I loved this post by Mark over at  Tattoo Me Now

Cool title of the post, don’t you think!?

Just kidding.

To be totally honest with you, these aren’t really secrets, but still I’m surprised to see how most people completely overlook them. I guess that must be why tattoo removal is such a profitable business these days?

This is a GREAT step-by-step plan to follow if you’re thinking about getting a tattoo and want it to turn out as good as it possibly can.

Here’s we go…

Secret  #1. Find a purpose or a meaning..

Nothing wrong with getting a tattoo “just because it looks good”. But if you want a tattoo that you’ll be sure to feel proud of and love for the rest of your life, you’ll want it to have some kind of “deeper meaning”.

Ever seen Miami Ink? Have you noticed that every single person that walks in their door and is being showcased on the show has some kind of purpose or story behind their tattoo?

Why is this important?  Read The Rest of The Article ..Click Here

Finding a Purpose or a Meaning for your Tattoo

Secret #2.  Come up with a *killer* idea

This is often the hardest part…But a lot of people often make it a lot harder than it has to be.

Once you know what you want your tattoo to represent, all you have to do is figure out what it is that is going to symbolize that memory, value, event or whatever it is.

One mistake I’m seeing a lot is people looking around forever for that PERFECT tattoo design, but there’s always something wrong with the designs they come across. Be it the colors, that something is missing, the size, or that it’s just not the right “style”. As a result, they end up frustrated and never get that tattoo they wanted.  Rest Of The Article is an eye opener and gives you great insight into how to come up with ideas that can inspire awesome tattoo designs- Click Here if you are stuck on how to get the juices flowing for your next tattoo

Secret #3: Find a world-class, super-duper fantastic artist

Click above To Find Out How To Get a World Class Tatto Artist

Here’s a step-by-step approach
that I recommend you follow…

Step 1. What type of tattoo are you getting? Is it going to be black & grey or colored? Are you willing to travel or are you going to be limited to the artists in your local area? These are all important questions you should ask yourself before you start looking for an artist.

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How to Modify Your Body With Tattoos

and Piercing

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Body modification has existed for thousands of years, and has evolved into many different procedures, from the simple and painless to the elaborate and risky. Today, people choose to modify themselves for many reasons, from spirituality to fashion. There are many things to consider before you alter your body. Many different things could be considered body modification, such as reconstructive surgery and weight lifting. This Wikihow focuses on “atypical” mods, those related to tattooing and piercing, that make the body less “standard”.

Steps

1. Decide what your reasons are for wanting to change your body. If it’s just fashion, how often do your tastes change? If it’s spiritual, what types of mods are relevant to your wishes? If it’s personal, what mods express who you are?
2. Choose a level of permanence you are comfortable with. Piercings leave scars, tattoos are expensive and painful to remove. Implants may leave larger scars, and some mods like tongue splitting, tooth filing, and ear pointing are permanent, or very painful and difficult to reverse.
3. Examine your body. What piercings, tattoos, or other mods would flatter it? Well done tattoos may improve a poor self image, you may have a septum that’s perfect for stretching. You may love the look of something on another person, but you might not love it on yourself.
4. Choose a body mod artist that is knowledgeable and experienced. Make sure the surroundings are clean and sterile, as well as the procedures. Extreme mod artists are hard to come by, and you should research them thoroughly before choosing one.
5. Know what the laws are in your area for age, and also what is legal. Some extreme mods, such as tongue splitting, are considered “medical procedures” in certain places and are illegal for anyone other than a medical doctor to perform. Some mod artists work in a legal grey area, and are low-key about their extreme work. In other areas, artists may be free to do whatever the client wishes and can legally consent to.
6. Know everything about your procedure. Tattooing and piercing are common and very advanced, giving consistent results. Scarification results, even if done well, are hard to judge before healing.
7. Think it over. Think it over some more. When you are certain, think about it some more. From stretching your lobes one gauge, to branding, to trans-dermal implants, all mods should be something you’ve thought about enough that you’re sure you won’t regret it.
8. Use proper aftercare procedures, and take care of your mods.

Tips

• Find a good artist you are comfortable with.
• Decide how your mods will affect your employment, and if you are willing to or will need to remove, conceal, or reverse your mods.
• If you are uncertain, wait. There’s never a need to get a tattoo, scar, or implant immediately.

