Getting your beginning tattoo is both terrifying and exciting, and you probably accept a million questions already. How bad will information technology hurt? How do you know if a parlor is safe? How much volition it price? Before you become anything permanently placed on your body, you should make sure every single one your pressing questions are answered.

Fifty-fifty though I have ix tattoos and counting, I'1000 even so nowhere almost an expert on tattoo care. And so I enlisted the best professionals in the biz (a celeb tattoo artist and two dermatologists) to spill all that tattoo-related tea—removals, reactions, pricing and more. Along with their expert medical advice, I also shared a few things I've learned from when I've personally gone under the needle—both the good and very, VERY bad. Read on for all of the things you Need to know earlier you go your first tattoo.

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Prices vary depending on size.

Tattoo parlors adjust prices based on the size and mode of the tattoo you desire. And FYI, if they know y'all're a tat virgin, they might attempt to up the price on you. Information technology'south a good idea to telephone call and inquire for an estimate before you go in, although that number may change slightly once the pattern is drawn. If you can, bring someone who has gotten inked before to assist you negotiate or exercise research on pricing beforehand to brand sure you lot don't get ripped off.

DON'T go bargain hunting.

Many parlors take minimum prices (usually $50 or $100), so a tiny eye tattoo, for case, shouldn't price much more than than that. If someone is willing to practice your tattoo for $15...something'south off. Sketchy artists could mean infections and shoddy piece of work. Since your tattoo will be on your trunk for life and your health could be at risk, it's an investment worth the coin.

That being said, some parlors do totally legit tattoo sales for holidays, like Halloween or Friday the 13th (I've even seen some for Harry Potter's birthday). They're called "flash sales" and yous option a pre-drawn design for a discounted cost.

Other than that, though, tattoo shopping isn't the time to deal shop. Instead, save up for a professional, reputable tattoo artist. "If you can't afford to be tattooed by the artist that you want, you need to wait until you tin can instead of settling for 'fast food,'" says celeb tattoo creative person, Blindside Bang McCurdy, who has tattooed celebs similar Kylie Jenner, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato. "You won't regret waiting, merely you can absolutely regret not waiting."

You can be allergic to tattoo ink.

Ink allergies and allergic reactions to the prep and aftercare process can happen. How practise I know? Well, it happened to me and it f*cking sucked.

tattoo allergic reaction rash

My new tattoo one week later on I got it.

Kelsey Stiegman

Dr. Rachel Nazarian MD FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist in NYC, says ink allergies, though rare, aren't unheard of. Just if you're experiencing a reaction, it's probable due to a substance used in the tattoo procedure or aftercare products (which is what happened to me).

"True allergic reactions to tattoos, and the ink, are very, very possible, but thankfully not super mutual. Often people with sensitive skin mountain a reaction to the prep process that cleans and sterilizes the peel, which is more than common than a true allergic reaction to the ink and tattoo itself."

If you do react badly, the tattoo might interruption out in an itchy red rash like mine, simply Dr. Nazarian says it can be treated with steroids from your doctor or actress-force hydrocortisone cream. That'southward what I used and my tattoo healed just fine after treatment, FYI. (Read the full story of my terrifying tattoo reaction hither.)

You lot have to be 18 to get one.

Yep, like voting and scary movies, yous've gotta exist eighteen to become inked. Some states volition allow yous to get a tattoo earlier with a parent's permission while you're still underaged, though.

Look into the parlor beforehand.

Just because the tattoo parlor is within walking altitude from your dorm, doesn't hateful it's a quality shop (I learned this i the difficult way, btw). Visit the parlor, ask about their artists' licenses, and also check out reviews online – Yelp will give you allll that tea. Tattooing laws differ by land, so yous should research the guidelines in your land and make sure anywhere y'all're considering has the proper licensing and adheres to those guidelines.

"It's very important for a customer to feel comfortable with how make clean the studio is," McCurdy says. "Enquire an creative person: What exercise you exercise to clean in between tattoos? How often do you clean this station I'g going to exist tattooed on? What kind of surface practice you tattoo off of?'"

The Tattoo Intendance Starter Pack

The parlor should exist spotless (like, spotless spotless).

Getting a tattoo isn't a small change, like coloring your pilus. Another man beingness is *literally* creating an open wound that tin can become infected if the store isn't taking proper precautions. Though it's much more important how the surfaces and tools are being sanitized, the store should look and smell as clean as a infirmary.

Make sure the artist uses a new, disposable needle and ink cup, and wears clean gloves.

