Read and scroll down to get the answers to the things that people ask the most about getting tattooed!

After you get your tattoo, I will apply Vitamin A and D ointment and send you home with your tattoo covered with Saran Wrap, or in the case of a small tattoo, a non stick pad. There are varying opinions as to the best type of tattoo aftercare program to use. I know many tattooed people and everyone seems to have a slightly different formula which works for them. One thing I can tell you for sure is, that your tattoo is not going to come off if you use this type of ointment or that type, or bandage it or no, etc... so you don't have to get silly with tattoo care, most of it is just common sense and cleanliness to avoid infection. I tell people this, and I do this myself too when I get tattooed: 1) if Saran Wrap is used, take it off in 12 hours, no more and no less. If a non stick pad, take it off in 2 - 4 hours. 2) Wash it off (it will be goopy and gross) with LIQUID soap and water. According to the NYC Dept of Health, bar soap harbors bacteria, and if you wash a new tattoo with bar soap, you will be rubbing bacteria all over it. 3) Pat it dry gently with a paper towel. 4) Apply a THIN layer of Vitamin A and D ointment or Bag Balm or Aquaphor or Tattoo Goo or Burt's Bees Hand Salve over the tattoo. (Many ointments are just fine; read below for warning about anitbiotic ointments) No bandage of any sort is needed after that, unless you will be exposed to a very dirty and dusty environment. If you feel you must cover the tattoo, make sure that it can breathe, and that air can get to it. A non stick pad is fine in this case. It's always better to have no bandage, and just keep a loose sleeve or other loose comfortable clothing over the tattoo if you must be in the sun or in a dirty and dusty environment. 5)Reapply ointment as needed. Everyone's skin is different, so what is good for one will be different for another. Too much ointment can clog the pores and start pimples forming. DON'T OVERUSE OINTMENT and do switch to a fragrance free lotion after two to four days. This is where common sense and what's comfortable are the rule. Note: Ointments to avoid are a) Bacitracin- on a larger tattoo, as many folks are allergic to it but won't find that out untill they apply it to a large skin surface. Bacitracin allergy show up as little red dots around the tattoo, severe itching in the tattoo, and even nausea in some cases. If this happens to you, wash the ointment off right away, and in half an hour you should be fine. Avoid also Neosporin - it's a great product for small cuts and boo boos but not for a large abrasion such as a tattoo. You may experience an allergic reaction such as with a Bacitracin allergy. In other cases, I have been told that Neosporin can make you lose color in the tattoo (hearsay- I've never seen this for myself). Vitamin A and D ointment is pretty neutral, and since sterile equipment was used to make your tattoo, there should be no reason to use an antibiotic ointment. Use of a petroleum based ointment untill the freshly poked holes are closed is a very good idea, though, because even a thin layer acts as a barrier film against airborne bacteria. Balg Balm is another petroleum based ointment that I think is excellent for healing any sort of broken skin - boo boos to tattoos to fairly severe lacerations. It is non-antibiotic but does contain an antibacterial agent. It contains Lanolin, for those of you who are allergic. Another fine product that I have used is Tattoo Goo. Another one still is Aquaphore. 6) Do not use a petroleum based ointment longer than four or five days. After that, switch to a fragrance free lotion such as Lubriderm or Curel. Read the label... make sure that whatever you're using is fragrance free. Perfumes in a lotion with make your tattoo itch like crazy. A tattoo will itch enough just in healing. Perfumes make the itching more intense. 7) DO NOT SCRATCH OR PICK. In about three days after you get your tattoo, it will start to scab. A tattoo scab looks like crusty colored cornflakes. Let the flakes come off naturally, without no scratching. Scratching and picking can give you a nasty infection and can cause your tattoo to lose color. If the itching is making you crazy, try this - pour rubbing alcohol right on to the tattoo. It may sting for a second, but the itch will be gone and it usually won't come back. I have no idea why this is so, but have done it many times on my own itching tattoos. Alcohol does dry the skin, so reapply ointment after the alcohol dries. 8) Keep it clean, and wash it at least once or twice a day with liquid soap and water. Remember to reapply ointment afterwards. 9) Don't let other people touch it - your friends will have a tendance to ask you "Is it real?" and proceed to rub thier fingers into it. Imagine where thier fingers have been recently. Now don't let anyone touch your tattoo untill it's healed. A WORD ABOUT MRSA also known as "The Superbug": MRSA is Methacillin Resistant Staphilococcus Aureus, a type of Staph infection which evolved because of our overuse of antibiotics. About 30% of people have some ordinary Staph which lives on the skin and is usually harmless, UNTILL IT GETS RUBBED INTO A NEW TATTOO. Some of this Staph is not the ordinary kind, it is MRSA, and can create a Staph infection which is potentially deadly. A staph infection in a new tattoo looks like red pustules on the skin. Do your own google image search for "MRSA tattoo". Be horrified. Now do not get a tattoo and then allow anyone to touch it untill it is completely healed. 10) NO SUN, NO SWIMMING OR SOAKING IN WATER FOR TWO FULL WEEKS! Remember, the LONGER you LIVE, proportionately the LESS you PAY for that TATTOO! Be sure and get your MTV- Maximum Tattoo Value for your dollar! Prices can be as low or lower than PENNIES per DAY! A WORD OF ADVICE It is a bad idea to plan to get tattooed and then right away go on vacation to a warm and sunny place where you intend to spend time tanning and swimming. A tattoo needs to heal for two full weeks before you expose it to excessive sunlight and soak it in water. One more thing- Please remember that a tattoo is a permanent mark. Yes, there is such a thing as laser tattoo removal, but it will be more painful than getting the tattoo put on, will require several sessions and will be prohibitively expensive . (So you thought that getting the tattoo was expensive? Try the cost of having it removed!) Plus, laser removal almost always leaves a scar, and may not even get all the ink out. You could be left with a patchy, scarred ink stained mess on your skin where once was a tattoo that maybe you never should have gotten in the first place. Please be careful about the permanent decisions that you make!

