Question about Tattoos

Originally Posted by rachelh1018

I live in Nashville. How do you know if a tattoo place is regulated by the state?

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First off, you can contact certain organizations like your local health department...i'm sure they have info there. And when you walk into an establishment that is liscenced- they should have their lisence framed and posted in clear view- ask to see it! And make sure that whoever does your tattoo has been trained and lisecenced as well. Nashville is only 3 hours away from memphis, so it might not be a bad idea to check out Trilogy- like i said, they're one of the best in tennessee IMO. Good luck, let us know what you decide and make sure you get some Aquaphor to put on your tattoo afterwards so it doesn't dry out. It's under $5 and you can get it at your local pharmacy or wal-mart. That's what my brother-in-law and sister use on their tattoos to keep them from getting too dry afterwards. (He use to work in a tattoo shop, so if you have any questions, i'd be happy to run them by him ).Have a good one.

i've got so many tats now that sometimes i have to stop and count them i've got 7, and am planning a few more. i love tattoos - i don't regret any of mine, but i do agree with thinking on the design you want for a few months. i've had a couple designs in mind for about 8 months now, and i still want them, so i'm just about ready to go get them done.

there's a band called the Libertines, whom i love, and i plan to get either the word "libertine", or a line from one of their songs that goes "if you've lost your faith in love and music, the end won't be long", or perhaps just "faith in love and music". i'm going to see Dirty Pretty Things in august, and Carl Barat, who used to be in the Libs, is in DPT, and i'm going to see if i can meet him (they are really good about meeting with their fans after shows), and if so, i'm going to ask him to write it on my arm so i can go get it tattooed the next day. i'm still torn between the two tho. libertine, or faith in love and music? it's been driving me nuts for months to be honest.

Originally Posted by Kinsey's Pet

calm down. Its not irresponsible. It was like 5 months after my tattoo. What's one month? they test the blood anyway and I dont have hepatitis. I have had all my hepatitis vaccinations and I went to a parlor that doesnt reuse needles. The only reason they tell you not to donate is to save time. They still test the blood. Do you think they dont think anyone lies about their sex history or whether or not they have traveled out of the country lately? They still test the blood. I donated because i am 0 negative and i was asked to donate. they needed my blood and i know i dont have hepatitis. I watched the tatoo lady take my needle out of the air tight package. I understand how the rule saves time but i am not about to apologize to you or anyone for doing a good thing. If i'd gotten my tatoo done by a friend i wouldnt have donated. If i had gotten my tattoo yesterday i wouldnt have donted. It's fine!!!

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I'm sorry, but whether you disagree or not, it was still irresponsible of you. That is all there is to it.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

I'm sorry, but whether you disagree or not, it was still irresponsible of you. That is all there is to it.

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I completely agree. At least here, as I mentioned before, there is an "out" where you can decide if your blood should be donated or not (completely confidential.) Who wants to admit they've had sex with a man who's had sex with a man since 1976? Donor blood is screened, but not with the intensity as say a blood draw. It is an expensive waste for the banks to have to rescreen after the donation, but all banks do it. Whay add your name to a pile of much needed, but unusable blood?

It can take seven years before you realize that you have HIV.
I also donate blood and also have a tattoo. The Red Cross requires that you wait six months, and I didn't because I didn't realize it hadn't been long enough. It was fine. It's not the ink circulating in your blood, it is infectious diseases. Compared to people who donate blood only to be tested for HIV for free, I'd say that would be a minor problem. I didn't do it on purpose, though. The rule is old and outdated, as is the one that prohibits gay men from donating at all, because by that logic African-Americans shouldn't be allowed to donate either. I don't lie, but some of the rules are based on things that simply aren't true anymore. There was a big protest about it here earlier this semester. Anyway, my mother would have died when I was in the third grade without donated blood, so I try to donate as much as I can although lately I've been anemic.

Anyway, all the pictures everyone has of tattoos are beautiful! I agree you should wait awhile, I also think you should draw the design yourself. Even if it's terrible, it will be original and special to you. The artist can then take what you've drawn and adapt it and refine it and make it pretty before actually putting it on your skin.

Good luck!

ETA I also live somewhere where it is regulated, both by county and state.

Originally Posted by Kinsey's Pet

I knew i didnt have hepatitis. Thats so stupid. If i knew then how is one month going to make a difference? What you're saying woul be true if i had gotten a tattoo the day before in a garage somewhere. Its JUST a precaution. But i knew it was going to be fine.

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You are kidding, right? "Its JUST a precaution"?? What exactly do you think precautions are in place for??? I frankly do not understand how you could possibly truly believe that lying about this was ok. When other peoples lives are at stake you can NEVER take too many precautions. How many people have been 100% sure they didn't have HIV, only to find out later that they in fact were infected??? This is how these diseases are spread.... Until people become responsible enough to use the precautions that are in place for prevention, people are going to continue to die from these diseases. I am sorry, but I feel your comments as well as your actions have been down right ignorant and irresponsible.


I edited this to add.... because I know it will be misunderstood... I am not saying that you transmitted Hepatitis or HIV through your blood. My argument is that precautions are set up for a reason, and should be followed. Failing to follow them is irresponsible and ignorant. If you have a problem with one of the precautions, or feel they are outdated, the best thing to do would be to research and contact the people who have the ability to introduce changes to the policy and go from there. You, as an individual, have no right to decide that these precautions are stupid, or that they should not be followed.

so. could i get some opinions? which do people prefer, "If you've lost your faith in love and music", or just "faith in love and music". or.."libertine?"

and yes i know its my tat and my decision, i have 7 and am quite familiar with the process of figuring out what i want..but i'd still like other people's input

I think people are responding to the original post with advice about how to go about doing it
"I have decided that I want to get a tattoo on my lower back. This is going to be my first one. I just want something small though. Any one know of any good websites where I can get good ideas?"

