Marked For Life - My Tattoo Experience

Hi Hello and Welcome back. 
Unless you're a friend of mine or belong to my family (thinking about it now I think my grandparents don't actually know either) you probably won't know that I have 3 tattoo by now. Obviously now do you because I just told you but I just thought I'd write about what it's like and why and what I decided to get.

I also asked one of my fellow Au Pair friends to write a little something about her experience and she was so kind to add pictures of her tattoos too.

Now I've thought about getting a tattoo probably for the past 5 years maybe and turning 18 last year made it finally possible.

The idea of having something on my body permanently was a slightly scary thought at first but once I figured out what I actually want to get this thought turned into excitement.

I never wanted something "trendy" because I know I'd start hating it after a couple of week or months so I wanted to go for something creative, personal and original.
I finally decided on the idea of an realistic heart with the birth dates of my parents. 

My tattooist was so kind to make a custom design of my ideas and I swear when she showed it to me on the day of my appointment I was so happy about her design. 
It's now been nearly 6 months and I still marvel at it whenever I see it in the mirror. Also the fact that I had it done in London, in the year of my graduation from high school and the year I learnt to be completely independent from my parents makes the tattoo feel so much more amazing and important to me.

The choice of the position was actually really brave for the first tattoo. It's on my ribs, one of the places people say hurt with the most. Honestly it wasn't that bad it felt more like epilating. However obviously it still wasn't the nicest of feelings but the 2 hours were okay. Had it been longer I would've needed a break though.

I have absolutely no clue about how our skin works and how it's build so I tried finding a good graphic to explain what happens during the tattooing process.

Quite recently I had another 2 tattoos done. One of them resembles my love for cats, lets be honest one day I'll be the old lady living with like 15 cats. And the other one is my star sign Aquarius. By they way these did not hurt at all. I could barely feel the needle but I think it's because my pain tolerance with needles is quite high.
And to all the people saying "Oh no I'll just get one tattoo and that'll be it." trust me you're kind of lying to yourself there unconsciously because once you've had one done you'll want more and more. Thank god it's not the cheapest of things otherwise I'd probably have more than just these three by now.

I mentioned that one of my friends wrote a little paragraph about her experience and I think now is a good time to add it in. So here it goes:

"I feel grateful for my tattoos, I’m honoured to be carrying such beautiful pieces of art on my body, which I like even more now. They have a personal meaning to me, therefore I don’t see how I could get tired of them, they are part of my personality. I basically forget that I have them. The main advice I would give is to be aware of the consequences of a tattoo, but without fearing the other’s opinions too much, as people always find something to criticise. Another drawback that you might consider is the pain. While it is definitely not unbearable, I would be lying if I were to tell you that I didn’t regret all my life decisions when my tattooist drew my very first line. The feeling obviously depends on where and how you get tattooed. 

As far as I’m concerned, my first tattoo, located on my inner arm, hurt a lot. It basically felt like a bee stinging me repetitively, but this is mostly due to the style I went for, which is “dotwork”. In other words, my tattooist filled the tattoo with dots, that technique requires to go a bit deeper under the skin, so the dots show separately instead of melting into each other. For my second one, I went for the outer arm and simple lines, hoping for the best. I was actually relieved, as the pain was more of a discomfort than anything else, comparable to waxing. The simple fact that I went back for more shows how little the pain detracted me from the enjoyment of getting tattooed. The pain is brief, but the pride is timeless."

Generally I would say the short period of time is definitely worth the joy you'll end up with for the rest of your life (only if you choose carefully and wisely though). Don't rush into it and also please please think about where you want to get tattooed. I know there are a lot of jobs where you're not allowed to have showing tattoos so please consider this. I did too hence the ribs. The ankles may be rather obvious but as the tattoos will be quite small it shouldn't be too hard to cover them with socks or make up if necessary.
But other than that I say GO FOR IT. I know it's daunting but if you're like me and have been thinking about a tattoo for years just step out of that comfort zone and get it done. You won't regret it (hopefully).

But please make sure the tattoo studio you go to is clean and looks professional and in the best case has already had rather good reviews from previous customers.

I hope you liked this little post and huge thanks again to my friend Romane for kindly sharing her experience as well. 
Let me know if you're planning on getting any tattoos are maybe already have some and how it was for you.

Lots of love
♥
Celine

PS: this is the website of the tattoo studio we both got our tattoos done.