Probably the most Frequently asked Question is: "Does It Hurt?"

Answer: You've got nerve endings don't you?

Pain is relative. To someone who has never experienced much pain, a little discomfort is excruciating.
I would like to say that overall, the pain involved in getting a tattoo is tolerable, and usually has more to do with where on the body you are getting it. For example, I have found from personal experience that the inside of the wrist is just a nutty place to get inked. Why? It's not the skin being poked that is giving you pain, it's the sheath of tendon plus those two ropelike tendons underneath that, that are so sensitive. Same goes for the area close to the armpit where the arm joins the torso. Different people are going to experience the discomfort of getting a tattoo differently. Place that I've seen people have the most trouble, and I'll not work in those areas without warning a person, are as follows: the elbow ditch, ribcage, the foot, the hand, the inguinal crease, the hip, the anklebone and Achilles tendon, the spine. Places that are quite tolerable to most are on the outer part of the arm and leg, and the upper shoulder. Tolerable means that one is able to hold a conversation while having the experience. It's not going to make you cry. Until you run out of endorphins. And then it's time to stop for the day and let the work heal. Most people's tolerance is 3-5 hours.

Overall, I would say, it's damned annoying. Sometimes it's even damned F*&%ing annoying. But I still think that hitting your toe on the iron frame of your bed at night while fumbling in the dark trying to find your way to the bathroom hurts more than a tattoo ever will.

-**Endorphins are the natural opiates that your brain secretes to deaden the pains and aches of everyday life. Runners and bicyclists have the experience of getting an "endorphin rush" from getting their second wind. This is why people can get addicted to exercise. During the first ten minutes or so of getting a tattoo, it feels a little sharp, but then the brain starts sending out the endorphins, and then one has the experience of the tattoo "going numb".