Warnings

• Do not be a guinea pig. Don’t let an artist try a new technique on you, only go to qualified artists.
• Don’t break laws, use fake identification, or give false information to artists.
• While all modification is a matter of personal choice, a few people may have emotional problems that leads them to seek out extreme, and possibly dangerous mods. While something like a split tongue seems bizarre to many, it’s nothing compared with a desire to remove one’s tongue, or other body part. If you believe your desire for mods is damaging or dangerous, seek a mental health opinion. Those wanting body part removal may find they lose the desire after therapy.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Modify Your Body With Tattoos and Piercing. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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How to Care for a New Tattoo

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Choosing a reputable tattoo artist is only part of the equation. Even the best tattoo can be ruined by poor aftercare. Guidelines vary from artist to artist, but here’s an overview of what you need to do to keep your tattoo clean, bold and clear.

Steps

1. Listen to your tattoo artist. If you’ve done your homework and chosen a good tattoo artist, he or she will provide detailed instructions, and you should follow them carefully. Think of your tattoo as having a warranty; if you don’t follow the artist’s instructions, you might void the warranty and he or she won’t give you free touch-ups.
2. Leave the bandage on. Recommendations vary as to how long you should leave the bandage on: anywhere between two hours[1][2] to 24 hours (if a thick, absorbent, non-stick ABD wound dressing is used).[3] Your tattoo artist will give you a timeframe. The important thing is to not expose your tattoo until that time has lapsed. That means avoiding the temptation to flash your new tattoo to your friends, even if just for a second. Be patient. The bandage is there to protect your tattoo from airborne bacteria, which can penetrate through your broken skin.[1]
3. Soak the bandage with warm water when removing it. This is optional, but recommended if the bandage is stuck to your tattoo and offers resistance.
4. Wash the tattoo. Most artists recommend lukewarm water and mild, unscented liquid antibacterial or antimicrobial soap.[1] Use your hands (not a wash cloth) and gently remove all traces of blood so it doesn’t scab.[2] Pat (don’t rub) dry with a clean towel or a paper towel.
   • After the initial washing, don’t use antibacterial soaps anymore.[1]
   • Some tattoo artists recommend letting the tattoo “air out” for about ten minutes before going to the next step.[4]
5. Apply ointment. Many tattoo artists advise that you use ointment for 2-3 days. Ointment lasts longer than lotion, reducing the number of times you need to apply it, thus lessening the amount of rubbing.[3] Just remember that more is not better. Apply a thin layer, just enough to make the tattoo shine, or else you’ll suffocate the tattoo.[2] Apply it twice a day.[2] Switch over to lotion when your tattoo artist says so.
   • Don’t use petroleum based products.[1]
   • Most tattoo artists will recommend using lotion that has no scent, color, sparkles, etc.
6. Continue washing and applying ointment or lotion as directed by your tattoo artist until the tattoo heals. The tattoo might look cloudy for a few days as it heals. This is called “onion skin”. You’ll know you have “onion skin” when the tattoo looks clearer when wet.[4] Your tattoo is likely to peel, with small flakes of colored skin falling off. Don’t pull off the flakes, or else you might pull the ink out; let them fall out on their own.[2] This is likely to happen within the first 4-7 days. There might be a second flaking, this time clear, within two weeks. Full healing will take 4-6 weeks.[3] Until the tattoo is fully healed, keep the following in mind:
   • Avoid soaking the tattoo. Take short showers, don’t go swimming, don’t go in saunas, etc. Soaking can draw out ink.
   • Keep the tattoo away from sunlight until it’s fully healed. Don’t apply sunblock; cover it up with loose clothing.
   • Do not scratch or pick at the tattoo. You might pull off pigment and reopen your tattoo to infection. If it itches, spray it with rubbing alcohol or slap it with your (very clean) hand to sting it and take away the itch.[2] Alternatively, you can massage in lotion.[3] Avoid friction, especially on hands and feet.
   • Don’t shave the tattoo until it’s fully healed. If you shave around it, don’t let the shaving cream or hair irritate or infect the tattoo.
   • Avoid salt water completely.[4]

Video

Tips

• Even after your tattoo has healed try to avoid exposing it to the sun without sunscreen. Sunscreen with a 30 SPF or higher will work the best – though SPF numbers over 30 do not provide much further advantage than an SPF of 30. Sunlight over time fades tattoos.

