Question 1

Before your tattoo

Accepted Answer

How well you feel on the day of your appointment will hugely impact your experience. Follow these simple steps to ensure a good start to your tattoo appointment:

1. Get a good night sleep before your tattoo. Being tired might make you more sensitive to pain. 
2. Eat a meal before your appointment. Coming in on empty stomach might cause you to feel nauseous or light headed. 
3. Ensure your skin is in good condition. Be aware of sun exposure or any skin irritation, wounds or bruises. I can not tattoo over burned red area, fresh scratches, bruises, or any active skin condition. It's also very important to gently exfoliate skin a few weeks leading to the appointment and using moisturiser regularly, as dry skin is more difficult to tattoo and doesn't heal well. 
4. Avoid excess caffeine on the day of tattoo. Opt in for decaf coffee for a day, avoid energy drinks, and any other substances that cause excessive bleeding. 
5. Stay hydrated. 
6. Bring drink and sugary snacks to your appointment. Sometimes tattooing can make you feel light headed, and munching on something sweet will help with that.

Question 2

Walk-ins

Accepted Answer

At Mt Moon Tattoo Glocuester we operate on appointment basis. This means we are rarely in the studio outside of the pre-booked appointment time.

Electric Vintage Tattoo in Bath welcomes walk-ins. Th se are subject to availability, so if you can, it's worth booking in!

Question 3

Pricing

Accepted Answer

Small to medium and large one off designs are priced by piece.

My minimum charge is £100 for a small fine line tattoos. 
Small tattoos will be usually quoted between £100-200.
Usually my medium sized tattoos fit into £200-300 bracket. 
Large and more detailed work can go up to £400. 
Apart from size, I also take into the account factors like placement, amount of details, technique and style.

For large realistic tattoos I would usually need a day session priced at £500. It's a full day sitting starting from 10am, finishing at 5pm. This time includes preparation, lunch break and any smaller breaks that we might need during the long day.

Large scale projects will require multiple sessions to complete. In this case I can estimate the amount of sessions needed, but it will all depend on the complexity of the design, your anatomy, and how well you sit. For example, a half sleeve (lower arm) would be estimated at 3-4 day sessions, full arm 6-8, leg 7-10 etc.

Question 4

Deposits

Accepted Answer

From my experience, unfortunately clients who didn't pay deposit tend to no-show or cancel last minute. I am unlikely to fill the last minute spot, not to mention all the admin, research and design work done for the appointment.

Every appointment requires a non-refundable booking fee of approximately 30% of the value of quoted design. This fee will be taken off your total of the appointment on a day. For example, a tattoo quoted £300 will need a £90 booking fee, and a £210 to be paid upon the completion of the tattoo.

Deposit can be paid with a card, via my booking app, Get Ink. You will receive an email with the link, it will include your appointment details. If in doubt, you can always ask me to double check.

Booking fee is in place to cover my time outside of the tattooing time, including drawing the design, research and gathering reference pictures and/or information and administrative tasks. Please, note this fee is non-refundable under any circumstances other than me having to cancel/reschedule your appointment with less than 2 day's notice.

You are entitled to one reschedule within at least 48 hours before the appointment. 
If this condition is met, I will offer you a new date and move your booking fee securely. For example, if your appointment is on 22nd of May at 10am, the latest you can request a reschedule is 20th of May at 10am. 
I can only reschedule your appointment within the next 8 weeks from your original appointment - I will not book for any further than this.

Cancellation or second reschedule will void the booking fee, so please ensure you are certain you want to book in with me. I am unable to reserve or book your appointment without deposit.

In case of no-show without any notice or explanation, I will require a 100% upfront payment for any future bookings.

