Tattoos

life

Ive self harmed throughout the years and got tattoos over the left and right arms.

Then I started self harming over the tattoos 🤦

Tattoo shops I went to did really good jobs and felt normal and confidence came back with short sleeve and vests on.

I like ancient Egyptian style tattoos. 

66Mustang

@life that's great to hear someone in a similar position, glad to hear they did a good job and that you got confidence back. Thanks for sharing.



One question I have that I don't know if anyone will be able to answer. Maybe some of the ladies here with tattoos will be able to answer.

I have to shave all body hair (except head) due to OCD and other issues, does shaving the area with a tattoo gradually wear it away or are they deep enough to withstand shaving?

WelshBlue

My son shaves his arm with his sleeve.  As long as it's fully healed ... about 3 weeks, fading should be very minimal

Have you considered hair removal cream on the possible sleeve, if concerned with the OCD  ?

The tattoo penetrates into the dermis whilst the cream dissolves hair on the epidermis so won't harm the ink

66Mustang

Thanks for the advice @WelshBlue and the great info as well.

Cream is a good idea, not sure why I never considered it, I will have to look into that, thank you

WelshBlue

No problem

But I guess with everything and everyone being different in our makeup - a patch test with cream would be advisable.  To rule out irritation etc

I know a few men who hair remove and the swear by Veet for men

66Mustang

I mentioned the idea to some family members who don't actually like tattoos and they said it's a great idea if it makes you more comfortable in yourself.

Struggling to decide what to choose now for a pattern or picture...

I really like the pattern ones, like tribal patterns, but I don't feel I have the "right" to have them as I am not in a tribe...bit like having army tattoos when you haven't been in the army...bit Walter Mittyish...no offence meant to anyone who has them and apologies if you were.

Mustang was suggested by family as well but I don't think I want to have a man made brand name...

Wondering what else others have for inspiration.

WelshBlue

A lot of people go for Mandala designs.  I've seen some great arm and leg work, as well as back and chest

66Mustang

Oh they look cool @WelshBlue, thanks for the pics.

Only just noticed how much depth you can have with just black ink as well - with different shades of grey.

WelshBlue

@66Mustang ... welcome mate

You can get the measure of a good tattoo artist in the time they take in the shading.  Light and dark for the more 'pop'

When I do my art, the time spent on different blurs doesn't really come through but it can be upto half the time spent on an image 

poppy123456

Well, i did the first step. Spoke to a tattooist today and told them what i would like and where. Gave them some pictures. They are going to draw the picture with all the details to show me before they start the tattoo.. appointment booked for 1st July 2.30 pm. Time to complete it is about 5 hours.

Nervous but the deposit is paid so if i don't go i'll lose that deposit but i won't change my mind. I've been thinking of this for more than 10 years... Crazy prices though.

66Mustang

Nice one Poppy, well done and good luck.

Just out of curiosity, how large of an area is the tattoo going to cover for it to take 5 hours, just so I can get a rough idea of what sort of amount of hours mine will take. I have no idea if 5 hours is a long or short time, maybe someone else can chip in?

poppy123456

66Mustang said:

Nice one Poppy, well done and good luck.

Just out of curiosity, how large of an area is the tattoo going to cover for it to take 5 hours, just so I can get a rough idea of what sort of amount of hours mine will take. I have no idea if 5 hours is a long or short time, maybe someone else can chip in?

Thank you. It will be from the bend of my arm to just above the wrist. It's 3 roses, with the leaves and 2 names with a total of 8 letters somewhere in there.

My daughters is about the same size but the top of her arm and hers took the same length of time.

66Mustang

Thanks for the info Poppy

I want to have some of mine there so that is useful to know.

Sounds like I will need to budget a bit more than I thought but of course it can be an ongoing work I guess, don’t need to have all done in one go.

Hope it goes as pain free as possible for you!

poppy123456

You're welcome. Thanks, i hope so too! The price usually depends on how many hours work is involved. The bigger the tattoo the more time it takes obviously and then it can be done in stages. They are definitely not cheap.

life

It's better to pay that extra bit of money. 

Always check the reviews on the tattoo artist. 

do the research 👍

poppy123456

life said:

It's better to pay that extra bit of money. 

Always check the reviews on the tattoo artist. 

do the research 👍

100% agree with this. I always tell my children “you get what you pay for” 

66Mustang

I wasn't planning on buying cheap.

It's something that you have to wear forever, so you get the best.

If someone said you had to buy a shirt and wear it forever you wouldn't go to Asda!  

Great photo comparison though!  

poppy123456

Tattoo day tomorrow and now i'm very nervous! My daughter had another tattoo today and said it hurt more this time (smaller tattoo) than her larger one she had. She has a very low pain threshold so i'm hoping that's why she thought it was more painful.

Got my chocolate bar and drink ready to go.

66Mustang

Woooohoo good luck @poppy123456!!!!!!!!!!!!

What tattoo did your daughter have? Maybe it hurt more if it was in a different place?

Chocolate bar and drink ... hmm does the drink have any ethanol in it by any chance  

In all seriousness good luck, I hope it goes well for you. Are you having it all done in one long session, or are you going more than once to have it done?

The one thing I am NOT nervous about is the pain as I fortunately have a really good pain threshold ... I am nervous about the social experience rather than the pain, e.g. if you are expected to talk smalltalk to the tattoo artist and stuff like that.  

66Mustang

Oops sorry Poppy I remembered you don't like people tagging you just as I clicked to submit my message. Sorry about that.