Before your tattoo session

The following are my general recommendations for clients who wish to be well-prepared for their tattoo session. Although most of these recommendations are more important for big tattoos/long tattoo sessions, many can still be helpful for small fine-line tattoos.

1. For long tattoo sessions: don’t come to your tattoo appointment if you feel like you are getting sick, it’s better to reschedule the appointment. Getting a big tattoo is really exhausting and not a good idea if your body is already busy fighting a disease. 
2. For long tattoo sessions: Get a good night of sleep. Getting tattooed for several hours can be very exhausting. 
3. Please take a shower before your tattoo session, I will appreciate it a lot 🙂 and proper hygiene will reduce the risk of any infection. 
4. To reduce skin irritation during your tattoo session, it’s great if you can shave the area to be tattooed the night before but only do this if you are used to shaving regularly and won’t cut your skin accidentally. If you want to remove any hair with wax, please do it at least 2 days before the tattoo session. 
5. Please don’t use any moisturizer on the area to be tattooed, the stencil will stick a lot better if you don’t use moisturizer. 
6. Please make sure you come with clean clothes free of animal fur. Try to wear clothes that expose the area you will be getting tattooed, otherwise, you might have to undress at the tattoo studio.

Avoid blood thinners:

1. Don’t drink alcohol before your tattoo session. Alcohol thins your blood, which means excess bleeding. When you bleed more than normal, it can cause visibility issues for the artist, potentially compromising the quality of the tattoo. Excess bleeding can also thin the ink.
2. I advise you don’t drink any coffee that day, but if you must, please just have a coffee several hours before the tattoo session… don’t overdo it.
3. Avoid taking any kind of pain medication that thins your blood or affects its ability to clot, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, since those can thin your blood and cause more bleeding than is necessary.

A few extra recommendations:

For long tattoo sessions:

• I recommend you wear loose, comfy clothes.

• Bring something to drink, snacks, and also bring a full belly. 

• Bring some entertainment like a book, a tablet, etc.