My Tattoo

I know a lot of people have questions about tattoo experiences (I certainly did) so I figured I would share my experience with you all. About a week after I turned 18, I got my first (and so far only) tattoo of a mountain on my left foot. 

This picture was taken literally right outside the tattoo studio the day I got it done. It took about 2 and a half hours, with only three thirty second breaks - so basically constant tattooing. I've always heard that the most painful places to tattoo are the head and neck, hands, ribs, and feet, so of course I decided to get my first tattoo across my entire foot. The first 45 minutes or so was spent on the outline of the tattoo, and that part was okay. It still hurt, of course, but the needle that is used for the outline is thinner, and it doesn't take as long to complete. I was still able to laugh and talk a bit, which is saying something compared to the rest of the time.

This is a close up of my tattoo still wrapped in the bandages, probably an hour or two after I had it done. The outline was not super painful and did not take a long time, but the shading is definitely the worst part. For shading, they use a needle that is so much thicker than the outline needle, and they go over the same part of the tattoo a few times. This was the part that took about 2 hours, and I really was not functioning during it. One of my friends was amazing and had come with me, and I had to kick her out because I had to lie down and stare at one spot on the wall and just chant "it doesn't hurt" over and over again in my head. She was a great sport about it though, and I she just played games on my phone in the sitting area. 

Afterwards, I was limping - my foot was incredibly swollen and sore. The tattoo basically turns into a giant bruise and scab, which I was not entirely aware of before I got it. Luckily my cousin told me that tattoos start to peel after a few days, or I would have been incredibly freaked out! I would not have thought that peeling was normal, but when you think about it a tattoo is a big scab in the beginning, and scabs peel. To take care of it, I just put some kind of cream thing on it (my tattoo artist told me what to get) starting a few days after I got it, and stopping when it finished peeling. It actually heals pretty dang fast, but I did have some trouble walking or sitting on my foot for a while after it.

So yeah. That is my tattoo, and that was my tattooing experience. 

Would you ever get a tattoo? And if you already have one, what is it of? Tell me in the comments!

Love,

Caro