Around three years ago, I came across some money right around my birthday. I figured that would be a great time to get my back covered in Tattoos, so I headed down to a shop which I had heard was cheap. That was my first mistake, more were to follow, but first some background.
At A Glance Author Don Joseph Contact Don Joseph@bme.anon IAM Donjoseph When Two years ago Location Kalamazoo This tattoo shop was a place I had been to when I was in High school, I wasn't looking for any work, just looking around. From that visit, I told myself I would never go into that shop again. It seemed dark, dank, dirty, and, frankly, scary. No place I'd like to go for any work. At the time it didn't matter, as I had no tattoos, and didn't plan on ever getting one.
Fast forward six years, I had gotten a tattoo, and fallen in love with the process. While waiting for a friend in my favorite coffee shop, I looked across the street, and decided to visit that same shop from High school, with a better understanding, and even a hope that the shop was not in the same shape it was in before. The tattoo artist was there, and he gave me a tour of the shop, showed me the tattoo room, told me how when he got there the place was kinda dirty, and he made the owner redo everything, etc. It sounded pretty good, so I thought it'd be okay to get a tat there, I had heard they were pretty cheap, and the guy's artwork was impressive enough to lure me in.
Months later, I came back to around my birthday, and I decided to get dragon's wings, cause, "I ain't no angel, but I want wings" I went in with very little money, but I thought that it would be enough. I arrived a bit before the shop opened so, I got a coffee, and waited patiently for the place to stir to life so I could get some ink. When it was time, I crossed the street and asked for a tattoo, the reply was, "The artist isn't here yet... he's supposed to be, but he's not in." I told him I'd wait, and he told me to look through the flash on the computer if I wanted. I thought, "what the hell" and started flipping through the generic images on the screen. By the time the hour and a half passed for the artist to get there (first missed red flag), I had figured something on my arm would be more cost appropriate, and I knew I wanted some of the UV reactive ink. I now knew what I wanted, and the artist set up the room, and I sat down in a nervous state. The tattoo went on as any tattoo would, it seemed to hurt a lot more then my first, but it was more work, more color. During the entire first half of the process, my artist argued with his fiance, who was sitting in the room with us, just to be there (probably red flag number two). I seriously considered asking if I should come back later, but I stayed. At some point around midway, she ran out of the room crying. The artist turned to me and said, "I love making her cry, this is the second time today" At this point I thought, "wow, what a dick" and I wanted the tattoo to be done.
The rest of the regular tattoo was pretty uneventful, right up until he began the UV Ink. He told me to look up at the wall and read the disclaimer posted there. It stated that the ink he was injecting into my skin contained several heavy metals, and carcinogens known to the state of California to cause reproductive harm. I still wanted it, so he went to it, telling me to trust him to really make this look good and make it seem like it was moving with the UV ink. I let him, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake also, but at the time, I was okay with it.
With the tattoo done, I paid with my debit card, and when the artist saw that, he made a comment that came out as, "I wish you would have told me that before" I don't know what it meant, but it did kinda worry me. Everything seemed to go through alright, I paid for the tattoo, a tin of tattoo goo, and walked out the door to my car. the first thing I noticed was that the tat hurt. It was worse then the other one I had, but again it was very much more work then that one, so I let it go.
When I got home, I liberally applied the tattoo goo, as I was told in the aftercare speech to make sure it didn't dry up, or scab over. The first day everything was fine. The second day my arm started to break out in acne where I had never had any ever before. The third day when I woke up from a nap, the tattoo was dry, and a little scabby feeling. I did something that was very stupid at this point, and probably did as much to screw up my tattoo as anything the artist did. I put on a large amount of tattoo goo, and then put a saran wrap bandage over it, to keep the moisture in. I didn't know any better, and figured a little bit of time wouldn't hurt it.
An hour later, while at work, I took off the bandage, and was almost sickened by what I saw. My damaged skin, reacting with the moisture from the lotion, turned to goo itself. the ink literally oozed out of several places in the tat, and skin just fell off of my arm like it was some rotten milk that had been tossed on my arm. For the rest of the night I had to deal with a sore arm that had skin sloughing off onto my shirt, and I was not a happy person.
After the months of waiting, the tattoo finally healed enough that it didn't hurt at all anymore, but it took all of those months. Now that I had a bit more knowledge and understanding under my belt, I decided the half a tattoo that was left on my arm needed to be fixed. At this point though, money was very tight, and so I took the only avenue I knew I could afford, free touch ups with the original artist. Everything in my head told me not to go back there for any reason, but I did.
When I got to the shop for the third time (the first two the artist had called in sick between the time I called the shop and the time I got there) I showed him my tattoo, and he said it was the worst color leaching he had ever seen, except when a biker fell off his motorcycle and scraped half the skin of his arm off. This didn't encourage me, but I had a need to get the piece redone, so I sat in the chair again. This time the first thing the artist did was drop the full cup of red ink on the floor, and the base of his chair. I kinda felt like that was fitting, as so far everything else had gone wrong with the work, so why not that? After a slight change in the color of red he used, and a minor reworking of the tattoo, the artist stopped for the day, and told me it was now a "90% tattoo", but I should let this heal before I came back to finish it off. I walked out, and this time I think the lesson got into my head, I would rather pay an artist I trust then continue to de al with this asshole that can't complete a simple tattoo such as the one I have.
It's now been at least a year and a half, and I still have not gone back to that shop. I've heard the name has been changed, so I don't even know if the same artist is there. I will get the tattoo fixed someday, but it will be by an artist I trust, and who I know will do a good job, and probably heal within a week, not months later. The lesson is, don't go for something that's cheap, cause you get what you pay for, and sometimes less. I try to steer anyone considering a tattoo to a reputable shop with people I know do good work, and has a friendly atmosphere, all things this shop did not have. Please let my story warn you away from the shop that looks good due to low prices, and make sure to check up on the shop yourself if you decide to go with it. A little bit of knowledge, and a hint of research would have kept me away from this shop, but I hope my experience can help someone else from making the same mistake I did.