So, you’re thinking about getting tattooed, but have no idea how the whole process works? Since a tattoo is for life, it’s good to know what you’re getting into, and the first step is understanding how a tattoo works and what you’re actually doing to your body when you decide to get tattooed.

The Tattoo Gun

Tattoos are accomplished by using an electric-powered tattoo gun.  The tattoo gun has a needle at the end of it that is used to put ink inside of your skin deep enough so that it does not come out. When the gun is turned on, the needle moves up and down rapidly (up to 200o times a minute) and is able to deposit a small drop of ink deep into your skin with each puncture.

Tattoo guns have come a long way since the early days of tattooing but are still made a few basic components, those being an electric motor, a sterilized needle, and a tube system. There is also a foot pedal, similar to a sewing machine, that allows the tattoo artist to control the movement of the needle.

Tattoo Safety

Safety has always been a big concern with getting tattooed, since anytime you are dealing with puncture wounds, you have a risk of infection.
Fortunately, it is much more commonplace these days for tattoo artists to open brand new, sterile needles from the packaging right in front of you before you get tattooed.

To ensure the safety of both the customer and the tattoo artist, tattooing materials like ink, needles, and gloves are all made for single use only.

Tattoo Preparation

Minutes before your tattoo session begins, your artist will  often  begin chatting with you to make you feel relaxed.  The chatter is usually accompanied by the artist washing their hands, checking themselves for cuts and abrasions, and disinfecting the entire work area to begin preparation for your tattoo.

When the cleaning of his work area is finished, he will then shave the area of your body that is getting tattooed, disinfect it with soap and water, and open the sterile equipment needed to get the job done.

Getting Tattooed

Once the tattooing begins, you will feel some pain, but how much largely depends on your tolerance and the location of your tattoo on the body, as some areas will obviously be more painful than others.

During the entire tattoo process, the tattoo artist will continue to clean the tattooed area until it is finished.

Tattoo Aftercare

At this point, when you’re tattoo has been completed, the artist will put some ointment on the area and give you a rundown of how to take care of your tattoo so that it heals properly.

Most of the time, you will receive an information sheet so you don’t forget what’s needed to be done. It is extremely important to follow the instructions you were given for tattoo aftercare. Not only are you lowering the risk of infection, but you will be decreasing the chances of your tattoo not healing properly and losing ink or not looking like it’s supposed to.

Typically, tattoos designed specifically for women are smaller and more delicate than those you see designed for men. Of course, there are many exceptions, but female tattoos usually are on the gentler side like designs featuring butterflies, exotic flowers, and things of that nature.

What make a tattoo design a feminine tattoo?

If you ask several women with tattoos that question, many will have a different answer. These days, many women have chosen to get bolder tattoos such as tribal art and even intricate designs that cover a large body area.

In fact, it is becoming more and more commonplace to see women in our society with full sleeve tattoos that cover entire limbs or back pieces that rival their male counterparts.

Who’s to say if that is feminine or not?

Yes, the days are gone when only the rebellious girls were getting a small rose tattoo on their ankle or that infamous cartoon cherry design on their lower abdomen. Women are quickly becoming equals in the world of tattoos.

So, if you’re a woman looking for a tattoo design idea, how would you choose?

Making the right choice isn’t about which tattoo is gentle enough to be on a woman’s body. It’s about which tattoo design is most suited to you and your personality. If you’re searching online for tattoo design ideas, don’t limit your search to “feminine tattoos”, because you may miss out on an idea that is perfect for you that someone else didn’t think was feminine.

It’s a good idea to search designs in general. In fact there are even specific unisex tattoo galleries out there that have a lot of neutral designs that people have decided could be great on both men and women.

The final decision really comes down to which tattoo design you will be happy with for the rest of your life, regardless of whether or not it was in a tattoo designs for women gallery.  Choose wisely, be yourself, and you will walk out of the tattoo parlor with the perfect tattoo.

If you’ve made any attempt at all to try and find the right tattoo design, you know how hard it can be if you’re just starting from scratch with nothing but a Google search field.  Sure, there are a lot of sites, but weeding through the bad ones and then finding the  style that suits you can take what seems like an eternity.

However, part of the tattoo design process is doing the research and being 100% certain that you have chosen the perfect tattoo.

Enter online tattoo design galleries.

Traditionally, people would head on down to the local tattoo parlor and flip through the design portfolio of the artists and look on the studio wall to see if any of the designs sparked an interest, but that often wasn’t enough to make an informed decision.

Although there’s hundreds of designs to choose from at the tattoo parlor, some of the tattoo design galleries that are found online can provide you thousands and thousands of high quality design to choose from in the comfort of your own home.

You can browse through them at your leisure over time, discuss them with friends, etc.

So, where can you find the best tattoo design galleries online? Glad you asked!

1. Chopper Tattoo

Chopper Tattoo gets the number one spot for a couple reasons. First, they have a ridiculous amount of high quality tattoo designs to choose from. Second, they update consistently and have an extremely intuitive search engine for their database. The usability is unmatched in any other tattoo design galleries and ultimately why it gets the first place nod.