Warnings

• Disease and viruses may be spread through the tattoo process when a dirty needle is used. This is why it is important to find a reputable shop. Remember, you will get what you pay for.
• Do not use products like Neosporin: if you read the label they tell you they are not for puncture wounds (and remember, your tattoo is just thousands of little puncture wounds). This will cause the skin under and around your tattoo to heal too quickly.
• Do not let your tattoo “dry out” while it is healing – about three weeks.
• Even after your tattoo has healed, it may feel a little bumpy. This is because the ink still needs to “settle.” This usually takes about four weeks.

Related wikiHows

• How to Choose a Tattoo Design
• How to Get Your First Tattoo
• How to Care for a New Navel Piercing
• How to Care for an Oral Piercing

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Care for a New Tattoo. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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How to Choose a tattoo design

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Choosing a tattoo should be a thorough process. They are intended to be forever, and removal is expensive. The more planning that goes into your design of choice, the more likely that you will enjoy your tattoo later in life.

Steps

1. Be happy with what design you have on your body. As long as you like it, that’s the most important thing. That being said, there are factors that can make you love or hate your tattoo.
2. Find a design that has meaning for you. Even if you cannot draw, a little practice and patience can get you a good outline, at least. Most tattoo artists will help you redraw and redesign a tattoo.
3. Stay away from the art (known as “flash”) shown in the studios except as inspiration. It is better to go with a unique and original design than a mass market design – “flash” is designed by excellent artists then sold to tattoo artists around the country and around the world.
4. Find an artist or designer and ask them to make a custom design for you. Many tattoo artists are also conventional artists, or can at least reproduce a traditional drawing, sketch or painting onto your skin.
5. Find a style that you especially like, and an artist that works in that style. Most artists will do what you want, but also excel in certain “looks.” Check portfolios, and compare the different styles: old school, new school, naturalistic, Asian, black and white, etc.
6. Writing, in any form or language, should be thought over twice as long. Check and recheck the meanings of any words or idiograms of a language you aren’t fluent in. Choose quotes carefully. Search for a font you like, or create your own.
7. Consider carefully what body part you want your tattoo on. Some places you’ll look at it every day, some almost never. Consider how likely it will be that you will need to cover it with clothing or otherwise at some point.
8. Try to get a printout of the design, and see how the design will fit against your skin.
9. Use henna to get a temporary version of the design. You won’t be able to see different colors, or certain looks, but you will be able to judge the feeling of a tattoo. Henna lasts a week to a month.
10. Think about it a lot. When you are certain, wait some more just to make sure.

Tips

• Think back to 10 years ago. If you had gotten a tattoo back then, what would it most likely have been? If you don’t like the idea of having that on your body, don’t get a tattoo now. Chances are, in 10 years, you’ll regret getting it.
• Think forward, as well. Is your tattoo going to look good even when you’re old and wrinkled? Chances are, a tribal dragon or Hello Kitty won’t.
• The number one tattoos that artists are asked to cover up, after homemade tattoos, are names. If the person is not dead, or your child, names are usually not the best idea.
• Asian characters are a popular choice, as it is a way to get a meaning in a design. The tattoo studio walls are not the place to trust when looking for a character. Many have double meanings, nuances, things that may give an impression that wasn’t intended.
• Often members of a family will get matching or complimentary tattoos. Often, younger generations will incorporate elements of older family members tattoos in their own designs.
• A band, TV show, or comic book character you love today may not be something you want to carry around forever on your skin. If you’re thinking about getting a tattoo such, think about how big of an impact it had on you. If you’ve fallen in and out with others like this, then wait a few years before you decide to get it. But, if it made you have hope in a rough time in your life, helped you find out who you were or something along those lines, then it would be better.
• Don’t be afraid to get a tattoo that doesn’t have a deep meaning if you love the design. If you love Winnie the Pooh enough to look at him forever, get that Pooh Bear.
• The darker and more filled-in a tattoo is, the longer it takes to remove. Which means more money, more pain, and more time. Multicoloured tattoos will take longer to remove as they will require multiple treatments with different wavelength lasers for each pigment type. Completely black ink however, is easiest to remove by laser as it absorbs the beam on all wavelengths, breaking up the pigment easier.
• Feet, hands, and faces need more touch-ups, and more attention to heal properly. Expect to pay more for these areas. Some artists refuse to do facial or hand tattoos on a person that doesn’t already have visible tattoos.
• If you feel hesitant, either about the design or the artist, don’t go through with it.
• Go temporary before going for the permanent.

