Getting your first tattoo
What should you know before your first tattoo?
Most of the anxiety around a first tattoo is about not knowing the sequence. It runs: find an artist whose portfolio matches what you want, enquire with a reference, size and placement, pay a deposit to hold time, then turn up fed, sober and unhurried.
Before you book
- Decide the placement before the design. Placement changes what design is even possible.
- In New Zealand you must be 18 to be tattooed, and studios will ask for ID.
- Give the artist room to adapt your idea. The best outcomes are usually collaborations, not instructions.
On the day
- Eat properly beforehand. Most people who feel faint have not eaten.
- No alcohol beforehand, and reputable artists will turn you away if you have been drinking — it thins the blood and it makes consent murky.
- Wear clothing that gives access to the placement without you having to improvise.
- Bring water and something dull to occupy you. Sessions are longer than people expect, and you can ask for a break at any point.
About the pain
It is uncomfortable rather than unbearable for most people, and it varies enormously by placement — over bone and on thin skin is sharper than on a fleshy outer arm. It is also survivable in a way anticipation is not: most people find the first ten minutes worse than the next hour.
The thing worth taking seriously
Choose the artist carefully and be patient about timing. Waiting three months for the right person is nothing against the length of time you will wear the result. Almost every tattoo regret traces back to being in a hurry.