Advice for your first tattoo

If you're considering getting your first tattoo, usually you will have given it a lot of time and thought before making that permanent step.

You have to take in to consideration your future plans and career goals, making sure that a tattoo won't jeopardise anything that you have worked hard towards.

On almost all of my job interviews I have been asked about tattoo's and I have had to awkwardly pull out my half finished sleeve for them to gawp at. Usually once they've realised there's nothing "offensive" about my tattoo's then they continue but once or twice I have been told that the company does not hire people with tattoo's!

Long story short, your career goals come first and if having a tattoo on your wrist will risk that then get it somewhere out of sight instead...

Another thing to remember is once you are tattooed random strangers will often make comments about your artwork. The compliments and questions can be annoying but mostly they're okay, however you will get the odd weirdo's that think it's acceptable to grab you and touch your tattoo's... so just be aware of that if you have any personal space issues!

My Pinterest Tattoo board

Deciding on a design is the fun part, my best advice is, once you have an idea what you would like, search through Pinterest to collect examples of placement, style, design and search Instagram for local tattoo artist's. Pinterest is especially a brilliant tool for collecting ideas and categorising them, I'm addicted! Familiarise yourself with what is out there and what artist's specialise in the style you're wanting. Don't be afraid to call in to local tattoo shops and ask to see portfolio's and examples of work, most artist's will be glad to help with all of your question's. For artist's that are really in demand be prepared to wait weeks or months for an appointment (trust me it will be worth it!).

Drawing the tattoo on yourself for a few days is a good idea, this will let you get used to the placement and allow you to decide if you want the design any bigger or smaller.

My initial sketch for my butterfly tattoo that I gave to my artist

On the day of the tattoo I reccomend wearing comfy clothes and having your hair up. Make sure your clothes allow easy access to the spot being tattooed.

Check over the design thoroughly (remember it's going to be on your skin forever) check any spelling and if you don't love it then be honest with your artist!

When being tattooed make sure you're calm and relaxed, being tense and nervous will just make the pain worse...

My finished shin piece done by Dean Coughlin

During the healing process follow the instructions of your tattooist, they know what heals their artwork best. They are most likely to reccomend washing with warm, soapy water several times a day and applying a cream like Bepanthen to keep the tattoo well moisturised. A few days later the tattoo will usually scab and become itchy, but resist the urge! If you scratch the tattoo and accidentally remove ink, the healed piece will be patchy and uneven.

Once the tattoo is healed keep it thoroughly moisturised and always wear a high SPF when out in the sun, this will stop it from fading down the line.

This is just a quick overview of the tattoo process from my experience. Remember the best thing you can do is research and visit your local artist's.
Good luck!

I'm going to be doing a post with photo's and meanings of all my tattoo's so keep an eye out for that if you're interested...

Instagram @wolvesandflames