How to Choose a Body Piercing or Tattoo Studio
Steps
Ask around for recommendations from your friends, making a shortlist of places which are recommended and avoiding anywhere with a bad reputation.
Visit several studios,and have a look around. You should look for a clean environment,ensuring needles are changed for each client,seating areas are cleaned frequently and that the artist wears medical gloves. Ask to see their autoclave and spore test.
Ask to see portfolios. Look for new and healed work. Ask how much experience the artist has had, and about any certifications.
When you have decided which studio to use,try to have a chat with the staff and if you feel comfortable with letting them work on you-then go ahead!
Tips
- Inform your artist about any diseases you have that are transmissible, and any conditions such as hemophilia.
- Never choose a studio which rushes its clients. Some businesses let customers walk out when they are faint or feeling ill,which is seen as very bad practice.
- The first thing you should ask is how they sterilize their equipment. Ask if they use autoclaving to sterilize their stuff. If they don't want to talk about it with you... run. Really, any good tattoo shop should offer or at least be willing to show you how they sterilize the equipment if you ask to see it. This should be your first concern since all sorts of things can be transmitted through blood/needles.
- Most studios require parental permission for piercings on anyone under 18.
- Eat at least 2 hours before your tattoo or piercing.
- Don't pick at the scabs that form on a healing tattoo. They will eventually fall off or loosen, especially in the shower.
- Wash the area to be worked on.
- If you see someone with a great tattoo or piercing, don't be afraid to ask who did it. People are usually happy to recommend their favourite artist, and word of mouth is generally reliable on the body art scene.
- In the UK, there is no recognised certification for body piercing.
Warnings
- Here's a good motto in regards to cost: "Cheap tattoos aren't good, and good tattoos aren't cheap."
- Avoid any studio which uses guns for body piercing, as piercing guns cannot be sterilized. Furthermore, piercings guns can cause blunt force trauma, complicating healing-ALTHOUGH Many U.S. distributors of piercing guns such as STUDEX offer single use pre-sterilized cartridges for tongue piercing in which the only item that comes in contact with the client is the barbabell which has sterilization lot info branded on packaging.
- Cheaper is almost never better.
- It is illegal for anyone under a certain age, usually 18, to get a tattoo in many US states, though not ALL. For example - Ohio has no minimum age if there is parental consent, but most Ohio studios will not tattoo clients under 16. In California, the age is 18 regardless of parental consent, and in Illinois the minimum age to get a tattoo is 21 regardless of parental permission. Check your state's laws before going.
- You must be 18 to get tattooed in the UK & US. Parent permission for those under 18 in the UK is NOT legal. Though some studios may still let you get a tattoo if you are 16 and have parental permission.
Article Credits
Featured Artist
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SA: Design, Art & TattooLocated in the heart of Albuquerque’s historic Old Town district, SA: DESIGN, ART & TATTOO is a private studio run by New Mexico artist Shane Acuff. The shop features custom hand-drawn tattoos tailored to fit the client's body, a gallery of original artwork and the design studio where its all made.
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