Howie

Woah, talk about great taste straight off the bat. Absolutely love your tattoos, welcome!

Don't worry, and definitely don't make any snap decisions now. I strongly recommend getting two or three more tattoos and if you still don't like it at that point get it covered up with a dagger being plunged into a panther's head.

I'm currently working in Saigon VN and have to wear long sleeves to cover my tattoos. I have to say, it's a bit warm for it here at the moment but the majority of my time is spent indoors with AC so it's no big deal. You can cover healing tattoos with clothing just make sure they're loose fitting and clean when you put them on

Hi folks, I'm currently settling into Vietnam and completely bogged down with work so haven't had a chance to think much about tattoos lately. A couple of people have told me that the standard of tattooing here has improved a lot but they're still lagging behind in achieving long lasting vivid colour. The last couple of tattoos I've had have been black traditional with some negative space, I like the look of them a lot and really don't mind the idea of getting more. My shoulders are both sporting some pretty damn bright coIour but I quite like the idea of coherently planning out the rest in one go when I have more coverage, might tie it all together a bit. Is it generally a done thing to put colour into non colour stuff years down the line?

Seems quite normal to me! Maybe apply a bit less ointment (looks shiny - a thick layer stops oxygen from getting to it and obstructs the healing process) and pat dry lightly so the scabs don't stick to the paper towel. Most important rule of all - do not tease or pull the scabs!

Your artist might have simply done an average job but it's pretty normal for bits of ink to fall out during healing. Life happens - scabs get knocked off under clothes, you accidentally scratch yourself in your sleep, someone might hug you a bit enthusiastically or slap your arm during a handshake etc. Go get it touched up by someone you trust. Had most of my recent pieces touched up on the weekend and now they look really solid and bright

@pidjones Huge improvement, it really pops now. Bet you're stoked!

I practically eat as a vegetarian because my girlfriend is a strict veggie... if you're a lazy cook just get a big crap load of mushies beans and eggs on toast down you the morning of the tattoo and drink loads of water the day before while not getting completely hammered... should do the trick. 5 hrs sleep shouldn't kill you!

@SStu I did spot that, I get to HCMC on the 19th unfortunately. I did consider the possibility of leaving sooner for the convention but money didn't allow, I need to work right up until the 17th... mostly due to tattoo brokeness ironically Thanks for the heads up all the same buddy!!

Good idea. Rose on Saturday from Reece, the shop apprentice at Cuba Street Tattoo. He didn't go crazy on shading just in case I decide I want him to put color in it before I leave NZ but I think I like it black for now. Can't wait to carry on but I'm moving to Vietnam in a few weeks and every time I think "maybe just one more for the road" I log into my internet banking and my account keeps being all...

Of course, I meant it more from my perspective as a customer than the government's attitude to it or the qualifications required... I go to a special sterile place to get my skin painfully hacked up by a professional and a foreign liquid injected into me to make visible lifelong changes to my body, objectively it's not a million miles away from the two professions I mentioned and my toes curl up at the thought of doing it to myself. I don't judge you for making your choices. I have a couple of tattooer friends back home from when I played in hardcore bands and their upper thighs are covered in really shitty beginner doodles, it's definitely not an alien concept to me. I didn't mean to sound patronizing with the concern comment. I haven't seen you give advice other than suggestions about designs etc, I think the objection from the more established members might be the couple of attempts you've made to discuss technical stuff regarding gear or technique, the reason being most people feel you should pick up that initial knowledge in a shop during an apprenticeship. I don't think you should stop posting *hug*.

@Gingerninja Very awesome tiger! On the subject of untrained people doing tattoos, everyone has different opinions and I'm a relative new-jack but for me I see tattooing as being almost on the level of dentistry or cosmetic surgery or something in a "you really wanna get that done by a fully trained practitioner" kinda way. If someone told me they were going to learn how to do a face-lift on themselves by looking on the internet for odd half-pieces of information, buying scalpels on eBay and having a crack in the mirror I'd for sure be concerned about that person, right after puking on his/her shoes at the thought of it. Hardly finger-painting is it.

Traditional rose on my leggy from the shop apprentice on Saturday. Trying to decide between color and black whaddyareckon? I'm leaning towards black cuz black roses r tuff.

Fair enough! I'm going to settle in there for a while, hopefully strike up a few conversations with people sporting nice tattoos and get the lay of the land. That combined with a reccy at each of the obvious shops I'm sure I'll be able to make a good decision. I'll report back for any current/future members wondering about Vietnam Thank you for your replies @SStu!

I much prefer a drier heal - blotting dry with paper towels after a morning shower, making sure nothing dirty touches it and hardly any ointments or oils etc unless it feels overly raw or like it's gonna crack, even then, just a one-off microscopic amount of Bepanthen to take the edge off. The guys at my shop firmly believe the skin needs to breathe as much as possible to heal quickly... a layer of ointment, a layer of oil and a layer of sweaty plastic doesn't exactly sound breathable. Keeping the original wrap on until the next morning seems like a very long time too - I take mine off after a couple of hours or whenever I get home after a victory beer or two! Then again I don't have any large scale work and I'm hardly a tattoo veteran (going in for my 5th hand-ish sized piece on Sat). You should just fully trust your artist and follow his/her aftercare instructions. Maybe if sleep is a big concern you could discuss Saniderm/Tegaderm type products with your artist too.