Reusing needles can spread infection or cause y'all to contract a serious affliction, like HIV or Hepatitis B. Aye, this sh*t is serious. So your creative person should utilize a brand new, unmarried-utilise needle and utilise all new cups, napkins, and gloves. Sentry to brand sure they open the needle package in front of you to insure information technology'due south clean.

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Check that the surface you're getting tattooed on is a not-porous material.

Porous materials, like wood or marble, can be difficult to fully sanitize, so it's not a adept pick for a tattoo station. "A porous surface, like stone and marble, would not be something that your tattoo station should be made of," says McCurdy. "It should be stainless steel or a sterilizable textile similar stainless."

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Follow the artist y'all're because on Instagram.

Afterward you have the parlor picked out, check out their artists' work on Instagram and decide which i y'all want to work with. Different artists specialize in unlike tattoo styles – some are great with color, others with portraits or squeamish script. Don't forget to read the comments to run across what their customers think.

The fashion the pattern looks in the sketch is how information technology will look on your skin.

The creative person will draw the outline of your tattoo before they apply it, so make sure you're especially observant when you lot okay the pattern. The drawing you lot approve will become straight onto your body and the artist will use it as a tracing for the final tattoo. Exist extra aware of spelling (it's not common that y'all'll get a misspelled tat, only it does happen) and don't be agape to speak up about whatever changes you want. Remember: this is forever.

If the artist makes y'all feel uncomfortable, exit.

If they get sassy when yous ask them to arrange the design, leave. If they shame your tattoo idea, leave. If they just generally make you lot experience weird or uncomfortable, go out. Getting your first tattoo is scary and they shouldn't be adding to your nerves or making y'all feel bad.

"I remember that in our industry information technology's a common thing where a young girl is going to come in to speak to an creative person and is going to be met with a olfactory organ-in-the-air kind of attitude, similar 'I don't want to practise this girl'south silly tattoo,'" McCurdy says. "I don't remember that it's a fair thing or that a customer should put up with that. Y'all should find someone who wants to do your tattoo."

Bigger tattoos can take more one session to complete.

Larger designs or ones with a lot of color tin can have multiple sessions to end, so your tattoo might non be complete after your outset visit. A bigger blueprint with a lot of particular or color might take 2 sessions, while an entire sleeve could take months (and hundreds to thousands of dollars) to finish. On the other manus, a elementary tattoo, similar a modest black star, should just take about five minutes. If you lot want a better idea of timeline, ask your artist to give you an estimate of how long it will take earlier you lot get started.

Call up about your tattoo for at to the lowest degree a twelvemonth before yous commit to it.

"When [you're] designing, try to remember of the give-and-take 'timeless' considering your tattoo will exist timeless, fifty-fifty if your blueprint is not," McCurdy says. What you think will look cool rn, may change so yous want to call back hard about the blueprint and make sure you lot volition still be into it months later on. Retrieve: your tastes may change over time but this will last forever.

Getting inked might seem like a fun thing to do with your friends on spring interruption or before graduation, getting a spur-of-the-moment tat is probably not a great idea. "Retrieve twice before jumping into a tattoo," adds Dr. Cameron Rokhsar, a cosmetic dermatologist who often deals with tattoo removal. "Don't do it on a whim, don't do it when you're drinking — those are all the stories I get from my patients. Tattoos of boyfriends and girlfriends [are] a no-no — people e'er regret it."

Don't go inked before your beach vacation.

The quote y'all want on your rib cage will look keen with that cut-out swimsuit, but tattoos take at to the lowest degree two weeks to heal, and so you won't exist able to swim (puddle chemicals and bounding main bacteria are bad for a healing tattoo) or hang out in direct sunlight (even healed tattoos are sensitive to UV rays) if you lot get it on or right before jump break. Your best bet: Just wait until yous become abode and make sure to stay out of the lord's day, bounding main, or pool for at least two weeks after y'all become inked.

Y'all'll probably have to get your tattoo touched up.

Tattoos fade over time, no thing how well you treat them, considering your skin is always shedding new layers. Then you'll probably have to go dorsum under the needle at some indicate to keep information technology in tip-top shape. You lot tin become to any artist to become it touched up, only if you liked your original artist, it's ever all-time to go back to them. A lot of parlors will give y'all a touch-upwardly for free, merely others charge. Like normal tattoos, bear on-up pricing varies based on the amount of work you demand done, then if yous're curious, inquire your artist for an guess or check the parlor's website – they'll likely have a touch-upwards policy outlined under their FAQs.

