Some little tips for preparing your first tattoo!

We are often asked if there are things to do to prepare for your first tattoo, besides “psychological preparation” here are some little tips:

We can't repeat it enough: no alcohol in the 48 hours before and after your tattoo appointment. One beer won't kill you but avoid the drunk of the century on D-1. Already because you're going to have a shitty session because of your hangover, but also and above all because it will thin your blood. And if you bleed a lot during the session, this will have a big impact on the result of the tattoo with necessary touch-ups. It's a simple principle: if we try to put ink under your skin and at the same time blood comes out... well the numbers don't look good Kevin!

This is among other reasons why it is not recommended for heart patients taking anticoagulants to get a tattoo, in any case not without the agreement of their treating physician and on a case-by-case basis.

For almost similar reasons as for alcohol, avoid any type of drug in the 48 hours before and after your appointment as well.

There is often a lot of stress for a first tattoo and it's easy to say but: try to relax! The day before your appointment, you can go to bed early and try to get a good night's sleep. If you are well relaxed and rested, the session will only go well :)

You can also moisturize your skin well in the days before your session, especially if you have rather dry skin, but this is not obligatory. No cream or balm on the big day though. You can also do a scrub two days before the session.

You may be asked to shave the area of ​​your future tattoo the day before the appointment. If your tattoo artist doesn't specify anything on this subject, we can do it on site, don't panic. No hair removal on the area that will be tattooed in the week preceding the session. Be careful, you should never do laser hair removal on your tattoos if you want to!

At the moment in the North we are absolutely not concerned (in fact we are almost never concerned) but if you expose yourself to the sun before a tattoo take good care of your skin! We do not sting on a sunburn or on skin damaged by UV rays. So we avoid making pancakes in the sun just before your session.

One more important point: don’t come to your appointment on an empty stomach! An empty stomach plus a good dose of stress rarely makes people happy. You can bring a sweet drink or a small snack just in case, it won't do you any harm.

No numbing cream on the area that is going to be tattooed! This alters the texture of the skin and the result will be really ugly. The pain of a tattoo is not insurmountable, if it were we would be hard pressed to have just one... and yet we continue as soon as we taste it ;)

A point that may seem obvious but is not always: We do not tattoo pregnant women.

Regarding the current context:

Due to the health crisis we are going through, it is not possible to come accompanied to the shop, including at reception. We know it's boring, but we don't really have a choice. If we have 10 tattoo appointments who all come accompanied, we already have 20 people in contact with our own team of 10 people. We add 15 piercing appointments which also come accompanied... in short you get the idea ;)

By the way, if you come to get tattooed/pierced, please do not come with your children because for obvious reasons of responsibility, we will not act as a nanny in reception :)

Some of these points are valid for piercing: come to your appointment well rested, with a full stomach, no alcohol or drugs and not be pregnant.