Simong

I think the artist is the main priority. The shop is irrelevant really as long as it’s functional and safe. The artist is what will make or break the tattoo.

What a beauty she is @DanLooks like she doesn’t mind posing too! Haha! 😀

Looks good, a very original design. Congrats!

It usually gets bigger before it disappears so just give it some time. It can take a lot longer than that for pimples to go. As long as it’s not sore and you don’t have a fever I think it will be fine. Just give the skin some time to heal.

That seems ok but the amount could be too much as Hogrider said. Better to put on too little than too much.

Pimples are normal although that does look quite irritated. What have you been putting on your skin, if anything and how much. Some of the after care lotions can clog your skin up if you put too much on them.

Congrats, it looks good!

I think it depends on the person but it does fade a lot. After healing the white dulls off and on me it is barely visible. You can see it if you look closely but it’s mostly just skin colour. It may help your tattoo stand out initially but I don’t think it will make a massive difference over time.

That’s good, I think after a certain point you just get used to things. What worried you at the beginning is not important. All tattoos are imperfect, if you look hard enough there is always a flaw. I think once you get over that perfection thing it definitely helps. 👍

Looks good! 🙂

Yeah I think it’s just getting used to it on your body at first. Over time you get used to it and are then too busy usually planning your next one. 👍

It’s not to my taste but looks pretty well done. It’s hard to tell at the moment until it’s healed. Hopefully it lightens up a bit to give more variation with the dark parts. As long as you like it that’s all that matters. 👍

I also can’t see what you mean. It looks a little soft but that could be intentional. We tend to over analyse our own tattoos as we see them all the time. It looks like a good tattoo, I would never have seen the issue of you hadn’t pointed it out and to be honest I can’t really see it now. It’s a good tattoo. 👍

I think the font looks unisex to me. I don’t really think there is a feminine style. As said before make sure to pick a good artist as it’s on your hands and will be highly visible. The simple looking tattoos are actually very difficult as all the imperfections are visible. Good luck!

Try not to worry, it looks perfectly normal for a healing tattoo. It will look strange for a while and will be sore, that’s normal. You will know more once it’s healed. It looks fine by the way.

As others have said there is no way in a million years you would see that without it being pointed out. We always over scrutinise our own tattoos as we see them all the time. All tattoos have imperfections if you look close enough, yours looks like a good tattoo. 👍

As far as chemicals I’m not too sure. There are claims but I don’t know wether this has been proven, I wouldn’t worry too much as people have been getting colour tattoos for years. As for the length of time once the first tattoo has healed you will be fine to tattoo around it. As you are not going over the same part of skin you should be fine to do it whenever you want. I believe colour is more traumatising to the skin but in general all tattoos need the same amount of healing time, 4-6 weeks as you said. Good luck with your next piece!

Totally agree with @SStu and @Hogrider. Get the tattoo you want because it means something to you, don’t worry about what other people will think. It’s your body. I also agree about finding a good artist, those designs are deceptively simple, any small mistakes will easily be visible. Good luck!

I haven’t either, I have also heard that. I know they do take a lot longer. Unless someone really wanted to get the experience I’m guessing most people would prefer a machine tattoo for comfort and the speed.

It’s your decision but unless you specifically wanted a hand poke tattoo I would have thought going with the machine method would be easier and give you a lot more choice with artists.

It looks fine to me but you need to wait until it’s healed properly before you will know. After a month you should have a better idea but it looks normal for a healing tattoo.

Looks fantastic @garrettv!🙂

I am always surprised at just how much tattoos lighten once healed, especially black and grey. I do know what you mean about the lines on the Doves wings although some artists definitely seem to have a lighter hand. You can only ask and see what he thinks, it looks great by the way! 👍

You are spot on mate, that’s the thing most people seem to forget. There’s no rush to get tattooed. When the right design comes to you then you will know. It takes as long as it takes. 👍

No worries @purplelace yeah even rough ideas could turn into something. Once you know roughly what you want then you can start narrowing down your search. There are no end of designs to look at these days with the internet and social media. Good luck with your search! 👍