I Got Inked

On March 23rd one of the Daily Prompts suggested by Word Press was about tattoos. On that day I was eagerly awaiting my appointment for three new tattoos so I was hugely inspired to write about the tattoos I already have and the one’s I was planning to have. You can read that post here https://nicolajayne.blog/2023/03/23/daily-prompt-3/

So on Wednesday 29th we set off for the tattoo studio about 40 minutes from home. We took Miller with us as the big boys were at school. We stopped on the way for a coffee from Caffe Nero, my favourite coffee from there at the moment is the Caramelised Biscuit Oat Latte, it only comes in size large but that’s OK with this sleep deprived Mummy. There was no traffic so we arrived on time to our appointment just as the studio opened at 10.30am. I showed her my ideas and we talked a little bit about placement and sizing, if you kindly took the time to read the blog I posted called Daily Prompt 3 you might remember I wanted three tattoos. One on my wrist, one on my forearm and one on the back of my left upper arm. After speaking with V we decided not to put one on my wrist after all and instead chose to put my children’s birth dates on the back of my upper arm and the Aries symbol for Miller on my left forearm.

It takes a bit of time for her to set herself up but then it was time to start. She began with the one on the back of my arm, she asked me to lay front down on the bed and I laughed and said ‘I will probably fall asleep!’ You hear the machine start to buzz so you know its about to begin and then the needle gets to work. She stopped after a couple of seconds to ask if that felt OK and do you know what? It felt absolutely fine. I didn’t feel any pain at all. I appreciate I must be having my tattoos in places on my body that are not sensitive to pain because I have to say I have never felt anything other than a light scratching sensation and cannot imagine squirming and crying out in any pain at all. Ask me to repeat that if I ever get a tattoo on my rib cage because apparently that is really painful…

The dates took her about 30 minutes to finish, I was just starting to get a bit bored actually but I am really pleased with the result. Look at those lines!

She then moved onto my forearm, she placed the stencil but I decided I wanted it a tiny bit smaller so she reprinted the stencil and showed me the placement before getting started. This one again didn’t hurt a bit but even though it is on the inside of my lower arm I couldn’t bring myself to watch. Is that strange? I could not watch the needle on my skin it freaks me out! I quite enjoy the feeling but I find it really hard to relax and sit still so I get bored easily but luckily this tattoo took only 15 minutes and we were done.

As you can see she covered them with a breathable clear film. This means you can easily shower and get on with dressing and moving around for the next 5 days while they heal safely under a protective cover. I can remove the dressings after 5 days and then she advised keeping them clean and rubbing something like Palmers Cocoa Butter on them a couple of times a day. I can expect them to be fully healed in three weeks. Apparently fine line tattoos can split slightly as they heal but she has said that if that does happen we can have them filled in free of charge. I will keep an eye on them and let you know how they settle in.

I am really pleased with all my tattoos but I don’t feel like i’m quite finished getting new ones yet… I just have to decide what I want to get next. Watch this space!

NJ x