Question 5

Parking

Accepted Answer

There are many parking options available nearby, within a 5-10 minutes walking distance:
- Hare Lane Car Park (by the former Sainsbury's in town)
- King's Walk Car Park
- Southgate Moorings - Gloucester Docks Car Park
- Longsmith Street Car Park

For full day sitting I recommend a full day parking, for smaller work you can go by estimated appointment time, but feel free to message me to check. Sometimes it can take me a little longer to finish the tattoo, so I recommend booking a slightly larger time slot. If your permit is about to expire, you can usually extend it on the app, or we can arrange a break if you need to go to the car park.

Question 6

Aftercare

Accepted Answer

1. Keep your tattoo clean and dry. During the first two weeks of healing, clean your tattoo with gentle unscented soap several times a day (2-5, this will depend on your circumstances like lifestyle, job etc. so use common sense). Gently tap dry your fresh tattoo with a kitchen roll rather than a regular towel (can harbor bacteria) or air dry.

2. Use good quality aftercare cream regularly after cleaning the tattoo. Apply a small amount and massage it well into the skin (do not leave a thick layer on the skin). Do not use any cream for the first two days (if healing without the second skin), or until removing the second skin. It’s worth investing into your aftercare, since you paid a good few hundreds for your tattoo - most creams can be purchased for under £10. Please, use tattoo aftercare that is in date. There are many professional tattoo aftercare brands to choose from - Biotat, Whitfields (vegan), Hustle Butter (vegan) to name a few. We usually have some in the studio to purchase too. You can use shop bought products, like coconut, Shea or cocoa butter (Palmer’s Cocoa Butter). Do not use ointments like Bepanthem or E45, vaseline, they are too thick, clog pores and harbour bacteria. Do not use cream you share with anyone else - your tattoo is an open wound.

3. Do not scratch or pick scabs. I know it’s hard to resist, but this will result in ink falling out and healing patchy. If your skin is itchy, it means it's dry, so give it a wash and moisturize! Make sure you don't have any jewelry or hard parts of clothing rubbing consistently on your fresh tattoo. Wear loose clothing, remove any jewelry for the first two weeks.

4. Do not drink alcohol/excess caffeine or energy drinks within the first 24 hours from your appointment. These substances will make you bleed more, and result in ink falling out. Stay hydrated, drink plenty of water.

5. Avoid all these things for at least 2 weeks to ensure your tattoo healed well:
- Gym or physical activity. There is a high risk of getting an infection due to the amount of bacteria on the gym equipment, shower, even your towel and clothes. If you work in a similar environment, consider taking some time off, or take extra precautions to avoid risks of infection. 
- Sun exposure and sun beds. Fresh tattoo is very sensitive to the sun, and will burn easily, leading to complications and poor healing. We recommend using SPF 50 on your tattoos after they have fully healed (especially with color tattoos), due to pigment breaking down under sun exposure, which makes tattoos fade. 
- Baths, swimming pools and saunas. Do not submerge or soak your tattoo, only shower. Be cautious while doing house work, especially any detergents.

Tattoo is fully healed after 4 weeks (in some cases of large scale work, particularly color, it could be 6). If your tattoo needs a touch up, do not schedule it before this time.

If you are using second skin for the aftercare, keep it on for up to 7 days (no longer). If the film begins to come off the tattoo, it’s best to remove it earlier. To remove, peel it gently under running water. Do not rip it off or pull. If it holds really strong, massage a little moisturizer around the edges to loosen up the glue. It’s possible to have excess ink looking like a leak underneath, or an ink sack (bubble with plasma and ink trapped under the second skin) - it is normal. In some cases, I will recommend taking it off before the 7th day (for example if you have a large ink sack). If in doubt, always ask.

Second skin is a breathable barrier that helps to protect your fresh tattoo from dirt, bacteria, scratches, etc. You can shower with it on, but do not submerge for prolonged time (no baths, sorry!).

In a very rare case you could have an allergic reaction to the adhesive. It will usually make the tattoo look significantly more red under the whole surface of the second skin, or red spots around edges. Fresh tattoo can usually look red around the edges of an actual tattoo, if it goes all the way around the film, it means that it doesn’t agree with your skin, remove it immediately.

