Since the age of 12 I had been wanting to get a tattoo. At the time, I wanted a Lion King tattoo of Simba with the words “remember who you are” underneath it. Although I still like that tattoo, I am not sure I want it on my body for the rest of my life now. I have had a few tattoos picked out for a few years, so during finals week of Spring of 2018 I decided that after a long semester I deserved to finally get a tattoo.
Although I had several different tattoos picked out, I felt like none of them should be my first tattoo. I loved tattoos with mountains, tents and other nature-like objects. I knew I wanted something with thin lines and that I wanted it to be on the inside of my left foot. I Facebook messaged my friend who is a tattoo artist at Warrior Tattoo Studio in Waukee, Iowa and I scheduled the appointment for Friday, May 11th. I found a few different tattoos that I liked on Pinterest, circled the things I liked and sent them to my best friend. She is extremely artistic and would be brutally honest with me if she disliked the tattoo or the design.
I sent the design to the artist a few days earlier, so she could draw the tattoo and soon enough Friday came. I knew I could trust my friend to do a good job and I had been following the shop she worked at on Facebook for a few months to ensure that the shop was something I wanted to support. I had also done a lot of research about how to prepare and what to do before the tattoo.
When I arrived at the shop, I signed a form to ensure I would not sue the shop and then the artist printed off the design. We messed around with the size of the tattoo and how to avoid the lines on the tattoo from bleeding together. Once the stencil was done, I made myself comfortable and laid down on the bench. The tattoo did not hurt at first but the more she dug in, and the more she went over the area, the more it began to hurt. The worst area was over the ankle bone. A bad thing about the spot I picked is that it easily wears off over time because of wearing shoes.
The tattoo was finally done after about twenty minutes, and it was disinfected, then wrapped in clear wrap (which is honestly the part that I was most excited for.) The artist told me how to care for the tattoo and then I left. The tattooed area was sore for about a week and I was very meticulous about washing it with soap, as well as water. I also putting put lotion on the area. I went back later this summer and got another tattoo from the same artist.
Although some may say it is a myth, I am addicted to getting tattoos now and want more in the future, but for now I am extremely happy with my first tattoo and how it looks. I don’t regret it and am happy that I got over my nerves, finally getting the tattoo I wanted.
Image credit: Carley Farnsworth