Think Ink!

“…Lisa, when I came to see you at an event recently, I saw that you had an amazing tattoo on your foot - do you have any others? I’m 16 and really want a tattoo, but my mum says I’m not allowed one as it looks cheap and it’ll stop me from getting a job - what do you think?…” 

Cherry, Leics

Okay Cherry, here’s the deal. I have a HUGE passion for tattoos. I just love the idea of using your body as a beautiful canvas on which to collect one-of-a-kind art work. I do not, however, love the idea of getting the name of your current boy du jour scrawled on your arm only to find out a week later that he’s not your lifetime-long partner in soul after all…

So, with this in mind, I shall now discuss tattoo-age.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but I will, just to make sure, tattoos are for a whole lot of FOREVER.

Sure, you can get them removed, but that’s actually really expensive and LOTS more painful than the tattoo itself, and believe me, they ARE painful. Think about a needle of fire being scratched across the surface of your skin repeatedly and you’ll get a pretty good idea of how it feels.

Yep, I do have tattoos. In fact, I got my latest one two days ago as an early birthday present to myself, it’s on my wrist and is something that I’ve created myself inspired by Indian mehndi designs. The thing is, I waited a long time before I got my first one - I’d wanted it when I was 18, but waited until I was 24 to actually commit to it - not because I was scared, but because I really wanted to make sure that something that was going to be on my body, every single day for the rest of my life, was something that I digged.

Your mum’s right, depending on what job you want to do, a visible tattoo can affect your job prospects, it shouldn’t, but it definitely can, that’s why getting a tattoo is a BIG DEAL.

So, what do I think? Well, I’d be super-hypocritical if I told you not to get one, wouldn’t I? And I never would, but what I would say is:

Once you’ve decided on a design, take at least a year or two to decide whether it’s really what you want.

Be sure about where you want it - do you want the world to see it or do you want to be able to cover it up?
Make sure the design is something you’ll always love - I’m super-fickle so I’ve designed all of mine, it’s the only way I knew I’d love them for a lifetime…

Do lots of research about the tattooist - ask to see examples of their work and check out the place before you even think about letting them commit you to ink.

It’s super-painful.

Did I mention it’s for life?!!