Justin Bieber, 16yo teen sensation reportedly got inked in March.  Photos have surfaced of him in a tattoo chair and of the tattoo itself, a small bird in flight.  The tattoo is apparently a Bieber family tradition and was acquired in Toronto.  Bieber’s father was with him during the tattoo session. Read more…

Fans of San Francisco restaurant Casa Sanchez can get free meals for life if they get a tattoo of the restaurant’s logo.

A tattoo of the logo (the owner’s younger brother riding a corncob and wearing a sombrero) entitles the bearer to a free meal and drink once a day for life.

Getting a tattoo is not as radical a move as it once seemed, as it has become fairly common for people from all walks of life to get a permanent image in their skin. That’s good news for those who fear the social stigma, but there is still some natural nervousness for those who are getting their first tattoo. Knowing the stages of the process can be enormously helpful in easing any fear or worry, so you can know that it’s all moving along just as it should.

The first steps, or preparations, are very simple. You select a tattoo parlor, or a particular artist, based on their reputation. Usually it’s best to have a good recommendation from a friend, so you can be sure the parlor has a good profile for courtesy and cleanliness. You can have a design selected ahead of time, or go in and look through their albums to find something you’ll want on your body. Next, you’ll fill out some paperwork, which is basically a release form, and decide on the price.

When these preparations are complete, it’s time for the big moment. You’ll be seated in the chair, usually one specially designed for your comfort, but also to allow easy access for the tattoo artist. The spot for the design will be cleaned, and often shaved, so that the artist can work cleanly on a blank canvas. If you know the spot ahead of time, you can do the shaving ahead of time. The artist will certainly appreciate it! Then they’ll start the work. They will transfer the design via thermal fax, and place in on your skin, so that they have a perfect template to work from. The artist will prepare the needles and the colors, so everything is ready and there won’t be any unnecessary pauses in the work. They start by tattooing the outline first, and then get to coloring it in. This can take awhile on larger, elaborate designs, and even with smaller ones it can seem pretty long. Understand, however, that the pain at first will eventually get easier, as you get used to the feeling, and the endorphins in the body kick in.

Last, the artist will clean the area, and place a protective bandage over it, to soak up the minor bleeding, and to insure that the colors stay bright and sharp. They will give you any special instructions on how to take care of it for the first few weeks. Before you leave, and after you pay, make sure to tip. 20% is generally a generous amount for good work.

Thinking about getting a tattoo? Many people are torn because of the permanence of them. It is very hard to pick something that you are going to like for the rest of your life! Solution? Get a temporary tattoo! If you decide that you really like it, you can always make the leap.

It is really easy and simple to make temporary tattoos from home. Tattoo paper can be purchased from your local store. Once you have the paper, scan your drawing into the computer. It can be an original or a copy of someone else’s work. Once the paper is loaded, press print and you’re done! Easy as load, press, print! This type of tattoo is especially good for children since they can choose their own designs and it washes off in the bath.

For a semi permanent application, like henna, it is not much harder. The most important step is to make sure that your skin is very dry. You can make sure your skin is prepared by swabbing the area with alcohol. The alcohol will clean the skin and evaporates faster than water. Henna can usually be found in a powder form that you have to mix with water in order to make a paste. When your skin is ready, take the henna paste and pour it into the applicator pen or bottle. Place the stencil over your skin and trace the design. If you or your friends are artists, you can take a chance and free hand a design. The best part about it is that it is o.k. if it is not perfect because it will be gone in a few days to a few weeks.

For an even quicker tattoo option use eyeliner! Eyeliner comes in a variety of colors and you can purchase at your local drug store. Bake a stencil of the design you want and fill it in with eyeliner directly onto the skin. This is the most temporary of tattoos. With a little soap and water it will be like it was never even there!

Lastly, tan on a tattoo. Many tanning salons offer stickers that you place on your body while tanning. The skin under the sticker does not get exposed to the sun. The result is sort of a reverse tattoo. The skin around the design is a golden shade while the ‘tattoo’ is much whiter.

Check out these drunk tattoos…..