Warnings

• Some people are against cultural appropriation, where someone takes a meaningful aspect of another’s culture and uses it for fashionable reasons. If you are getting a tattoo of a traditional symbol, you should know the meaning and history of that symbol.
• Laser tattoo removal is very expensive, painful, and time-consuming – in fact, much more expensive and more painful than any tattoo. In most cases it can completely remove tattoos. Tattoo cover-ups are cheaper, but find an artist that specializes in them. It’s best to be certain about your design. Think about it. Dwell on it.
• Tattoos can get infected, and should be washed and treated as wounds. Follow your artists aftercare instructions.
• Most tattoos will need touch-ups through your life. Using sunscreen and moisturising daily will help your tattoo look new for years. After 10-30 years, expect to need touch-ups to combat blurring.
• Be extremely careful when getting Kanji characters as tattoos if you’ve found the design on the internet or tattoo parlour wall. You may think it means “Peace, love, harmony” but for all you know the characters could be straight off a soy sauce packet, or worse.
• Think before getting a tattoo. Will you like the design in the future? What will you do when it fades? Are you sure you want it where you put it? What will people think at a job interview? These are all things to consider before you get a tattoo. A tattoo is a big commitment and you should be prepared for the outcome, may it be good or bad.
• Don’t forget that if you chose to get someone’s name, that person might not be around for ever. They could leave and you would have their name on your body.

Related wikiHows

• How to Choose a Body Piercing or Tattoo Studio
• How to Care for a New Tattoo
• How to Make a Temporary Tattoo with Nail Polish
• How to Draw Your Own Temporary Tattoo
• How to Remove a Tattoo from a Photo Using Photoshop

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Choose a tattoo design. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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A Guide To Locating The Best Tribal tattoo designs

Tribal Tattoos

Finding a great design for a tattoo may be quite a daunting task especially if you lack the knowledge on how and where to look for it. True enough, there are several styles to choose from and all that you must do is to religiously scout for every single resource that you can think of.

There are several tattoo libraries online which you may check out plus the wide array of choices in the catalogues that come under the care of the tattoo artists. If you prefer the tribal concept, the very first thing which you must do is to think of the design that you wish to get inked on your skin.

Try to search for an amazing drawing with distinguished lines and contours that will best let the artistic and creative idea come out. It is also important that you negotiate with no one but a reputable artist who knows how to turn his craft into a worthy artwork. Nevertheless, you have a limitless option when it comes to the tribal tattoo designs!

The very Nature of Tribal Ideas

You don’t have to be a member of a band or a gang to qualify for a tribal design. It is your personal choice in the very first place! You have your own reason for wanting this artistic concept. By nature, tribal designs are usually complex, bold, and then prominent.

People have long said goodbye to the very generic tribal ideas because there are already numerous individuals who have decided to get them inked on their own skin. These days, the once typical designs have been made more intricate and creative. In fact, there are highly creative folks who enhance the tribal designs and incorporate their personal ideas too. You see, you can always let your creative juices pour out!

Picking out a Great Idea

For many, choosing the best design for a tribal tattoo proves to be a challenge. The real score is that it may both be complicated but fun at the same time. The truth is that it is never hard to spot a tribal tattoo design.

The challenge comes in as you decide on the perfect piece of artwork that will suit you. With an array of choices available, you may get confused. To further avoid these things from happening, here are a couple of tips for you to consider.

Search online or take a shortcut and check out the top review site and save a ton of time - Top Tattoo Design Reviews

Using your favorite search engine, you can simply key in the words “tribal tattoo” and you will get directed to a number of designs. Most of them are free whereas some websites will call for a minimal payment to have them printed or downloaded.

Join forums. Check Out The Resources page for Tattoos – Here

There are forums that are especially participated in by tattoo enthusiasts. Meaning, you can grab the best ideas from them with regards to the designs to choose from.

Get ideas from books.

Of course you can always buy a tattoo-related book. Online bookstores also make them available.

Get the help of the tattoo artists. The artists have their catalogs so you may feel free to choose from among them.

The tribal tattoo designs are limitless. It is always your call so better go over every single thing that may serve as your source. It pays to check out and widen your horizon so you can spot the best design ever!

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