El Dolmago

Just got word that my colour in my woodblock print half sleeve is going in on Wednesday with Daniel at Pearl Harbour - very pleased to have it finished!

He's speaks truth - I am not (ok a little) ashamed. But this little guy was scared - how could you not want to cuddle him!

Not to be an enabler but Chad's Instagram comments seem to indicate he's going to slow down on the travel ;) not sure if that influences your appointment making.

I have one really bad tattoo... It's on my ankle, it's small, old, faded, fuzzy and almost impossible to recognize. I got it as a skate punk kid way back when I was underage, in a biker shop, in 1990. It was destined to be questionable. Needless to say I was surprised when I hesitantly showed it/ talked about it to the artists at the Pearl (while @Mark Bee and I were getting work done) not only were they enthusiastic about my weird little blotch but told me to never cover it - because old crappy tattoos (depending on subject matter of course) are their own kind of awesome. Funny that they appreciated my youthful folly - which I'm sure is helped by my acquisition of several new and particularly awesome tattoos. Or I suppose I could always blast over it with a panther :)

Lots of Sad Panda this week - poor guy - this was a killer plague - now we're just hoping I haven't picked it up!

Those are are amazing! Probably the loveliest I've seen!

Yup that is pretty much the cutest thing I've seen today. What a sweetie!

The shop I bought my wraps at unfortunately went under with the recession, so I don't have any specific recommendations - I'll keep an eye out though.

Amazing! That must feel so good to be done!

Bamboo fabrics, though not cheap, are also excellent soft, non-irritating fabrics to have on the skin.

Just because @CultExciter asked - one more of the boys: - (no idea why they are upside down?)

I'd second @Pugilist on the re-wrapping when you sleep (or just keeping the wrap on overnight depending on how late in the day you are being tattooed. I dry heal so flaky is part of the deal - though I've never had easier heals regarding sticking to clothes ect... As for the moisturizing question - I would just leave the skin alone the day of - I'm not sure the skin being moisturized is actually helpful to getting a clean tattoo - plus anything that's absorbed in the skin ie fragrance .... could potentially react with the tattooing experience. If you really need to I'd use something like an unfragranced galaxial-based moisturizer

This was my LIFE when I lived in Japan - I was a teacher and a school administrator and I had a weekly ritual of covering the tattoos on my leg and back. The worst was a very old, small, fuzzy tattoo on my ankle that I had cover up with a large bandaid every week - one of my coworkers just about died when he realized that it wasn't an injury that I had to keep covered for 5 years :).

Oh yes! That can be accommodated ... We have a lifelong supply and the boys love to model!

Hello!!! Thanks - this has been an adventure. - - - Updated - - - Hello from TO! One if these days it might just be spring! - - - Updated - - - Yay right back at you - can't wait to meet at the Berks!

I bought mine from American Apparel - it was really handy and I was totally unconcerned about getting ink on it.

Hey! I certainly hope so! - - - Updated - - - Thank you! Well I figured I had been reading over his shoulder long enough! - - - Updated - - - Hi back @BrianH nice to see you here! - - - Updated - - - Thanks @Graeme ! It's nice to be here.

Honestly this thread cemented my decision to join the forum (though I've lurked a bit over @Mark Bee 's shoulder previously) I've always scheduled my appointments so I wouldn't have my time of the month during a tattoo as I lose all my ability to deal with pain then (no waxing ect... ). As for clothes I have a couple of cotton/ jersey dresses from that have a kind of extended halter can be wrapped a myriad of ways (halter, strapless, one sleeved) that I've used while getting my back done. As for bras I cannot go without one - with my shoulder/ back piece I wore a bra with a removable strap and just used one strap to keep it all secure - I also used a super old soft tank top and wore it under the bra while things were still raw - it kept the elastic off my healing back.

Just popping over to say a quick hello from Toronto - I'm a graduate student doing her PhD in history, married to the lovely forum member @Mark Bee . Both being tattooed has meant we have an arsenal of solely post tattoo/healing bed sheets and spent part of our honeymoon at the opening of the Great Lakes Shop in Chicago. I got my first tattoo from a street shop called Rocky's in 1990 and my most recent was outlined by Dan Innes at the Pearl Harbor last Saturday!