One of the first things you should know when getting a tattoo is how to take care of a new tattoo. Lucky for me I had a really good tattoo artist doing my tattoos if not I probably would have messed things up quite a bit. On one of my first pieces I used way too much ointment and drew a lot of the ink out of the new tattoo.

Any reliable tattoo shop and their artists will give you instructions on tattoo after care. Be sure you follow them properly. You really would not want to go through all that pain and then have something go wrong. Most artists will do touch up work for you, but it is certainly unnecessary pain.

Here are some tips and steps for how to care for a new tattoo

Keep the bandage over the new tattoo for several hours. After that remove the bandage covering the tattoo and do not re-bandage it. Wash the new tattoo gently with an antibacterial soap. Do not scrub or use too much pressure. Make sure to rinse the area of any blood, bodily fluids, and soap. Do this every couple hours until the oozing stops. After washing your new tattoo, apply a healing ointment to the area. Vitamin D ointment is highly recommended. Just don’t put too much. You’ll want to do this several times a day. In addition to the ointment, or after several days of using just the ointment, begin moisturizing the tattooed area several times a day. Make sure to use an unscented and alcohol free moisturizer. Avoid long baths, hot tubs, pools or any other prolonged exposure to water. Showers are fine, but again do not scrub the area vigorously or keep it soaking in water. If the tattoo is on your hand or wrist, avoid washing dishes for a prolonged period (lucky you!) Avoid the sun. The sun can always do damage to your new tattoo, but especially so when your new tattoo is still healing. You do not want to dry out the healing tattoo area and definitely don’t want to get a sunburn. Always make sure to use a generous amount of sun block on your tattoo or your tattoo will fade. Never pick or scratch the tattooed area, even (and especially) if it scabs up or some skin peels away. Allow the tattoo to fully heal on its own.

In general, use common sense when taking care of your new tattoo. Treat your tattoo like you would most other open wounds on your body. Wash it, moisturize it, keep it clean and avoid exposure to water and sunlight. Follow the above tips and you and your tattoo will end up well preserved, perfectly healed and you will be perfectly healthy.



By: Omar Reyes

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I often get asked by people looking to get a tattoo how much do you think this will cost? Of course each person has their own unique design in mind and everyone wants to know exactly how much their design is going to cost them. However, pricing tattoos is very difficult. You can not give a simple answer to a question like that. The price of a tattoo can vary on a lot of factors. However, here is a general guide so you know some of the factors and some price ranges that would be considered decent.

First Factor: The Shop

Every shop has it’s own pricing guidelines and even every tattoo artist in the shop might have their own ways of pricing a tattoo. The more famous the shop or artist is the more expensive the tattoo will be. Also the price can change depending on how busy the shop is at the time you go in. If they are packed up with clients then they are going to quote you a much higher price then if they are looking for work.

Second Factor: The Design

Another factor that goes into the final price of the tattoo is the design itself. If you have a really large tattoo design in mind and you want the art work to be drawn by the tattoo artist it is going to cost a significant amount more then if you have some flash design that you found at their shop on the wall. So the size of the design and the difference between custom drawn and flash will significantly change the price.

Third Factor: Time

Another factor that always goes into pricing the tattoo design is the amount of time it will take to do the work. A large back piece is going to take a significant number of hours over a small wrist tattoo. If you are looking for something really big like a full back tattoo or a body suit you are going to be spending lots of hours over multiple visits to the tattoo shop and it is going to cost a huge amount of money. You should easily spend thousands of dollars for a full back tattoo. However, small designs that can be done quickly in one sitting of 30 minutes to an hour are obviously going to cost much less.

General Rules

First and foremost don’t ever go bargain shopping for a tattoo design. Do you really want the guy that is the cheapest to do you tattoo design? This is a permanent tattoo design that you are going to live with for the rest of your life and you do not want it coming out all messed up just to save a few bucks. Second you do not ever want to try and negotiate or bargain down a tattoo artist. This will infuriate the artist and can often offend them. Most tattoo artists do their work for a living. Yes they might love creating designs and making tattoos but in the end they do this to put food on their plate and pay the bills. They have worked hard to get to the level they are at and be able to charge the prices they are charging. Negotiating with them is like doubting their skills. With that in mind you do not want to negotiate and you do not want to go with the lowest price it can be wise to search a few different shops and get quotes from different artists. Thus way you can find an artist that you connect well with and someone who you like their designs. The price often will seem reasonable to you if you shop around and find an artist that you really like.

