Tattoos 101

With a school full of adolescents turning eighteen, a tattoo seems to be part of the right of passage. With so many variations in designs, stories, and aftercare, information can easily get jumbled up into a heap of confusion. With the help of Warrior Tattoo Studios, the publication team’s staff brings Waukee the ultimate guide to everything tattoo-related.

What to pick

What to pick: The word tattoo comes from the term tatau, a Samoan tradition to mark the skin based on accomplishments and characteristics that would describe a person. Nowadays, with so many styles and color palettes, it can be incredibly difficult to pick just one design. As John Hintz, the owner of Warrior Tattoo said, “a rule of thumb should always be, “would you like your tattoo in 10 years”.” Designs can be simple or complex, black and white or full of color, as well as the size of a dime to the full size of a back. Tattoos are individual to each person, however, many shops have rules on what they will or won’t do. At Warrior tattoo, artists will not tattoo the names of spouses, as the risk of needing to cover it up in the future is very present. A general rule of thumb is if a potential tattoo spews hate speech or ideals that oppress others, it will be quite a challenge to find anyone who will spend hours tattooing such a thing. Remember to be smart with tattoos as they last forever, that or people will spend thousands to get ones they regret lasered off.

where to put it

Where to put it: Placement can be very difficult when it comes to tattoos, as there are many things to consider. For instance, getting a tattoo on your ribs may be aesthetically pleasing but it will hurt much worse than if you got a tattoo on your calf instead. The placement follows a risk vs. reward ratio, making the higher the pain, the ‘cooler’ the placement. With higher pain levers, the ribs, neck, hands, and feet have higher pain scales. While the arms, legs, and back will have a lower pain scale, meaning placement for a first tattoo could hurt much less than the latter.

how to heal it

How to heal it: Tattoos can be much more tedious than many realize, aftercare being essential to the turnout of a tattoo. As an open wound, how someone treats a tattoo untimely results in its final look. With fresh tattoos, unscented lotions like Aquafor will be your best friend. Lotions will prevent the skin from drying and cracking open, as this causes scabs that can take off pigment from a tattoo, making a once straight line full of gaps and fades. Staying out of the sun or the pool after a tattoo is also a great word of advice, as both will cause your skin to dry out, cracking the already damaged tissue.

If there was anything to take away from this article, it is to simply be smart when getting a tattoo. Realize this will be on a person forever, and that is a very long time. So make sure a tattoo is memorable and really worth it, as taking care of a fresh tattoo takes lots of time and effort.