Tattoo day!
Dec. 10th, 2010 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melle_chantillyOk, no suspense (or you're going to skip my SUPER interesting text lol). It's done!
I picked the tattoo artist, Alexis Blackheart, after a lot of research on the internet. I immediately fell in love with his style and his extremely detailed work. He is from the South of France but I found out that he was conveniently a guest at Tribal Act for a week in December (Tribal Act is one of the most reputed parlors in Paris).
I arrived for my appointment at 1pm sharp. I didn't really know what to expect. I had never set foot in a tattoo parlor, except to book my appointment two months ago. My desire to get a tattoo had been growing for years and I finally thought of the lace pattern recently. It just seemed like an obvious choice, very me, once I had the idea. I must say waiting for more than two months seemed very long but in the end, it was probably for the best. I had time to mature my decision. And the waiting made the moment even better.
We had exchanged a few emails with Alexis during the past month to discuss the design already. When I arrived, we looked at the design again together, removed a couple of flowers , decided of the size and placement. We changed the size once (to go a bit bigger!). We decided to start with only the flowers. I really wanted to have the lashes of the lace on top, but they proved hard to integrate. Even though he's rather quiet and distant, Alexis was nice, guiding me without pressure. I read a few tattoo artist's blogs recently and they all seem to be introverted people.
I was strangely impatient to know how getting tattooed would feel. I wasn't scared of the pain since I believe I have a rather high pain threshold. For instance, after I had had my appendicitis surgery, at 23, I had to beg the nurse NOT to give me morphine anymore. I just really hated the drowsiness, and the pain from the operation was really tolerable, to the point that it seemed absurd to me to be given morphine. Also, I was still in pain under the morphine but it was my back that was hurting. In the end, I asked to be released from the hospital a couple days earlier because I couldn't sleep anymore because of my back. I had to stay on my back to lie down (because of the holes in my tummy, obviously) and it's only years after that that I realized that laying on my back is a big no-no because of my scoliosis.
Anyway, my point isn't to brag, but a few friends who haven't been tattooed asked me how it felt. Alexis started the machine (I don't know any of the proper terms, sorry!) and I was surprised at how loud it was. Not-chatting-while-it's-on loud. Not at normal voice level anyway. He brought the needle to my arm and for a second, I wasn't sure if he had started or not. He had. The sensation, for the outlines anyway, is as if someone pressed the tip of a pen against your skin, with strong vibrations on top.
The arm is, I believe, one of the least sensitive spots for a tattoo, and he started at the bottom, and headed towards the shoulder (which is a little more sensitive). So the outlines were really not painful at all. The sensation became stronger on the shoulder but I would qualify it as a mild discomfort. Then, when he had done all the outlines, he re did a few lines, and yeah, when he got over some lines again, it hurt a bit. But I glanced each time he stopped to dip more ink and the excitement to see the tattoo done was much stronger.
We took a little break and then he switched for a thinner needle, to fill the design with the dots. I thought smaller needle = pain, but it was ok. It took me a while to recognize the sensation. I used to have an epilator (from 10 years ago, so one of the first ones I think) and when I was doing my legs or my pits, I could feel every single hair being pulled from my skin. Not too painful but weirdly distinct. The needle poking the dots felt really the same. He had started again from the bottom of the tattoo. On my shoulder, the sensation wasn't really pleasant (but I think I was more afraid than anything) so I pulled my iphone and started reading online newspaper.
Then, it was done, sorta.
But I felt like something was missing. It looked too much like flowers, not enough like lace. So I asked Alexis if we could figure out how to place the lace lashes (they're called “dents” (“teeth”), hence “dentelle”, and they are characteristics of high quality lace). We took half an hour to make the placement right and I was back under the needle.
All in all, I was in there 3 hours, but the tattoo must have been done in 1 hour and a half or so. The guys of Tribal Act were quite impressed at how quick it was (we had booked all afternoon). The owner came to take pictures, and so did Alexis. Alexis was happy because he could finally go book shopping a bit in Paris so he left before I went hunting for a cash machine. In the end, the tattoo cost me less than half I think it would because of how quick it was, so I left a big tip (and they made me write a note with it lol).
I was afraid to feel really worn out after the session, but I was actually really hyper. I wanted to go home by foot but I realized falling on my ass (or arm!) because of the snow wouldn't be fun, so I took the bus. I showed my tattoo to my pharmacist when I went to buy some cream for it, my janitor and Math of course. He loves it and he's contemplating getting one too. :)
In the evening, I had a quick shower (not too hot!) and put some cream (Epitheliale) on my tattoo. It really feels like a mild sunburn now. I felt really sleepy (which doesn't seem to happen much lately) and I went to bed after we finished the last season of The Wire (*sob*). I slept like a baby (ON my tattoo as well, it really isn't very sore).