Tattoos fade faster when exposed to sunlight.

"There are certain parts of your skin that are exposed to more sun, and so pigments tin pause down quicker," McCurdy says. "Like the outside of your arm, it volition age differently than the within of your arm that isn't exposed to equally much lord's day throughout your life." If you're outside a lot and worried nigh fading, considering getting inked in a spot that's less exposed like the inside of your wrist and always, e'er, always vesture sunscreen, especially on your ink.

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The pain depends on the tattoo placement.

Disclaimer: getting a tattoo volition never not hurt. Hurting tolerance differs for each person, simply generally, tattoos placed right over basic tend to hurt the most. A tattoo on your human foot or ribs might be an 8 on a calibration of 1 to 10, while a bicep tat might only be a 4. And of class, the bigger the tattoo, the longer you'll exist in pain. Speaking from personal experience, my foot, ribcage, and spine hurt the worst (in that guild), while tattoos on my hands and arms were much more than tolerable.

If you don't end upwards liking your tattoo, you tin can get information technology covered upwards.

It's pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to get a tattoo covered upward, particularly if it's small. A good artist tin can put a new blueprint over it, covering the original tattoo completely — some parlors fifty-fifty specialize in cover-ups. And then even if you practice change your heed one day, you won't be stuck with tattoo that you lot hate.

You lot can besides get tattoos removed.

Y'all tin become your tattoo removed with a laser treatment. Depending on the ink color, stubbornness of the ink, and size of the tattoo, it tin take up to several sessions. Blue, blackness, and greenish inks are easier to remove with light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation treatment because the lasers can observe those colors more easily and thus, remove them more accurately, says Dr. Rokhsar. Lighter colors, like yellow and white, on the other hand, are more hard to remove. But keep in mind, while the process eliminates the tattoo, it can leave scarring and the procedure can be pricey.

Tattoo removal doesn't actually injure if you become to a doctor.

Salons offer the service, simply since they are not medical professionals, you lot should never go to one for a tattoo removal. Go to a real, licensed doc to get the procedure done – it's safer and pain-gratis, considering unlike a salon, doctors tin can numb the area beforehand.

"Removing [a tattoo], actually, is non painful at all. If you go to a doctor, the doctor will numb information technology... with a local anesthetic," Dr. Rokhsar says. "When you read most people who say tattoo removal is painful, it's considering they're not going to doctors. They're going to various spas, not medical doctors. Spas cannot administrate anesthetic injections. A doctor can can administer local anesthetics, so you lot'll experience zero hurting."

You might not be able to get the verbal tattoo you want.

If you desire to get a lyric in a actually tiny font, your creative person might refuse – and for good reason. If a font is too minor, it can bleed together over fourth dimension and basically just turn into a smudge. Instead, the designer might ask you to compromise with a slightly bigger font. Recall: Your artist is a professional, so if they have some serious feelings about the logistics of your design, hear them out.

They might shave you first.

If you're getting a tattoo on your arm or another particularly hairy part of your body, the creative person might shave the spot beforehand — like a doctor would before a surgery (this is an open wound, after all). You can ask in advance if you should shave the area before coming in, but near tattoos don't require it.

It will itch subsequently.

Subsequently about a week (sometimes sooner) new tattoos volition start to have a balmy itch – but whatever you do, DON'T scratch it. Your fingernails tin peel off the ink, leaving spots of un-tattooed peel on your tattoo. (If y'all do accidentally scratch some ink off, though, your artist tin can gear up it hands with a bear on up.) Dr. Rokhsar says scratching can besides pb to infection, so instead, slap your tattoo gently with a make clean hand for relief. He too recommends using a Cortisone foam to take away the itch safely.

If the itching becomes unbearable or your tattoo breaks out in a rash (photos of that higher up), go to an urgent intendance or a dermatologist ASAP (once again, more on that above).

Avoid long showers while you're healing.

Information technology's important to go along your new ink make clean by gently washing the surface area with antibacterial lather and water, then patting it dry three times a twenty-four hour period. A piddling water won't hurt information technology, but attempt to avert spending likewise much time in the shower (no baths, please) after getting inked. Soaking your tattoo isn't good for it, considering the water will irksome down the healing procedure by deteriorating your newly-forming skin. If y'all get a pattern on a part of your body that gets a lot of water in the shower, like your back, try to go along your showers brusque and limit the surface area's contact with water until it heals.

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