So this gets us down to the question we started with so how much will my tattoo design be? Obviously due to what is stated above this is hard to answer. However here is a general guideline that can help you but it into some ranges and perspective.

Small tattoo design (wrist, foot, ankle) – Between $50 and $150

Medium tattoo design (forearm, leg, upper back, lower back) – Between $150 to $500

Large tattoo design (Full back, sleeve, full leg) – Between $500 to $2,000



By: Chris Ryerson

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Finding the right kind of tattoo design is an important task. There are countless numbers of art designs to choose from and getting the one that fits you best can be a tough decision. So why is getting the right kind of tattoo design so important, here are reasons to think about:

1. Tattoos last a really long time. They are a peice of body art that literally sticks with you for years upon years.

2. You have to look at the same tattoo every day. This may not seem like a big deal, but whatever design you choose, you are stuck with it, like it or not. So getting something pleasing on your eye is still extremely important.

3. They can be really expensive. Tattoo artist charge a significant amount of money for the work they do. It’s not that they are overcharging, they have a really specialized job. So before they do the work, make sure it is what you want.

4. They can be a deep expression of your inner self. So what exactly does that mean? Well, tattoos are something that should be sacred. They become part of your body and should be meaningful, if for nobody else, yourself. Tattoos should be the ultimate form of self expression. With that being said, they should mean something to you that is quite timeless and universal… the perfect tattoo.

Put that list of four together, then you have a pretty big decision on your hands. This is something you shouldn’t rush and you should exhaust all options and resources before deciding on one. So what are some tattoo ideas you could consider? This article is going to cover three different tattoo designs: Zodiac tattoo designs, celtic tattoo designs and tribal tattoo designs and some meaning and/or history behind each.

1. Zodiac Tattoos – Also known as astrological tattoo designs, the zodiac style is based off of your own star sign. Dependent on what date you were born, there are twelve options as there are twelve zodiac signs or symbols. Each zodiac symbol represents certain characteristics of a person born within that time as well. In this case you would read up on the various characteristics of your specif zodiac sign and see how well it matches your personality. Many find that they can connect very closely to their personality. The website listed at the bottom of this article explains each zodiac sign as well as other tattoo meanings. Whether you want a pisces tattoo, a gemini tattoo, libra, cancer or leo tattoo, make sure it fits who you are.

2. Celtic tattoos – The celtic tattoo design, which is often made of interlinking knots come from a culture known as the Celts. The Celts were a generalized group of people from Indo-Europe and surrounding areas in the pre-christian era. Celtic art is very intricute and often beautiful art. The architechural and design art commonly associated with the Irish, Scottish and Norwegian regions. The art is very “old world” and is very popular in modern jewelry. Celtic tattoos often come in the form of the celtic cross, celtic hearts and among many other celtic tattoo designs. Much of this type of art symbolizes old culture thinking and getting back to the root of things.

3. Tribal Tattoos – Tribal tattoo designs are a general term for tattoos that resemble tribal-like markings of early cultures. The most commonly seen type of tribal tatto design consists of thick sharp edges that move around the part of the body like really thick rose thorns. Tribal tattoo art is often thick, sharp and twisty. Even Celtic art could be considered tribal. Some meanings that can be associated with tribal tattoo designs is of the need to get back to the primal uncivilized part of man. Early tribes used tribal tattoos for a variety of reasons from Egyptian priestesses to native American sages to do such things as magical protection or to show victory in times of war. In actuality tribal tattoos can mean anything to the wearer of them. In fact, you could create your own tribal tattoo with its own meaning if you want to get really creative.

Deciding on the right tattoo design or tattoo sketches can be a real challenge, but educating yourself to their meanings and seeing a variety of different kinds can help make the decision that much easier. Take your time, exhaust all your options and resources, discover the various meanings, meditate on who you really are, and make your move a smart one. Whether its zodiac, tribal or celtic tattoos or something completely different, there are many options out there to choose from.



By: Gabriel Killian

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