tortoisegirl

Went back to No Ka Oi today to finally get my constellation tattoo fixed. Luckily Anna remembered our consultation months ago and knew just what was up. BUT when she was explaining my options for fixing it she said that the shop doesn't guarantee brown ink and won't touch it up for free - which NO ONE TOLD ME. I talked to FOUR different people there about this tattoo, and not one of them mentioned that brown ink is harder to heal, or that it would cost me more to fix it if something went wrong. The original artist barely spoke to me, and though Anna was much better on that front she never told me that policy about brown ink. Uuuugh. She made an exception this time and didn't charge, but I definitely don't want to go back there for any further work. Not when they suck at explaining store policy and crucial tattoo info to their clients.

Anyway, ranting aside, I got it redone in black ink rather than brown in the hopes that there won't be any color loss issues again. It hurt less than the first time, weirdly. It's swollen and red and gross looking at the moment, and it's staying slathered in lotion so it doesn't scab up as badly as it did before. Also finding it very hard to position myself so that my inner arm isn't touching anything. But if it doesn't heal right this time I'll probably just say fuck it and chop off my arm.

I'm feeling much better about the fail tattoo after going back to No Ka Oi to ask about it. It's still ugly as sin, but the color loss wasn't my fault and it can eventually be fixed.

When I first showed off my arm the three people there had definite O_O faces, started asking about my aftercare routine, then called over the owner of the shop, Anna, so I could talk to her. She was great in explaining what was happening and just plain reassuring me- she actually talked to me more about this tattoo than either the artist or the woman I did the initial consultation with. She assured me right off the bat they can redo this, then she outlined the healing process for larger tattoos, as well some of the problems colored inks can cause. It looks like it was the size of the tattoos and the brown ink that complicated this one. Scabbing is normal, but since these tattoos are so small the scabs covered pretty much the entire inked area, and then brown ink comes out easier than black ink (which NO ONE TOLD ME back when I got the tattoo- they said brown would fade more, not that that it would be more difficult to heal). But, the level of scabbing/swelling it's at right now is normal, even if the color loss isn't. She recommended I give the marks a month to heal and come back to discuss redoing it. She offered to do the retouches herself, which I will be taking her up on. She even gave me a hug :) (I'd told her I was kinda panicking and probably looked like I was about to cry, so yeah, hug was appreciated.)

So, a month. I'll have to dig out all the long sleeved shirts I can find because aside from keeping it out of the sun, my arm has this "attacked by a flesh-eating virus" look to it right now. I can deal though.

I got my second tattoo today!

I got it done at No Ka Oi on South Street, which is where my sister and grandmom have gotten their tattoos. I specifically didn't go back to the shop where I got my first tattoo- not because I don't like that shop, I just wanted to experience a different place, and since the tattoo is so simple and involves so little artistry I didn't have to bother searching for a specific artist to do it.

I didn't really like the place though. I main problem was that I dealt with three different people in consulting about the tattoo (the person I made the initial appointment/consultation with, the person working the counter today, and the artist), none of whom seemed to talk to each other about it. The artist didn't even know she had an appointment until I'd been waiting for fifteen minutes and the counter girl told her. She hadn't seen any of the ref material I'd left with them, and rather than talk to me directly about specifics the counter girl did the talking and relayed the info to the artist (while I was sitting about five feet away). It was all very different from the first tattoo where I did everything one-on-one with the artist, and which I liked a lot better. This artist didn't even introduce herself to me or ask my name :/ No Ka Oi is bigger and busier so I guess some of that is to be expected, but it was still offputting.

BUT ANYWAY, about the actual tattoo. I got two constellation on my right arm, so it's essentially a series of dots (so hardcore, I know). Actual tattoo time was less than ten minutes.

PICTURES:

( Taking pictures of your own arm is harder than expected )

So yeah, I know they're not too pretty right now. The dots and the skin around them are still very red and swollen, and even though it was done in a brown ink the redness is discoloring it to black. Once it heals the color'll fade a bit, plus it'll heal under the skin rather than looking like it's just on the surface like it does now. Not as bold or dark. Ideally they'll look like freckles.

The cluster above my elbow hurt like a biiiitch. Noticeably more than the lower cluster. The needle was in the skin for only 3-5 seconds per dot, but I was gritting my teeth and doing some deep breathing for all of it. Also, it was really cool at first to be able to actually see the tattooing up close- I didn't realize how deep the needle actually goes into the skin- but when the pain got bad it bothered me to see the needle disappear like that so I had to look away.

BUT I AM PLEASED WITH THIS. I will happily show it off at Easter dinner tomorrow. :)