Frequently asked questions about Tattoos

Since I will be tattooed again soon, I am in the mood for talking about one of my passions a lot currently 😛 I just wrote an article about some law issues concerning the artists in Germany, this time I want to focus on some soon-to-be clients, maybe it’s one of you 😉 I get some questions about tattooing asked over and over again, and since I think it’s only natural to ask them and informing people is important, I want to now present you exactly that: my most frequently asked questions and my personal answers to them. Enjoy and feel free to ask anything else related to that topic, if you feel like your questions, in particular, have not been answered yet!

Does it hurt, how much does it hurt and where does it hurt the most?
I 100% get why you would ask that question, since how would you imagine that kind of pain if you never experienced it yourself? I was also very afraid of my first tattoo, which is why I went with a rather small one, to kinda dip my toe into the water and see if I would survive it. So that’s my tip in general for all of you who would want to get a tattoo, but you don’t know if you can stand the pain. You don’t have to get a big one the first time around, my first one was done in 10min 😉
But to fully answer the question: I actually can’t xD The problem is that pain is very different from person to person. Let’s compare me and my husband for example We got a partner tattoo on the same day from the same artist and for both of us, it was a tattoo after a longer period of not getting tattoed, so you say we were not used to it, as might be now. My husband did actually almost fall asleep while getting tattooed, he described the feeling as a kind of massage and not really a pain. I also think that tattoo was one of the less painful ones because it was in a good spot and was fairly small(the longer you get tattooed, the more even small movements will hurt), but I think I would never be able to fall asleep like that because it would be a way to irritating for me. And that’s exactly the problem you could feel either way or maybe even totally different, so it’s a very personal thing, you have to find out for yourself.

There are some pictures around the internet on which people try to describe areas in which the pain is harder and easier to withstand, but again that’s very personal. Looking at one of the pictures I found online, the chest area is highly sensitive and almost too painful for most people to get tattooed. My husband again got a tattoo on the chest. This time he actually spoke of feeling pain, but not in a hard way. He said it felt less than a massage and more like tattooing is supposed to feel xD So you can kinda look at the picture and see that most areas with less body fat, where the skin is almost resting on the bones, are more painful to get tattooed, in general. But that’s again, different from person to person. What most people I know actually describe as a very painful spot, most beginners(me too xD) choose for some reason is under the wrist where the veins are showing, that’s painful, but it’s blue in the chart, so… just don’t trust it too much 😉

Is it like getting a shot at the doctors’ office?
I can say is that getting tattooed can not be compared to getting vaccinated. Many people seem to compare it since both things are done with the help of a needle but in totally different ways. When getting a shot at the doctors’ office, the needle has to go deep into your skin and has to be thick enough for the medicine to be pumped through. In a tattoo shop, the needles are fairly small and have no hole in them, because the ink is picked up not led through the needle. Also instead of going deep under your skin, a good artist will only pierce your skin about 3mm. So if you are maybe afraid of needles from doctors(which I actually am) that does not mean you have to be afraid of tattoo needles too 🙂

How much does a tattoo cost?
Again, a frequently asked question: hard to answer or generalize. The “problem” is that it’s always hard to value art because it can have a different value for different people. Just look at Picasso’s paintings, do you find them artsy, or do they look like a toddler drew them to you? Everyone has a different perception of art, which is also why everyone would pay a different price for it. Tattoo artists have to find the right balance between getting paid for the work hours they put into designing and actually tattooing a piece, but also for the art value and the materials they use, and other costs they have. For example, a studio in Hamburg will have to pay more rent, than a studio in a small town would have to, meaning they have bigger costs which they have to compensate for more, which is why tattoos in Hamburg generally cost more money than in the town where I went to school. So In Hamburg for example, you would normally not get a tattoo under 100-120€(walk-in days* are an exception) because it would actually not make sense for the artist, since they would not get a win and maybe not even enough money to pay for their costs. The costs for tattoos I have gotten in Hamburg vary between 150€ and 900€(for one design) as of now. And there can be big differences! For example, I properly already have my new tattoo on the back of my right arm when this post goes online and I will have paid 350€ for it. But I already have a tattoo planned on the exact same placement on my other arm, which will cost me around 850€. I can’t tell you why one artist can offer their tattoo for that cheap and the other one can’t but they will have their reasons and most of the time, when you want to get a design, you have to accept the price that they give you. Please never take the design and search for a bad artist who would just do it, just to get the design for cheaper. If it’s important enough for you to go through such lengths to get it, please consider paying the right artist for it, it will be important to him too. And saving is also always an option 🙂