2. Tattoo Me Now

Tattoo Me Now is a close second to Chopper Tattoo and some might even like it better depending on your needs. While the number of tattoo designs is less than Chopper Tattoo, they still have over 3,500 tattoo designs to choose from in all types of categories. What makes Tattoo Me Now unique is that they have a more complete website with more features such as member galleries and a user forum where you can hang out with other tattoo enthusiasts and discuss tattoos.

3. Tattoo Fever

Tattoo Fever is third, but it’s an extremely close third since it has over 14,000 tattoo designs in their gallery. If you only care about sheer numbers of designs and have the time to look through them all, then this would be your ultimate choice based on quantity.

Either way, any one of these three tattoo design galleries online will give you a huge selection of tattoo ideas and will surely help you make a firm decision on your next tattoo.

Your tattoo is fresh, and looking just how you wanted it to. You’re checking it out in the mirror at the tattoo studio, admiring the artist’s work. Now, it’s time to show it off to the world.

However, in order to keep your tattoo looking vibrant and avoid any complications like infection or fading, you’re going to have to follow some tattoo aftercare rules.

When the tattoo artist finished your tattoo design, he likely cleaned it with soap and water and applied a small layer of  healing ointment or moisturizer.
During this time, he should have been giving you a rundown of how to take care of your tattoo until it heals. There also should have been a sheet of tattoo aftercare instructions given to you so that you can remind yourself at home what you need to do to help your new tattoo heal properly.

Here are a few of the important basics of tattoo aftercare:

1. Say No To Bandages
You may leave the tattoo studio with a bandage on your tattoo, but after you remove the first one, you do not want to apply another bandage. It is better for your tattoo to exposed to the fresh air and able to breathe.

2. Stay Out Of The Sun
Although it’s a good idea to have your tattoo exposed to air, you will want to keep it out of the direct sunlight for at least the first month.  Even after it has completely healed, be sure to always cover it well with sunblock to avoid fading and color loss.

3. No Swimming
You will also want to avoid swimming or any other activity that would submerge your tattoo in water for about a month as well.  A shower is ok, but you do not want to soak in a hot bath. Another no-no while we’re on the subject is rubbing down your tattoo too hard with a towel. Simply pat the area and let the excess moisture air dry.

4. Keep It Clean
It’s important to keep your new tattoo clean and moisturized with a non-fragrance lotion or a light layer of healing ointment like Neosporin. Also, be sure to avoid scratching your tattoo if it itches. If a scab forms, do not peel it off and let it heal naturally.

The most important thing about getting tattooed is deciding on a design that you know you will be happy with for life. However, even if you were absolutely sure at the time, sometimes people change, and you end up with a tattoo that no longer suits you and your lifestyle.

In that case, you may be considering tattoo removal and wondering what your options are.

The common consensus is that tattoo removal is extremely painful, but that notion comes mostly from the old days before technology provided us with better ways to remove a tattoo.

There are currently two popular tattoo removal options at the moment and those are performed using laser technology and light based technology. Both of these methods use light energy to remove your tattoo. The ink inside your skin will absorb the light and then break it up, allowing it to be easily filtered out of the body.

Most people who have had one of these types of tattoo removal surgeries describe the feeling as an annoying rubber band snapping at your skin repeatedly. However, similar to when you’re getting a tattoo, the size of it will make a difference of how much pain you will feel and it’s intensity.

Also, if you have a large tattoo that needs to be removed, you may have to spend a night or two in the hospital so they can monitor your skin afterward.

Luckily, advanced technology has made it so these methods work without leaving much of a scar, but there are risks of ending up with a different skin pigmentation in the area of your tattoo.

It also can be quite expensive and require several visits to permanently remove the entire tattoo. If you decide that you want to go ahead with a tattoo removal surgery, it is extremely important to ask questions and research the procedure. You will also want to choose a doctor who is experienced in performing the procedure and has had successful results.

Once you’ve decided that you’re ready to get a new tattoo, you’re going to have to make a few more decisions before actually getting permanently inked. One of the big ones is deciding on your budget.

So, how do you find out how much your tattoo is going to cost?

The first thing you’re going to need to do is decide on the tattoo design that you want. Before anything else, choosing a tattoo that you are 100% sure of is more important than the cost. Your tattoo is forever and it’s not a decision that you want to base solely on cost.

Once you are absolutely certain of which tattoo design you want, you can move on to choosing the studio and the artist.

Regardless of what anyone may tell you, when it comes to tattoos, you get what you pay for. That doesn’t mean that your tattoo has to be expensive to be good, but there are a few things that will determine the price:

1. Custom tattoo design
If your tattoo design idea is one that is 100% unique and you need the tattoo artist to design it for you, you are likely to pay quite a bit more for his time and skills to create that design for you.

2. Artist Reputation
Artists can charge whatever they want and it can can range anywhere from $50 to $300 and up per hour. Typically, the more reputable and famous the artist becomes, the more you’re going to pay to have that artist do your tattoo.

3. Size matters
Yes, this is one of those times where size actually does matter. For instance, a small heart tattoo on your wrist is going to cost considerably less that an intricate full back piece design.

Is it possible to find a tattoo studio that has super cheap pricing? Of course, and it’s even possible that they have professional artists with great talent, but never rush into choosing a tattoo studio, especially based on cost.