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Jennifer - Do you know Nathan Mould? He does awesome white on black coverups.

Helps that you're gorgeous. No one notices the clowns. 🙂

yeah... no on the clowns.... three years of therapy, a divorce, and im still trying to figure out how to cover it all with mandalas and lace....

Super glad this is being talked about. . . . It's becoming an issue here in our shop, that hasn't garnered the best reaction from the (new generation of clients).... We have a lot of 2nd generation clients coming in, and I know their parents are comforted that they don't have to worry about their 20 year old coming home with a throat tattoo, let alone hand blasts.... We live in the buckle of the bible belt... It could be 100 degrees outside, if I have to go to the grocery store, and I don't feel like fielding questions, or even getting vibes, or being followed because I look suspect: I wear a hoodie... Our shop has about a 30 min question/lecture time for anyone coming in and wanting "sacred spots" tattooed, and they don't meet the required coverage tattoo wise... It's more of an educational spiel .... And most the time, people get it, when they don't, depending on the circumstances, we tend to turn that away... If someone is independently wealthy, and it's obvious they won't take no for an answer, and they are so desperate they will risk going to a "scratcher", we may make an exception, after they think on it a couple days.... (and hopefully come to their senses). I guess, some things aren't going to be sacred much longer, but in this shop, we will stick with tradition. What sucks is seeing amazing tattooing on hands, then immediately seeing, oh, they don't have arm tattoos.... I had that reaction to these amazing hand jobs, but.... kinda sunk at the same time. As usual scrolling the IG, and then a gasp.... ehh. I am getting too old.

I'm gonna use your "blow-out" as a metaphor: Part of the tattoo/line is a little too deep, the ink spread... Because you got in over your head with this tattoo, just like the line, it got a bit deep, then up it pops for a little air- you waded back up into shallower water, where the comfort zone was/is.... Blow-outs happen.... and if you weren't such a beginner in the "getting tattooed" pond... You would have been totally fine swimming in the deep end of the pond, cause you would have known... Hey, it's not just a "you pick it, we stick it..." It's a hey.... kinda big deal, but regardless, you would have been prepared for such a thing.... PS. It really sucks when someone has basically no tattoos, and they come into a place and start using "jargon" that they don't even understand, a little bit of manners, and a lot of mutual respect : will get you everything in a shop. Regardless.... I wish you the best in your tattoo collecting path.... And lots of luck.... When I was 18 and in a shop, I really do wish someone would have looked out for me... I didn't have that until I started working in the second tattoo shop, of my career... And I use the age of 18, because that's baseline beginner age, to me... I have an entire arm of dumb ass clowns... CLOWNS. And they cannot be removed. Just looking out for ya kiddo. AND I HATE ICP. but with this dumbass entire left arm: everyone thinks In love ICP. NO. Jennifer

Actually it will. ;-) When you've had 50-100 hours in 'the chair' getting tattooed, you know what to expect. Refusing to tattoo face, neck or hands on someone with no tattoos is not punishment, it's protecting them from themselves. It's a big step and not a good idea for a first tattoo. I don't think a lot of people understand the permanence of tattoos. Yea, you can laser them off, but there will still be something there. Most of the time your skin doesn't look perfectly normal, at least I've never seen it. And when you are young, it's hard to imagine that you could someday want to get into an industry that isn't accepting of face, hand or neck tattoos. If you continue to get tattoos, some day you'll understand.

If I may... It's really not about the blowout. It's about changing cultural norms and how lots of people these days are rushing into tattoos in highly visible places before really committing to being a 'tattooed person' (ie arm sleeves, more larger pieces). Every artist and every client will have different views on this, but I have to say I agree with the old school mentality - certain tattoo placements are 'earned' in that sense.

Well.... If you perchance were not just beginning to get tattoos, and starting out on hands/ fingers, (which most tattooers in the traditional sense of rules/core values typically don't do, with newly beginning clients.).... You would not have kinda had a "Anticipation - Panic - Grief" moment, you would be further along in knowing about the process.... How different parts of the body heal, how you personally do your after care- cause it's a learning process for everyone: what routines work best FOR YOU... Not a dig on you, but merely an objective observation of the "new" - "Who gives a F***: give them what they want" moments I am seeing all over the place.... I'm just getting old. And you would know: FINGERS BLOW OUT, it's part of the landscape, and it's not a big deal. It adds character. Once upon a time, in a land before Myspace, FB, IG.... If you wanted a hand or a finger tattoo... You HAD to be sleeved fully, or an actual tattoo artist to get such places on the body tattooed... People look at an individual differently when certain parts of the body are tattooed: Hands, Faces, Throats, Neck... Body parts that aren't customarily covered in regular or professional attire.... It's a "I wanna sleep at night knowing I didn't just screw this young person out of something by putting a tattoo somewhere that may not jive with my heart"... And we have been everywhere, and moving and being here in Tulsa, TATTOOS are a huge thing people knee jerk react and judge on still to this day.... Sucks. Jennifer

As you get more and more tattoos you will figure out what works for you: after care and healing wise.... Blow outs are part of tattoos being handmade, and part of the deal, depending on what you get tattooed, where on the body, and by whom.... Tattoo artists are not machines, and unfortunately not all people adhere to rules or the "road" in tattooing, IE; finger or hand tattoos on people that aren't fully sleeved... It's a process, but if you really are into it, you'll get the hang of it, the deeper you fall into the rabbit hole. . . Jennifer

From what I've seen, more people cause problems by too much care than by too little care.

@J.Stell Okay, so maybe this is me being picky on what I'm reading... but if I'm reading correctly, then anyone who is an actual artist would not tattoo someone on certain body parts first because it goes against a "rule", and the only way they would have given me this tattoo is if I agreed to do a full sleeve first. No offense to the culture but personal I find that a bit disappointing. I mean, I understand making sure someone knows what will/may happen with the the tattoo, doing aftercare.. but honestly you'd think no matter WHERE on the body a tattoo goes, it's going to be a little different so even getting a tattoo on your arm will not be the same as on your finger.. so that won't "help" prepare a person in any way if the blowout will be more intense. Then if someone just wants a small finger tattoo.. they all of a sudden can't commit to that without having a sleeve they don't actually want because of a "rule"? Seems a bit extreme. But like I said I'm new to all of this and I don't know the culture. Where I'm at everyone is very accepting of tattoos. Of course, they will always (I feel) be jobs where it's preferred to have tattoo covered but outside of that it's not a judging. In the end to me? A sleeve/rib/neck/face tattoo... will not prepare me for a blowout on a finger. And the blowout itself did NOT bother me. It's because when the first section peeled before the others, that section of blowout looked more extreme then the rest of how it looked on the tattoo, so I had a little panic moment because it looked like the rest wasn't going to get quite the same look and it was going to be a bigger blob of ink in the middle of the tattoo. Luckily that did not happen as the rest started to heal and peel. (and I'm not saying any of this as an insult, I mean obviously everyone here that is replying is experienced. I'm just saying what I feel for myself, since I know that even if I end up tattoo'd more places.. I'd still panic if I think something went wrong on one.)