How do you decide on a tattoo?
That’s always an interesting questions xD It might tie in with the next one… Actually, I am one of those people who decide on a tattoo kinda spontaneously. I will scroll through Instagram, not even really search for a new tattoo but always kinda stumbling upon one (a WannDo**) 😛 I will normally think about it for a few days, trying to either print it or position it on my phone, so I can hold it up to where I would want to get it, to see if it looks good or not. It’s a feeling, does it feel right, do I want to change it, will it fit with my other tattoos, what could it mean for me, and so on. And if this process is done and I still want to get it, I will ask for a price and then think about if I have enough money for it or not, mostly planning an appointment shortly after 😛

How can you be sure that you will still like it after years? (And how does it age?)
That’s the question I was talking about, many people say they could never ever get a tattoo because they can’t decide on a design, since they can’t know if they will like it in 5-10 years or not. I also know someone who pins a design of a tattoo on their wall and looks at it for one year and if he still likes it, he will get it xD For me, that sounds kinda ridiculous since I know that if you overthink a tattoo, you will ALWAYS find something wrong with it, as you can do with everything. And also having a tattoo hanging on your wall is something completely different from having it on your skin, because a tattoo becomes a part of your body pretty quickly. It’s hard to explain, but it quickly feels as if you always had that tattoo even if it’s only one month old. Maybe that’s because you are constantly seeing it and your mind is kinda adapting to that. That means, that even if there is a small thing in the design you don’t like, you won’t think about it for too long, at least that’s my experience. I have a tattoo with some hands, that look kinda wonky compared to the rest of the design, but I never look at it that way, I just see the whole thing looking great on my arm, making me smile 😉
When it comes to tattoos aging, everyone handles that differently. For one, you can always prevent your tattoo from aging too quickly, wear sunscreen or long clothing for example, but there are many tips and tricks. You can also touch up a tattoo every few years, depending on where you get the tattoo you will have/ or you can let it be touched up more often or less often. Getting a tattoo on the hand, for example, requires getting it touched up every 2-3 years to make it stay sharp because the skin on the hand is always moving and being under a lot of pressure from washing your hands, touch things, and working with them. A tattoo on your arm might only have to be touched up every 20 years or maybe never(depending on how you take care of it). Also, some people never get their tattoos touched up and they love how they age with them, so there are multiple different possibilities, different from person to person again 😉

Is there something I should be aware of/careful with?
That’s not exactly a question I get asked often, but since this post should be as helpful as possible, I would like to give you some tips on the way 🙂 Also because there are some things I gladly personally did not experience but heard about, which you can be aware of.
The first thing obviously is not to get tattooed at home or in the backyard of a building or something. Tattooing always has to be a sterile process to make sure the open wound you get will not be infected. Therefore the artist and his workplace have to be clean and you have to feel comfortable to be tattooed in the environment. If you don’t feel comfortable, you have the right to leave, don’t feel obligated to get the tattoo, if the circumcises feel fishy.
Another situation to be aware of would be that there are black sheep everywhere and recently I heard about a tattoo artist who used women and treated them badly. He offered them to get a tattoo but instead of paying with money, he wanted to be paid in sexual intercourse. Of course, sex is not a bad thing in general, but using it in exchange for something is mostly not a good idea and I know no serious tattoo artist who would ever offer that. So for me, that’s a red flag to look out for and a sign to leave and look for another artist.
Also always look for other work that the artist has done to be sure that he can tattoo you the design you want. Instagram is a good platform for artists to show their previous work and I have always made good experiences with that. Some artists don’t have a big presence on Instagram, but they have their old work printed out in some books or on a website. Never let yourself be tattooed by someone you don’t know, have not heard about before, and can’t find anything on the internet or his studio. It’s not about not giving new artists a chance, but protecting yourself from people who have not actually learned the craft. You are not automatically a tattoo artist, just because you have got your hands on a tattoo machine, but some people think they are and they will proclaim the title. So be aware of that.

All in all getting tattooed is something really great for me personally and maybe it is for you too. If you think about getting one, but there are questions holding you back, I really hope that I was able to help you. Of course, thinking about a tattoo, in general, is not a bad thing, just don’t overthink it too much 😉 And not wanting to get one, is also a valid opinion, but maybe you were still curious to know about it and I was able to help you with that too! Anyway, I wish you good luck with your plan.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

*Walk-In-Day: That’s an event which is often held at a tattoo studio, where the artists prepare some sheets with WannaDo with the goal of tattooing as many people as possible, basically everyone who walks in 😉
**WannaDo: That’s a design which the tattoo artist has come up with by themself, without clients wish behind it, so it’s basically just something the artist themselves wants to do^^