I got my first tattoo far too fast and I got lucky. It's fine, I still like it, but I made basically every decision in the wrong order. Here's the order I'd do it in now.
Pick the artist before the design
This is the one that matters. You are not commissioning a photocopy, you're commissioning an artist, and every artist has things they're brilliant at and things they're merely fine at. Find someone whose existing work makes you feel something, then talk to them about what you want.
And look at healed photos, not fresh ones. Every tattoo looks sharp the day it's done. Healed work — six months, a year on — tells you whether the linework holds and whether the shading settles or turns to mush.
Waiting and deposits are normal
Anyone good has a waiting list, sometimes months. If someone brilliant can see you on Thursday, ask yourself why. A deposit is standard and it comes off the final price — it exists because no-shows used to destroy people's schedules.
Don't haggle. It's a permanent thing on your body being done by a person with years of training and an expensive setup. If the price is out of reach, save up or go smaller, don't go cheaper.
What it actually feels like
It's boring pain, not sharp pain. It's a hot scratch that goes on for a long time, and the hardest part is usually the fortieth minute rather than the first. Bony places are genuinely worse — ribs, feet, sternum, the inside of the arm. Outer arm and thigh are the gentle end.
Eat a proper meal beforehand. People faint from low blood sugar, not from pain. And don't drink the night before: alcohol thins your blood, you bleed more, and blood pushes ink back out while it's being put in.
Placement advice nobody gave me
Get your first one somewhere you can cover if you want to. Not because there's anything wrong with visible tattoos, but because you don't yet know how you'll feel in two years, and having the option is free.
Also think about how it sits when you move. A design that looks perfect on a flat drawing can warp badly on a curve. A good artist will place the stencil and make you stand up, walk around, and look in a mirror before they start. If they don't offer, ask.
Aftercare, briefly
Follow whatever your artist tells you over anything you read online, including this. They know their ink and their technique.
In general: keep it clean, keep it lightly moisturised, don't pick it, don't soak it, and keep it out of the sun. It'll peel like a sunburn around day five and look terrible for about a week. That's normal. Don't panic and don't scratch it.
Take longer choosing than you want to. The tattoo is permanent, the wait isn't, and every single person I know who rushed it regrets the artist rather than the idea.
All of mine, close up, are on my page.
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