Hey – yesterday realised how important it is to look about – I had no idea studios could be that radically different in approach!

So exams finished, and I was finally free to make enquiries at tattoo studios. I thought I knew which one I wanted to go, but went to another one first to make sure. They were really rubbish. I explained what I wanted, showing them my designs and inspirations. I knew the text would have to be a bit bigger, but they simply pulled a folder off the shelf and were like ‘this is the biggest we do.’ The most discussion they would give me on the design without me paying £30 artist deposit was to print off the word in that size font – spelt wrong. Already disheartened, I told them where I wanted it – just above the heel on the inside of my ankle. I was flatly told they didnt do them there because the ink wouldnt stay.

I was really gutted and decided to try the other studio, thinking that if they said the same thing I’d have to give up on it – it’s been planned for a location and in a certain appearance and I wasnt getting it for the sake of it somewhere else on my body

The other studio was AMAZING – they didnt have a limit on text, he just explained why it needed to be a little larger than I had, as I had originally expected. He blew the design up to the size he thought would be best. I raised the worry about the location and we discussed how it could be done with careful placement, and he showed me examples of where ink came away from tough skin. Looking at another part of my design, a wonky star, he said the studio wouldnt be prepared to do it like that in case people thought it was a mistake and it reflected badly on the studio – which showed they cared about their reputation – and showed me how it could be made to work from other designs.

Such a huge difference. So relieved I checked, and I’m getting it done on sat! Eeep!

Poesy