Frequently Asked Questions

How to Prepare for a Tattoo

Receiving a tattoo is a life-changing experience and a lot of preparation goes into getting the ink of your dreams. After deciding on a design and tattoo artists, you must know how to prepare for a tattoo session. If it is your first time, it can be a nerve-wracking process. Of course, that doesn’t mean the more seasoned tattoo collectors should forget how to prep for a tattoo.

Knowing what to do before getting a tattoo will help things go smoothly and leave you with beautifully healed artwork you’ll be proud to show off.

Moisturize Your Skin

Healthy skin is not only easier to tattoo but leads to better looking ink. If you don’t already moisturize your skin daily, start using body lotion a few weeks before your tattoo appointment. It will make your tattoo artist’s life easier as the ink will apply better. In fact, if you know how to prepare for a tattoo it may even let the session go by faster, which means less pain.

Don’t use lotion on the day of your tattoo appointment. Oily skin will make it difficult for your tattoo artists to apply the stencil.

Shave

You want to give your tattoo artists as smooth as possible a surface to work on. That being said, you also don’t want to show up at your tattoo session with a nick or a cut, so be careful when you shave. Some people don’t like shaving and would rather opt for waxing. That is okay if you do it a few days before your tattoo session.
If you happen to forget to shave or wax before your appointment, don’t worry too much, tattoo artists always have disposable razors in their kit to help you.

Get A Good Night's Sleep

Getting a tattoo—especially a large one—takes a toll on your body. The last thing you want to do is show up hungover or tired. Get a good night’s rest to give your body time to prepare for what is coming. In other words, avoid going to any parties or staying up until dawn the night before your tattoo appointment.

Drink Water

Applying lotion to your skin is not the only way you can moisturize it—drinking water is an excellent way to do it from the inside. Focusing on drinking enough water on the day of your tattoo sessions, however, isn’t enough. It is recommended that you start hydrating four weeks before your tattoo appointment.

The experts say you should drink two liters of water a day, and that doesn’t include coffee, tea, or soda.

Drink Some Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps with the creation of connective tissue. If you boost your Vitamin C intake starting well before your tattoo session, you will heal a lot faster.

Tattoo Preparation

Eat

This is probably one of the most important ways to prepare for a tattoo—eating a hearty breakfast or lunch. Your body is about to go through a lot; it is going to release a lot of energy to help you cope with the pain.

If you don’t eat, there is a high chance that your body sugar will dip and you’ll start to feel dizzy or faint. If this happens, your tattoo artist will have to cut your appointment short. So, to avoid such disappointment, get some sustenance into your body before you show up for your tattoo.

Wear the Proper Clothing

If you’re getting a tattoo on your leg, wear shorts. Similarly, if you plan to get tattooed on your upper arm, wear a tank top that gives your artist easy access. For backpieces, a button-up shirt or hoodie with a zip works well to cover your front to make you feel more comfortable.

You also need to consider that your clothes may get splattered with ink. Although tattoo artists try their best to protect their clients’ clothing, accidents do happen. In addition, there’s a possibility that blood or plasma may ooze onto your clothing after your tattoo session.

Bring Snacks

Although you ate before your tattoo appointment, take some snacks and water along. If you’re there for a long session, your tattoo artists will take breaks to stretch and have something to eat and drink. You should use this time to refuel your body too.

Also, if you feel dizzy or faint during the tattoo session, ask your artist for a break and eat a sugary snack to boost your blood sugar.

Ask About Payment Options

This is probably something you should do when you make your appointment. Some tattoo studios only take cash, while others don’t mind if you pay with a credit card.

If you’re visiting a cash-only studio, remember to have enough cash on you to pay your artist. You also have to keep in mind that there may be additional charges if they allow you to pay with a credit card. Find all this out beforehand to avoid any costly surprises.

Stay Entertained

This one depends on your personality—and that of your artist. If you’re both chatty, you don’t have to worry about getting bored. However, if you’re not much into chatting, you may want to take something along to entertain yourself with.

Your tattoo artist won’t be offended if you read a book, listen to music (with headphones), or watch a movie or something on your phone. When you respect your tattoo artists and the other clients in the studio, you can do whatever you feel like to help pass the time. In other words, don’t make noise or do things that can affect your tattoo artist’s concentration.

Prepare for Your Piercing the Night Before Your Appointment

Eat and get hydrated before going in for you piercing, or you may become nauseous during the procedure. Eat a decent meal 6 hours before you get pierced. You don’t want to feel stuffed during the procedure. Get plenty of sleep the night before your piercing appointment. Don’t drink the night before getting a piercing. Even if you don’t drink enough to get hungover, alcohol can make your blood nutrients deficient, meaning that the piercing will take longer to heal.

Reschedule or cancel your piercing appointment if you’re sick or have been sick recently. Make sure you are 100% healthy. Not only will your body have a harder time healing if you are sick, but the piercing could expose your body to further illness. If you have a medical condition like hemophilia which requires that you get a doctor’s note before setting up an appointment, get approval from your doctor before making the appointment. You’ll typically only have to get approval from a doctor if you have a blood condition, a heart condition, or you need to take antibiotics. Please be honest with your piercer and your medical professional. Just because you have a condition doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to get pierced.

Finally, remember to bring identification. Most piercing parlours require ID to make sure you are old enough to be getting a piercing, no matter where it is on your body.

Prepare for Your Appointment

Have an appointment made and aim to be there a few minutes early. Be sure to choose a time when you aren’t busy and you don’t have plans made immediately after. Your piercing may take a bit more or less time than you expect, so it’s to your benefit to not be in a rush. Be prepared to chat with your piercing artist a bit about the piercing beforehand. He or she may want to get to know a bit more about you and your expectations to make sure you end up with the piercing you want. Bring a friend for moral support if you are squeamish. It always helps to have a familiar face nearby during a piercing, especially if you are getting your first piercing done. Please note, however, that it will be up to the piercer to decide if your guest is allowed in the piercing station with you.

Prepare Yourself Psychologically

Getting a piercing can inspire a range of feelings and emotions, especially if it’s your first time. You may feel excited for the outcome but nervous about the procedure or whether it will turn out the way you want. Having these feelings is perfectly natural, but managing them is critical to not getting too stressed out about the procedure. You’ll want to calm your nerves if you have them and hold on to the excitement of the experience. While it’s great to be excited it’s not enjoyable to be nervous or stressed. If you are getting nervous, take deep breaths or talk to your friends to take your mind off of whichever part of the experience you are nervous about.

Get the Piercing

Now that you’ve overcome your nerves and achieved the perfect combination of excitement and relaxation, you’re ready to get the piercing. It’s important to feel relaxed in order for the piercing to go smoothly, especially if you are getting a piercing in a muscular area like the navel. Keeping your muscles relaxed makes the piercing procedure easier on you and your piercer.

Don't Be in a Rush

Don’t feel rushed. Your piercer will take as much time as is needed to get the piercing done right. Feeling nervous or rushed might tense up your muscles or make you fidget, leading to potential complications during the piercing procedure. Hopefully you’ve chosen a piercer you trust to handle your new piercing and you can rest assured you are in good hands.

After the Piercing

Your piercer will give you aftercare instructions. Follow them. The most important thing to do after a piercing is to follow the aftercare instructions. At the top of the list of aftercare instructions is leaving the piercing in for as long as your piercer instructs you to. You can ask your piercing for opinions on jewelry to use for your piercing, although you’ll have to wait until your piercing is healed before you switch it out.