Now, I'm waiting for spring, to wear short sleeves again! ^_^
I picked the tattoo artist, Alexis Blackheart, after a lot of research on the internet. I immediately fell in love with his style and his extremely detailed work. He is from the South of France but I found out that he was conveniently a guest at Tribal Act for a week in December (Tribal Act is one of the most reputed parlors in Paris).
I arrived for my appointment at 1pm sharp. I didn't really know what to expect. I had never set foot in a tattoo parlor, except to book my appointment two months ago. My desire to get a tattoo had been growing for years and I finally thought of the lace pattern recently. It just seemed like an obvious choice, very me, once I had the idea. I must say waiting for more than two months seemed very long but in the end, it was probably for the best. I had time to mature my decision. And the waiting made the moment even better.
We had exchanged a few emails with Alexis during the past month to discuss the design already. When I arrived, we looked at the design again together, removed a couple of flowers , decided of the size and placement. We changed the size once (to go a bit bigger!). We decided to start with only the flowers. I really wanted to have the lashes of the lace on top, but they proved hard to integrate. Even though he's rather quiet and distant, Alexis was nice, guiding me without pressure. I read a few tattoo artist's blogs recently and they all seem to be introverted people.
I was strangely impatient to know how getting tattooed would feel. I wasn't scared of the pain since I believe I have a rather high pain threshold. For instance, after I had had my appendicitis surgery, at 23, I had to beg the nurse NOT to give me morphine anymore. I just really hated the drowsiness, and the pain from the operation was really tolerable, to the point that it seemed absurd to me to be given morphine. Also, I was still in pain under the morphine but it was my back that was hurting. In the end, I asked to be released from the hospital a couple days earlier because I couldn't sleep anymore because of my back. I had to stay on my back to lie down (because of the holes in my tummy, obviously) and it's only years after that that I realized that laying on my back is a big no-no because of my scoliosis.
Anyway, my point isn't to brag, but a few friends who haven't been tattooed asked me how it felt. Alexis started the machine (I don't know any of the proper terms, sorry!) and I was surprised at how loud it was. Not-chatting-while-it's-on loud. Not at normal voice level anyway. He brought the needle to my arm and for a second, I wasn't sure if he had started or not. He had. The sensation, for the outlines anyway, is as if someone pressed the tip of a pen against your skin, with strong vibrations on top.
The arm is, I believe, one of the least sensitive spots for a tattoo, and he started at the bottom, and headed towards the shoulder (which is a little more sensitive). So the outlines were really not painful at all. The sensation became stronger on the shoulder but I would qualify it as a mild discomfort. Then, when he had done all the outlines, he re did a few lines, and yeah, when he got over some lines again, it hurt a bit. But I glanced each time he stopped to dip more ink and the excitement to see the tattoo done was much stronger.
We took a little break and then he switched for a thinner needle, to fill the design with the dots. I thought smaller needle = pain, but it was ok. It took me a while to recognize the sensation. I used to have an epilator (from 10 years ago, so one of the first ones I think) and when I was doing my legs or my pits, I could feel every single hair being pulled from my skin. Not too painful but weirdly distinct. The needle poking the dots felt really the same. He had started again from the bottom of the tattoo. On my shoulder, the sensation wasn't really pleasant (but I think I was more afraid than anything) so I pulled my iphone and started reading online newspaper.
Then, it was done, sorta.
But I felt like something was missing. It looked too much like flowers, not enough like lace. So I asked Alexis if we could figure out how to place the lace lashes (they're called “dents” (“teeth”), hence “dentelle”, and they are characteristics of high quality lace). We took half an hour to make the placement right and I was back under the needle.
All in all, I was in there 3 hours, but the tattoo must have been done in 1 hour and a half or so. The guys of Tribal Act were quite impressed at how quick it was (we had booked all afternoon). The owner came to take pictures, and so did Alexis. Alexis was happy because he could finally go book shopping a bit in Paris so he left before I went hunting for a cash machine. In the end, the tattoo cost me less than half I think it would because of how quick it was, so I left a big tip (and they made me write a note with it lol).
I was afraid to feel really worn out after the session, but I was actually really hyper. I wanted to go home by foot but I realized falling on my ass (or arm!) because of the snow wouldn't be fun, so I took the bus. I showed my tattoo to my pharmacist when I went to buy some cream for it, my janitor and Math of course. He loves it and he's contemplating getting one too. :)
In the evening, I had a quick shower (not too hot!) and put some cream (Epitheliale) on my tattoo. It really feels like a mild sunburn now. I felt really sleepy (which doesn't seem to happen much lately) and I went to bed after we finished the last season of The Wire (*sob*). I slept like a baby (ON my tattoo as well, it really isn't very sore).
Now, I'm waiting for spring, to wear short sleeves again! ^_^
