Let's Chat About Tattoos and Piercings

Had you asked 16-year-old Ellie if she was going to get any more piercings alongside her earlobes, she probably would have moodily rolled her eyes and said, "why would I do that?" And then put her earphones back in, listening to old Fall Out Boy songs really loudly and trying way too hard to be cool. And if you'd have asked her if she'd ever be inked up one day? HA! Not a chance. 

Well, here we are: two more piercings and a tattoo later. Granted, I'm not expert in the field yet, and my body mods definitely aren't too drastic, but I think chatting about this stuff is so fun. I love hearing people's ideas for tattoos, I love seeing all the finished products, and as someone who got their first tat and latest piercing fairly recently, I do get a lot of questions about them, so hopefully I'll be able to answer some of those today. First of all, let's chat about what I have...

I got my very first tattoo on 8th February this year and I love love love it. It's a little shooting star above my ankle. This is something I had been thinking about getting for about a year, and after spending hours and hours trawling the internet for star tattoos, I settled on a design I liked and finally bit the bullet. It's a very simple and small tattoo, but that's exactly how I wanted it. I quite like the cartoon-y, childish kind of look to it too - lots of people ask if it means anything, and honestly the answer is no, I just have an obsession with all things celestial, but little cartoon-ish stars like this have always looked a little magical and nostalgic. There's no particular reason for the placement either, but I love the way it pops out from underneath my rolled up jeans and follows the curvature of my ankle bone.

I now have a total of four piercings: both my earlobes, my left helix (done last January) and right tragus (done in September). And I hope to God I don't get any more because little ones like these are a pain in backside to get photos of when trying to snap yourself. But on a serious note, I am pretty content with my little collection. I wouldn't ever get anything pierced that weren't my ears, and I wouldn't want my very small ears getting too cluttered. I change up my lobe jewellery the most - usually just varying the hoop size - and always keep a mini hoop in my helix, and this trio of jewels (I think they might be cubic zirconia? Not sure) in my tragus. I was hoping to replace my tragus jewellery with a little star, but I've actually grown to love the jewellery it was pierced with. 

Now for the FAQs section, and the number one question I always get asked is...

Did it hurt?

Let's start with piercings. I got my lobes pieced when I was 11, and don't really remember the pain level. I had to get them re-done later on because I managed to get them infected (don't do that), so the pain wasn't so bad that I was put off from getting them pierced again. The helix piercing didn't hurt very much at all. It just felt like a bit of a pinch. The only off-putting thing was the slight *pop* you could hear when she squeezed the needle through. That was gross. The tragus piercing was pretty horrible and made me throw up, and as much as I love it now and don't regret getting it done, catching it on earphones is not pleasant. 

Obviously I have only been tattooed in one place, so can't compare the pain an ankle tat would cause to, say, one on my ribs, but I found getting a tattoo so much more comfortable than my piercings. Tattoos are like repeated cat scratches on a few layers of skin, while piercings are essentially pushing needles through a whole wad of cartilage. It does get a little more painful closer to the bone, but it wasn't too excruciating. 

Any advice for a first tattoo or piercing? 

I would say that choosing to get a tattoo is a lot more of a commitment than getting a piercing. If you decide you don't like your piercing anymore, take out the jewellery and let it heal up - job's a gooden. Tattoos don't just rub off. So my main bit of advice is make sure you really, really want it. Spend a long time looking up designs or drawing your own, and also spend some time researching artists too. Because my idea was so simple and lots of artists would have been able to tackle it, I had a good array to choose from within walking distance. But if you're really set on a bigger/more intricate piece, I wouldn't let travelling stop you - you don't want to compromise permanent body art just because you're able to get to an artist easier, as they might not be able to do it as well as someone that is a little further away. 

That being said, I think it's a good idea to go into a parlour to enquire about either a tattoo or piercing before booking it, if you can. That way you're able to get a feel for the place and make sure you're comfortable there. Being able to chat to the artist or piercer and build up a bit of a rapport with them is good too, especially if you're wanting a bigger piece - you don't want to be sat for hours getting tattooed or pierced by someone you're not a big fan of. My first tattoo was done by a lovely apprentice artist called Ceri at Titanic Tattoos in Southampton (her Insta is @ceri_tattoo, check her out), and she made the experience so much more relaxed - she was very chatty and bubbly, and really helped calm my nerves. My helix piercing was also done at Titanic Tattoos (I don't remember who did it, soz, but she was great too). If I was to get another piercing I'd probably return to Crow Quill, also in Southampton, which is where I got my tragus done. The piercer there, Kitty Kotori (@kittykotori) is the sweetest lady, and I think their jewellery range is stunning.

Oh, and also make sure you look after your piercings and tattoos properly after you get them done. Your piercer/tattooist should give you the lowdown on the products to use, what to do with them and how long to treat them for.

Do you want any more tattoos or piercings?

I can definitely live without more piercings, I'm quite happy with my lot. But I would really love another tattoo at some point. For my first tattoo, I was debating between the star and a delicate little rose. I would still really like the rose, and would have it just above my Achilles heal. Ella Storm at South City Market in London has some beautiful little rose designs that I'm eyeing up - she re-opens her books in May, and I'm very tempted to slip her a cheeky e-mail. I also like the idea of getting a sweet pea flower somewhere, as my dad calls me sweet pea quite often. But I really don't want anything big, and any tattoos I do get will be dainty and fairly well hidden. I am conscious that within the field of work I want to go into, having visible tattoos might be an issue. That's always been something I've bared in mind - as much I love the idea of tattoos, I don't want to have to compromise a job for them.

Hope my little ramble has cleared a few things up for anyone who was interested. I've linked some of my favourite tattoo artists below to follow on the 'gram if you're looking for inspo, or just some very aesthetically-pleasing feeds. If you do have any more questions, you know where to find me, or if you just wanna send me pictures of gorgeous tattoos, I'm down for that too. 

Go follow these wonderful artists now: 

Gee Hawkes (@geehawkestattoo) 

Ella Storm (@ellastormtattoo) 

Jherelle Jay (@jherellejaytattoo) 

Ashley Crow (@ashleycrowtattoo) 

Lucie Morticia (@lucietattoo) 

Vivien Szincsak (@nothingsrs)