Question 7

Do tattoos hurt?

Accepted Answer

If you never had a tattoo before, it's natural to worry about the tattoo pain, as you simply don't know what to expect.

It's important to understand, that everyone has a different pain threshold and we all experience pain differently.

In general, tattoo sensation is often described as irritating. You will feel the needle, as well as machine vibrations. Some clients describe the feeling close to a scratch or a sun burn, and I find these quite accurate.

However, depending on type and placement of tattoo, some might be more painful than other. 
For example, as small fine line tattoo will be much less painful, than a large detailed tattoo with bold lines and some colour filling. In general, most of first- time clients are able to sit through a 3 hour tattoo without a struggle.

The easiest placements pain-wise are usually outer arms, legs and some parts of back. More difficult to sit can be shin, bicep, ankle, spine, ribs, stomach and chest. Most painful spots are knees, elbow ditch, arm pit, throat, fingers, hands and feet, face.

Remember that this is all very personal, so looking at your own past experiences and how you handle pain, you can estimate what you are comfortable to endure.

Question 8

Cover-up

Accepted Answer

I have worked on a number of cover-ups in the past and am always happy to help out a client who needs to have tattoo reworked or covered.

There are several aspects to keep in mind with cover-up work:

- I can cover existing design with black or colour ink, however I won't be able to create dainty tattoo on top of something large and dark. 
- cover-ups are usually much bigger than the original tattoo to disguise the old tattoo successfully.
- I might not be able to work with your tattoo as it is if it's too dark. We have a laser tech in studio, so I can refer you for a few laser sessions that will help lifting that stubborn ink, and give us an array of options for the cover-up.
- expect a price range rather than set price for your cover up. I will do my best to estimate correctly amount of time needed to complete the work, but cover-ups often need a second pass, so be sure to factor this in your tattoo cost.

Question 9

Numbing cream

Accepted Answer

Whilst I don't recommend using numbing cream, I am happy to work with client who would like to use it, as long as I know this as soon as appointment is booked.

Different brands of numbing cream can have very different effect on your skin, making skin more difficult to tattoo, tattoo healing badly, can cause irritation, and in some severe cases, chemical burn. There is a wide market online, however not all these creams are properly regulated, so in my opinion the safest option is Emla that can be bought in local pharmacy.

Please be aware, the use of numbing cream is at your own risk and I do not take any responsibility for side effects or complications that might occur. I also do not offer free touch ups to work done with numbing cream, so please factor that into the cost of your tattoo.

As long as you familiarise yourself with possible side effects, and can apply the cream by yourself before the appointment, we can proceed.

Please be aware that cream needs to sit for at least an hour (depending on the brand) on the skin in order to work, so ensure to apply it at home. Make sure to conduct a patch test prior your appointment - follow instructions on the leaflet. It also usually wears off after around 2-3 hours, so I don't recommend using it for a day session.

Question 10

What if I change my mind?

Accepted Answer

Any small tweaks or adjustments to the design are welcome, especially if it's a detail, or maybe we miscommunicated something during the booking process.

However, requesting a different design after deposit has been paid, might result in having to reschedule and/or placing a new deposit. If you request a significantly smaller tattoo at a later date, I will still charge the original price quoted. The same rule applies, if we booked for several tattoos, but finally you ask to do less, or maybe even just one. I understand we sometimes fall short with finances, but as a self employed person my livelyhood depends on the pre-booked work. Please, be clear on your idea and budget. I quote work by piece, or in some cases price range. So you will know an exact cost beforehand, which makes it easier to budget properly.

Odd Eyes Tattoo

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Mt Moon Tattoo

Electric Vintage Tattoo

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Frequently asked questions

Before your tattoo

Walk-ins

Pricing

Deposits

Parking

Aftercare

Do tattoos hurt?

Cover-up

Numbing cream

What if I change my mind?

Can I see my design before the appointment?

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