So...Before I start....Tattoos become addictive. You go for one, say you'll only get one and 6…read moremonths later, your back in the studio for another. I was exactly the same at 18.....I said after my first I wouldn't get another, and 4 years later, i now have 7 tattoos. Mental, I know.
Tattoos, unlike piercings, are hard to remove. So when you go into a studio, you need to make sure your doing it for all the right reasons for you, as they are more expensive to remove than to get. Before getting a tattoo its not wrong to ask to see a portfolio of the artists work, in fact, it should be encouraged, as you might be paying for...well crap. You want this to be an amazing piece of artwork on your body, something you can show off and enjoy, rather than it just being there and you being embarrassed by it. Also, prices reflect how good the artist is, and they usually charge 'per hour' and this changes from artist to artist however, prices can differ between tattooists for 'walk ins' and large pieces.....and don't feel pressured into having a tattoo by artists you don't feel comfortable with, or think their prices are far too high for their quality of work!
Now, back to my review about Lotus Arts.
Lotus is a very clean and professional studio, and when i was there, there was only one artist but as i understand there is more than one artist working there. As I was only having a small piece done (an epilepsy awareness ribbon on my wrist), I had called them in the morning, and he had been able to fit me in that afternoon. I had never used lotus before, but my friends had recommended them to me, and as it was a small tattoo, i wasnt worried.
When i got there at my allotted time, I was a bit annoyed to find that someone was already on the tattooing table, getting a piece done. Its not unusual for artists to be running late, but he was running an hour and a half late, which pushed me to my limit...I still got my tattoo done that day, handed over my £30, which i thought was a little expensive for what he'd done and walked out. I was happy with my tattoo, even though I left without him telling me how to properly care for my new tattoo (and if i hadn't have had them before, i wouldn't have had a clue!) It should be common practice to every tattooist to give you after care instructions.
As my tattoo has healed, the colour has faded considerably and I'm looking at getting it touched up in the future, and this is going to cost more to add to it, which is crazy considering I've put £30 into it already for 20 mins of work...seems outrageous really.
However, I was impressed by the artist, who understood that some people have scares about having their fist tattoos, or tattoos at all, and even though I arent scared, he was soothing about it, and was 'easy'...by that i mean that he doesnt 'dig' the needle in too hard as some artists too, which sometimes leads to scarring under the colour and hurts a LOT more! not to mention if you decide you don't want it, it leaves a mark
I think that lotus is okay, and that their prices are somewhat fair. If your unsure you want a tattoo, and want to see what the general 'pain' is like I'd recommend them, but if you want detailed, more intricate designs i'd go to somewhere else, and pay a little more for more a lot higher quality. Im not saying that they have a low quality tattooist working there, im saying if your after something more intricate go somewhere else that had a lot more experience in the art of portraits....some artist specialise in certain arts such as portraits, japanese artwork etc etc.
Hope you find this review useful