That's what I was talking about.

Anyway, I don't like words because they all mush together after a few decades unless you get them very very large, so I would go the shortest way. I feel the same way about colors unless you want them done over and over. Just MO though, they all look very beautiful for a long time. I like Libertine the best of yours.

I am so sorry rachael for hijaking this thread

"faith in love and music"

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Well I kinda like these words, rather than the longer version. Maybe with some music notes and small heart(s) ?

I added to my collection last Saturday, must admit that they did smart a bit more than my previous ones. The artist did tell me that it would as I have had 2 bands done around my upper arm, its the bit underneath that was more painful, I guess because it is softer.

I did watch as the artist was tattoing a guy with an eagle, got quite chatty with him and his missus later in the evening, nice couple. Back to the subject in hand The artist (Daz) showed me all the needles he was going to use all sealed and steralised before he started. Took an hour for both of them and cost £100, hubby paid for them as a birthday present.

Originally Posted by VampireCat

Well I kinda like these words, rather than the longer version. Maybe with some music notes and small heart(s) ?

I added to my collection last Saturday, must admit that they did smart a bit more than my previous ones. The artist did tell me that it would as I have had 2 bands done around my upper arm, its the bit underneath that was more painful, I guess because it is softer.

I did watch as the artist was tattoing a guy with an eagle, got quite chatty with him and his missus later in the evening, nice couple. Back to the subject in hand

The artist (Daz) showed me all the needles he was going to use all sealed and steralised before he started. Took an hour for both of them and cost £100, hubby paid for them as a birthday present.

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yeah... "if you've lost your faith in love and music, the end won't be long" IS kind of long. heavily leaning towards faith in love and music. i like the idea of the musical notes and hearts, too.

would love to see pics of your new tats

Faith in love and music...

Here's my idea.

take a heart, turn it into a guitar (example ()----<3 the heart being the bottom of the guitar, the -- being the neck and so forth) add your saying either inside the heart (depending on how big you want the design) or add it underneath put the saying inside two music notes pick some pretty colors and boom. There you have it. Original, cute, and you can accredit it to TCS lol! Tell me what you think!

I also heard that you shouldn't have your tattoo out in the sun because it fades. Would sunblock help this, or should you always cover it up if you go swimming??

I went to the tattoo shop and looked at their books of tattoos and got my zodiac sign (leo) on my back. I got it in august last year and it is faded a lot since. I don't know if it was just because I was wearing tank tops a lot or what. My boyfriend got the chinese symbol for strength on his neck and his is faded a lot too.

As for donating blood, in Ontario it is only 6 months after you get it that you have to wait.

Rachel- That is one of the reasons I don't like colors, as they fade way more than black. Sunblock may help a little but not a lot, as what sunblock does is increase your skin's ability to keep out the sun rays... as tattoo ink has no ability to do so it won't help much. I had a friend who had a daisy, black outline, white and yellow inside, and within a year it was a black outline and you couldn't tell there was ever any color. You should wait at least a year before exposing any tattoo to the sun, as well.

Mine hasn't faded much, it's quite bright and colorful...but it's up on my upper shoulder.....so it doesn't see too much sun. but it's pretty....I have a picture of it somewhere.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Rachel- That is one of the reasons I don't like colors, as they fade way more than black. Sunblock may help a little but not a lot, as what sunblock does is increase your skin's ability to keep out the sun rays... as tattoo ink has no ability to do so it won't help much. I had a friend who had a daisy, black outline, white and yellow inside, and within a year it was a black outline and you couldn't tell there was ever any color. You should wait at least a year before exposing any tattoo to the sun, as well.

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Yeah, yellow and white fade rather quickly, while black and red are the most resiliant. However, also be careful with red because for some reason more people are allergic to the red ink than any other color.

I have 2 - both in red and black. I still love them both and I got them over 10 years ago. Here's a pic of the one on my leg. It's on the outside of my leg, a couple inches above the knee. It's a combination of two of my favorite bands - Nine Inch Nails (NIN from Sin cover) and Rosetta Stone (the RS from Adrenaline cover). I figured that even if I outgrew the bands (which I haven't ) it would still be a cool tribal-esque design.



My advise is to a) make it something that means a lot to you, b) really think about how you may feel about it in 10, 15, 20 years, and c) get something original drawn for you - don't just pick it out of the book. That's just my opinion, I know there are a lot of people who are happy with their "out of the book" designs. I would just hate to think that someone else has the exact same tat as me.

Pete took some piccies for me this morning of my tattoos.

The panther is actually a cover over I had done last September at a rally, the artist did a really good job of it. The band was done last weekend at our HOG rally which is why it looks a bit shiny still.


Tigger is 3-4 years old now, again the black band was done last week.


Tiggers colours haven't faded, but if it ever does it can be 'touched up' in any event. I only use normal sun cream on them and occasionally rub some tatto goo onto them when my skin feels particularly dry.

And one of me with my harley on our club run out last weekend. Two hours before my appointment for the bands to be done.
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heres my tats im sure some you have seen them before.

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b3.../My%20Tattoos/

i have the band on my right upper arm, the heart on my neck right at the top of my my spine the eyes on my lower back (also on my spine) the dragon and heart on my left shoulder blade and the roses on my right thigh and the sorceress on my right shoulder blade