OTHER COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: Do you do piercing? A: No, I don't pierce. I don't know how. Tattooing and piercing are not one and the same; piercing is also a specialized skill which takes at least a year's apprenticeship. I dont have the time or the interest to take it up. Q: Do you ever re-use needles? A: Never. Any needle that touches your skin has never been used on anyone else, and will never be used again. Needles, after use, are placed in a puncture proof sharps container, which, when full, is mailed to a designated biohazard disposal facility. Q: How do you sterilize your equipment? A: I use a spore-tested autoclave. Needles and tubes are packaged in a virus and bacteria proof pouch that will keep the instrument sterile after autoclaving, until the package is opened. Barrier film is also used on any item that I have to touch, or that may touch you, while doing your tattoo. I always wear latex gloves, for your protection as well as mine. ‘’ Q: Will you come to my house to tattoo my friends at a party? A: No. Q: Can I get a tattoo with white ink only? A: Yes, you can, but if you are light skinned, it will be a very low contrast tattoo and thus very hard to see. If an extremely subtle effect is what you want, I would say, why not? But, then, why do you want to spend the money and endure the process and go through the healing time for a tattoo that will be barely visible? If you have some color in your skin, the white will soon be hard to see as it becomes covered over with your skin's own pigment. White is more visible when seen alongside color in a tattoo. Q: I'm very dark-skinned and I want a brightly colored tattoo. How will that look in my skin once it's healed? A: Everyones skin is different. In general terms, a colorful tattoo with look fantastic in very dark skin for the first two weeks or so. After that, as a new layer of your own skin with its native pigment starts to grow over the tattoo, the colors will get harder and harder to see. Blues and purples may turn very dull. Yellow and white may disappear completely. Colors mixed with white may get hard to see, and color effects achieved by layering may scar. Non-Caucasian skin is very sensitive- more than the slightest amount of color layering may cause the skin to develop keloids, which may in turn draw more natural pigment into the keloid, turning a color-layered tattoo area very dark- and that could ruin the tattoo. If you are very dark skinned, the safest and best looking tattoo to get will use only black or red inks. And the red will not look the same as when it comes out of the bottle. It will be changed by the existing pigment in your own skin. Q: I’m medium toned. Will any color look good in my tattoo? A: No two people have skin that is exactly alike. Some brown-skinned people get tattoos with every color, and they heal and stay perfect, but someone else who's skin appears to be the same tone, will have the problems that I described as being peculiar to non-Caucasian skin. So, in the end, I will use the colors that you want me to use, but not without telling you what possibly could happen. Q: Do you do tattoos that glow in the dark? A: No. Q: Do you do tattoo removal? A: I am not a laser surgeon. So the Answer is No. But- an old or badly done tattoo can often be repaired or covered up. See some of the Cover-ups presented in the archives on this site, and take heart. AHEM... I should probably not be sharing this information, but, if you have JUST RECENTLY gotten a NEW TATTOO which you absolutely HATE, there IS something that you can do about it... Q: If I change my mind about the tattoo in a few years, can I get rid of it? A: Tattoo removal is very expensive- it is also more painful than getting a tattoo, and takes multiple sessions if you want to minimize scarring. And there will be a scar. Please be very sure that a tattoo is what you really want before making that kind of commitment. Q: I’m 17, but my Mom says its OK for me to get a tattoo. So will you tattoo me? A: Sorry, but you'll have to wait until you're at least 18 before I will tattoo you, and I'll need to see a government issued photo ID such as a drivers license or passport if you look younger than 35. Dont complain- if I dont ask to see your ID, it means you're looking a little haggard! Q: How long do the colors last? A: I could give you an educated guess of about fifteen to twenty years before you would need the color touched up, but really, I cannot truthfully answer that question. Inks today are different than they were 20 years ago, and it is thought by many that the modern inks will hold up better with time- but how can we really know that until 20 more years have passed? Everyone's skin is different, and lifestyles are different too. If you are very pale, and you avoid the sun, it is much more likely that your colors will stay bright indefinitely than if you are prone to catch a tan and love being out in the sun. Q: What is tattoo ink made of? A: Most tattoo inks are generally speaking, composed of powdered pigment of the same type that is used in makeup, in other words, non-toxic pigment, water, alcohol, witch hazel, and glycerin. Some brands contain propelyne glycol and use synthetic polymer dyes instead of natural pigments. These latter are the newer inks which are brighter and believed to be longer lasting than the older formulas. I use both, but can stick to the so-called natural inks upon request. TATTOO INKS HAVE NOT BEEN FDA TESTED, nor have they been tested on animals. Theyve been tested on the tried and true- people- for many years and have been found to be harmless (as far as we can tell by 2009) through the use of these "scientific" methods! Q: Will my tattoo fade? A: Yes, your tattoo over time will get faded, but it will never fade out completely. Tattoos fade with age because the particles of pigment that compose your tattoo get shifted around in the skin as the skin ages. Your body is always sending old and dying cells up to the surface, and when the cells are dead, they get shed- and gradually, particles of ink will get shed along with them. Skin cells are also getting reabsorbed back into the body, and sent out of the body eventually as waste- so too do particles of ink, gradually and imperceptibly. Over the passage of years, a crisp clean tattoo line will become fuzzy looking with age. I wouldn't let this fact stop you from getting tattooed. Your tattoo may be a bit blurry and faded by the time you're 85, but the rest of you will be too! Thats Life!