you! I only wish I was a better artist. I deleted one half, blew up the image, edited pixel by pixel, copied it, rotated the copy 180 degrees, and lined them up. It was tedious work and it still could use some tweaks, but I like it. :) @Naiemh Daw. Don't make me blush now! And thank you. ^_^ I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with just straight black although I'm still debating myself on rather it would look good in color or not. Also I'm not completely sure if I should stay simple and flat like the image I created or ask the artist to make it three dimensional. Thoughts? I actually talked to a shop today on their Facebook page. They had some really nice pieces, so I sent out a PM to them and 2 other really nice shops who also had good ratings with a few questions. One shop was kinda rude, one shop was nice but not much for answering my questions, and the third was sublime! They were able to answer right away that their shop was 100% latex free and their ink brand (fusion and eternal straight from manufacturer), were totally cool with working on an atheist piece as the owner is pagan and understands being non-Christian in the bible belt, was nonjudgmental about my OCD as one of their artists has it too, offered to send me pics of healed pieces, and was just generally nice. I almost wish I had the money to do my calf piece I've been planning on for years right now they impressed me so much. I literally cried to find someone near me who was so cool with me 5 minutes after we talked. I'm off to read up on tattoo before and after care! I wish the thread for it was less conflicting o_O

Getting my first tattoo next month and was left confused by this thread, so I have questions... -1. Is there anything I can do (or not do) before the appointment to help with the healing? 1. Can I use white Dove bar soap to clean it? 2. I don't want to use an after care product as they sound like a nightmare for a girl with lots of allergies. It there any normal first aid treatment I can use to help? 3. Which lotion (or at least what to look for in a lotion) and how often? 4. Does Bert's Bees make any products I can use? 5. How do I keep from having a nightmare situation when I wake up? (upper ankle piece) Do I wrap with sterile gauze and ointment or something? Mind you, I want to know all this beforehand so I won't have to make a run to the store after.