Faq’s

Q. Is it legal to have a tattoo under the age of 18 with your parents consent.

A. No, you must be 18 or over at the time you have your tattoo. In our studio anyone who looks under 21 will definitely be ID checked before having a tattoo.

Q. What is the best aftercare for my new tattoo.

A.  The dressing should be removed 2 – 3 hours after the tattoo is done. Discard the dressing. Gently wash the new tattoo with mild soap and luke warm water. Repeat this three times a day.

This keeps down the scabbing by removing the build up of residue from weeping of the new tattoo.

Re – wrap the tattoo using a new piece of a suitable cling film dressing. It is beneficial if you can sleep in the new dressing during the first night only as it stops the tattoo sticking to bedsheets and keeps it hydrated which gives a positive effect on healing. Now we come to what cream should be used. Art’s Ink recommends TATTOO GOO. Designed for tattoos, it’s soothing, promotes rapid healing and preserves the colour and grey shades of your tattoo. Apply 3 times daily.  In stock now. Original salve and lotion.

Q. What is the best aftercare for a new piercing>

A. Let your new piercing settle for 5 – 6 hours before cleaning with a solution of warm salt water. Simply boil a kettle. Let it cool. pour about half a cup of the water into a suitable container and add a teaspoon of sea salt. If you are busy, working etc: and you don’t have time to prepare the salt water solution, you can buy some saline spray from the chemist. Clean the piercing three times daily ensuring to remove any crusting. you can use a q tip to do this.

Q. Is it safe to pierce the top of the ear or the tragus.

A. No it isn’t. Other than the ear lobe the ear structure is made of cartilage. This is a substance made up of lots of layers and is extremely dense. So dense that the blood cannot flow through it. This means that if you contract an infection in this part of the ear, the blood, which coupled with your liver is the purifying system for your body, cant reach the infection even with anti-biotics.  If the infection spreads around the ear structure it can cause the ear to collapse. In extreme circumstances the infection could go into the ear canal and cause permanent loss of hearing. We don’t do these particular piercings as we care more about your health and well being than the £30 we could charge for doing them.

Q. Are ultra violet, (blacklight) inks safe to be tattooed with.

A. In the early days of backlight ink some twenty years ago i was led to believe they were not safe. However, there are UV inks in circulation now that are said to be safe to use. I don’t use them personally though. Maybe at some point in the future.

Q. Why do some tattooists use cling film as a dressing for a new tattoo.

A. From a personal point of view, i like the film as it is a dressing which does not stick to the tattoo. You can see through it which means you don’t have to rip it off to show your friends your new piece of artwork and lastly, it does have a very positive effect on the tattoo.

Q. Is it safe to have a piercing done using surgical steel jewellery.

A. Generally, no. Surgical steel is best used for the manufacture of scissors, clamps and other surgical tools. The fact is that many people are sensitive to a metal called nickel. Nickel is in many other metals. One of them being surgical steel.

Any good body piercer will only pierce you using jewellery made from grade 23 titanium jewellery which is standard at Art’s Ink. Even when the piercing is healed you have to be careful that any replacement jewellery you buy is nickel free.