BOOKING PREPARATION

WEEKS BEFORE

Prior to your appointment you can prepare the area you’re going to get tattooed by exfoliating and moisturising. This will make my job a lot easier and it will be more gentle on your end and make the healing process much smoother.

DAYS BEFORE

Try to be well rested and well hydrated on the days leading up to your appointment. A good nights sleep the night of your appointment will do the world of difference to your pain tolerance.
If you can have your aftercare cream ready before your appointment that would be great. See my aftercare page for more info on what to use. You can buy antiseptic bepanthon from Woolworths, Coles and any pharmacy for example. I would also recommend buying an antibacterial soap or a pH neutral soap with little to no perfume to clean your tattoo with. This is very important.
I prefer to use Fixomull Stretch Tape (not the sensitive one) on my tattoos for wet healing aftercare bandaging. You can read further about it on my aftercare page. If you have any sensitivities to adhesives, I would recommend buying this product days prior to your appointment, to do a patch test. This way we can ensure you won’t have a reaction because I will wrap your tattoo with this product before you leave on the day. If you have your own roll, this will also save you $5 on the day to use the roll I have at the studio. You can find a link on my aftercare page to find a local store to buy your own roll.

DAY OF APPOINTMENT

Have a good meal before your appointment. Getting tattooed on an empty stomach with low blood sugar isn’t very good. To avoid your blood sugar dropping so much and the sensitivity that comes with that, you can eat low gi foods before and during your appointment for slow release energy which will help you not to feel hungry and have your blood sugar drop.
Drinking plenty of water is very helpful too. If you have a full day tattoo appointment, there will be many breaks to stretch, bathroom breaks, smokes and have some food and drink. I also have lollipops for sugar!

Please wear comfortable clothing that is appropriate for access to the area to tattoo. Try avoiding wearing white in case you get ink on your clothes. Please have a shower before your appointment because we will be working very closely together.
Bring some headphones and download some podcasts or stuff on Netflix because zoning out can be such a good distraction from any pain throughout your appointment. Some fruits and/or snacks for throughout the day are a good idea to bring too. If you bring a water bottle it’s a good idea to keep filling it up through the day for hydration.

If you remember to, shaving the area you’re getting tattooed the morning of your appointment can save us having to do it at the time of your appointment. Please be careful when shaving though, I don’t want to tattoo over any fresh cuts from shaving and neither do you. Also try shave the morning of the appointment, the day or two beforehand will possibly leave stubble and I will need to shave again anyway.

Please DO NOT get sunburnt! This will impact your tattoo healing too much if you’re sunburnt when getting tattooed and it’s so painful that I have decided to not tattoo people who are sunburnt anymore. If you arrive sunburnt on the day of your tattoo session, I will turn you away to rebook and you will lose your deposit and need to place a new deposit to rebook. If you’re worried about it, please use sunscreen for a week before our session. Once your tattoo is healed, it’s a good habit to be in to put sunscreen on anyway to keep your tattoo looking it’s best.

If you’re considering using a numbing cream for your tattoo session, I’m okay with using tattoo numbing cream as long as it’s a reputable product and not just random stuff off the internet. You can get a prenumb cream from a compounding chemist made for you and it’s stronger than the stuff from the internet and it actually has safe ingredients unlike the unknown stuff from the internet. This way if you have a reaction, you can receive correct care to help the reaction if you know what ingredients are in the product. Please just make sure you use the product as recommended. Most products recommend using a generous amount to the area, wrap in plastic wrap and leave for a couple of hours (check that the product doesn’t have different instructions though). If you use an unknown product from the internet and/or you have used incorrectly, we may not be able to go through with the tattoo on the day and you will lose your deposit.

Please research how long it will take for you to arrive to the studio for your appointment. Allow time for traffic. Allow time for looking for a parking spot if you’re driving because parking can sometimes be difficult. There is paperwork to fill out when you arrive, so the closer to on time you arrive, the sooner we can have the paperwork filled and get started into our appointment.
You will need to bring your ID/license/passport for identification reference and proof of age.

Due to working in close range with other artists in the space, it’s recommended we don’t have guests stay for the entire session. Mindful social distancing and respect for other artists space and their clients space. Your friend/partner is more than welcome to drop you off, pick you up, join you for lunch and come in for short visits but unfortunately they won’t be able to sit with you for the entire tattoo. There are exceptions of this of course; support network or when people come to get tattooed together, for examples.

Let me know if you have any allergies or history of fainting and such. If you are vegan, let me know and I will make sure our appointment is 100% vegan. My products, needles and inks are all cruelty free vegan friendly but sometimes I use Vaseline but I can switch this out for a different product if needed.

It’s totally normal to be nervous before a tattoo. I get nervous every time I get tattooed. Keep me posted on how you’re feeling, I understand!