It’s impossible to talk about tattoos without talking about pain. Those who have a number of them might claim that the pain is very minimal, but chances are that they’ll have some pretty good stories associated with ones that hurt more than others. The fact is, tattoos do hurt. There are small needles going into the skin very rapidly, and common sense dictates that this will certainly cause some unpleasant sensations. This article will look a bit into the nature of those unpleasant sensations, and also talk a little bit about pain in general. The question about how bad they hurt is, of course, very relative, but there are some guidelines that will be helpful.

When it comes to pain, everybody is different. People have different pain thresholds, and they all tolerate it very differently. There are some who can withstand enormously painful experiences if they are short in duration, but a little pain stretched out over a long period can be very painful, and vice versa. In earlier generations, there were ideas that pain had a kind of quantifiable constant, and that certain experiences felt the same for everybody. Today, the attitudes about pain are different, because there is more information. It is a very subjective phenomenon, and pain levels are different. Some people will perceive the needle as a discomfort, and others perceive any kind of discomfort as pain.

The important thing, then, is to be knowledgeable about the process, and to be comfortable enough that you can communicate with the artist while they’re working on you. If you’re feeling queasy, or like you could use a break, by all means speak up. They’re used to dealing with people and their own peculiar thresholds for pain, and they don’t get paid for being cruel. Also be aware that some areas are more painful than others. The spots with a lot of flesh tend to absorb pain quickly, and those areas where there is bone and nerve close to the skin are particularly sensitive. Also be aware that the body produces natural endorphins to fight pain, and these will kick in pretty quickly once the whole process starts. So get relaxed, think of ways you can distract yourself, and have good, open communication with the tattoo artist, and enjoy the experience with a clear mind.

Deciding to get a permanent ink tattoo is a big decision. While many people have one or several tattoos, they are in most cases a permanent part of your body. Even if you decide later that you want to have it removed, it is an expensive and painful process and it leaves a scar that looks like your tattoo. As a result many people deliberate for a while over what type of tattoo they want and where they want to put. This also leads many people to designing the tattoo themselves, and it also increases the significance.
Designing a tattoo is yourself is a relatively easy task. If you want to do something like your name or the name of someone special to you, it can be even easier. The first thing that you need to do is decide on the name; if you are going to use the real name, the full name, or maybe just a nickname. Once you have decided on the name you then need to decide what language you want to have it done in. Some people choose to stick with their native language while others want something more cryptic and unique like having the name done in Chinese or Arabic. With that decided it is time to move on to the font. This can be one of the hardest decisions because there are so many different fonts available. One of the easiest ways to look for the perfect font is by looking on your computer or searching the Internet. Both will give a variety of styles to choose from. If you are a really good artist you can draw it up yourself; however, if your artistic skills are lacking you can easily type it up and print it out on your computer.
With your tattoo design complete you can take it in to your local tattoo parlor. They will be able to advise on whether or not they can recreate it and the best way to get it from the paper to you.

Tattoo stencils are a great idea. It give one a chance to see if they would be happy with a certain design of tattoo or even if they would be happy with having a tattoo at all before they get it permanently inked onto their skin. There are so many ways to try out non permanent tattoos many of which can be printed right off your computer. The curious can find all sorts of stencils either on line or through some software with pre-made designs. They are available in full color and in black and white. Which brings up another point. Maybe you find a tattoo from a stencil that you like but would want to make some changes to it which would make it more of a personal design just for you. Not that you will run into someone with the same tattoo on the street but it is always fun to know that something is specially made for you.

Maybe you like the tattoo of your favorite animal but you don’t like the color or you don’t like the way the eyes are and you want to have the outline but change the eyes. Searching through the different designs you may find the body of the animal that you like on one tattoo and the eyes of an animal from another tattoo print. When you are ready to tell the man with the ink gun what you want you can just take in a copy of the two prints and give him the direction. The tattoo stencil is printed on a special kind of paper that with a little water and maybe some rubbing alcohol can be transferred onto your skin with in minutes. There should be no mess and the tattoo will fade off in a few days.