In my opinion:

• This is kinda like FUN FACTS, only its very serious and very informative. ATF would love to have your business, but if you do choose to go with someone else we would like you to be able to make an informed responsible decision, as most shops undercut something to give you the $20 tattoo line... tattoos first off are not cheap, if they are, you are being dooped into either ink or equipment of lower quality then you deserve,, tattoos are permanent,, treat it like a long term investment and don't invest in something that will cost you more pain and money in the end..Also neither piercing or tattooing is exact,, it takes years of training and on the job experience to be great but neither are an exact science, so when you come in,, come in mentally prepared,, if you move, jerk or pull your results will look less than great, so commit to your decisions and dont be talked into doing it as it could be a permanent mistake..

When you walk in:

• Take a good look around, are you being forced to pick a tattoo from a sheet, and if so, how long has this business been in operation, as you figure that out, think of how many people came in and picked the same tattoos over and over again. Tattooing is an art and is "supposed" to be done by people who can draw, paint, do graphic arts, or something other than tracing, we call those STENCIL ARTISTS, when a line or detail is missing in a tattoo design, often a stencil artist will not pick up on that and so you make yet another choice, is that the type of person you want to get a tattoo from.. ? I have many people TELL me something cant be done,, many more times than not i end up telling you that it CAN. They will feed you a BS line that it wont "age well" so you would spend money with them they convince you it cant be done. Often the truth is that the specific artist cant use the proper equipment to do it successfully. DO NOT PRICE SHOP TATTOOS WITHOUT LOOKING AT A QUALIFIED ARTISTS PORTFOLIO . Price your tattoos between qualified tattoo artists, i fix more tattoos and do more coverups than one would imagine, 95% of them are from local and professional shops.. Many shops DO NOT allow children,, we allow it to an extent but no children can enter the tattoo room.. Also no child is to be left unattended.

Does it hurt?

• Tattoos hurt, often you will hear from friends words like "HEAVY HANDED" or "LIGHT HANDED", these are uninformed people spreading fictitious definitions of tattoo artists, after 18 years of tattooing the one thing i know is "EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT". Tattoos are not a severe pain in most spots on your body, the most severe spots are feet, rib cage, and wrist,, I often tell people the tender spots are where the sun dosnt hit when your out and about.. such as under your arms,, From what i can tell you if you on average on a scale of 1-10 ten being the worst, most say between 4-7. When you get a tattoo EAT BEFORE YOU GO IN, you body burns salts and sugars like crazy, and if you have a tendency to get light headed, or pass out when you're getting pierced or at the doctors, be aware, that its not the same kind of pain but that you should be prepared.

Aftercare:

• A lot of tattoo artists will tell you to use A&D ointment, but the fact is that its not the best solution for your tattoo in that A&D ointment has fragrance in it and when it all boils down its an oil, once the oil soaks into the scab you body begins to reject what hasnt taken at the time.. often depending on your body and how good it heals most often the result is between 70% and 85% of the ink actually stays,, Now we recommend the best, any real tattoo artist will tell you Aquaphore is the best,, scrub (LIGHTLY WITH FINGERTIPS) your tattoo with Dial Antibactirial Soap (Dial Gold). Do so until all the slimy feeling is removed. If you are using soap, make sure it contains NO fragrance and scrub it with fingertips until all the slimy feeling is removed, rinse it clean and rinse it off good, pat dry with a paper towel, and lightly apply Aquaphore to your tattoo rubbing it in for 30-45 seconds and wipe it off, do not do this in excess but just like you would with some lotion. Dab off the excess Aquaphore , BY ALL MEANS YOUR TATTOO SHOULD APPEAR TO BE DRY, JUST NOT FEEL DRY..By using this method your tattoo will not only heal at a surprisingly fast rate, but you will see that 90% to 100% of the color will stay.
• after 23 years of experience we know when people have used an alternate form of care with their piercings or tattoos, we have heard it all. so when you come in and need a touch up, we automatically wonder what happened, so stick to the script people, we dont want to have to do any tattoo more than once just like you. and i mean that in the nicest way possible
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State Law:

• State law requires you to be 18 years of age to get a tattoo, no matter what. There are no exceptions, any tattoo artist that is willing to compromise this risks losing his or her license indefinitely in this state.
• Piercing in this state has NO LAWS governing the cleanliness and sterilization of the equipment, so be very careful were you get a piercing. It does require that you be at least 18 years of age unless you have parental consent. Those small mom and pops mall piercing places scare me, it should do the same to you. make sure you are aware of the supplies being used, make sure they are 100% disposable. Here at ATF we use sterilizing solutions and ultrasonic cleaners to insure your safety and have never and will never use any needle or piercing jewelry that has been used in the past.
• We are inspected on a yearly basis by wake county, all of our tattoo and piercing equipment is NEW, as we throw away all used needles and tubes to ensure the most sterile environment, then all equipment and furniture are wiped down with Sani-Wipes Which kill ALL modern diseases such as AIDS, Hepitits B, MRSA , Staff infection, and so on.

Deposits/Cancellations/Rescheduling:

• Deposits are non refundable in any way, The reason for that is because the artist blocks off an amount of time specific most of the time to the price as they go mostly by amount of time when charging you the amount of your tattoo.
• When you cancel an appointment, most skilled artist DO NOT TAKE WALK INS and book pretty far in advance. that artist loses 80% of the money he or she had expected to make. So to be fair for whatever reason the cancellation happens its only fair to compensate your artist for the time he or she cannot make up.
• Rescheduling a tattoo is just the same as canceling. you have just made it so the artist cannot make up that amount of time or money and they may not make that money back,, so your deposit is forfitted to compensate for that loss..

Here is an couple of links to some great article written in the tattoo community to help with any questions you might have

Tipping your artist?

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