A big hands down to the whole Marlowe Ink crew. Im from Germany and i visited the states for a couple weeks. It took me an 8 hours flight to get there!!! Fuck the people who complain taking the metro to you. Friends recommended me that shop and i had the best time of my life!!! I didnt know at all what kind a tattoo i wanted when i entered the shop. I have a lot of experience with other tattoo shops, but here they really cared about me. No attitude, a warm welcome and professional advise. I even got a free drink. So after the friendly receptionist showed me two designs i picked one and i could get it right away. It was a decent size backpiece. The owner himself took care of me. He draw my entire backpiece within 10 minutes and than we started to tattoo. Yes, it hurted a bit, but what would you expect? They use fucking needles to stab your skin. So of course it hurts a bit. But i was prepared, i slept well the night before and had a good meal before my tattoo. It also helped a lot that one employee was holding my hand through the entire tattoo. Thanks a lot Jaquie. It made my life easier. Even it hurted, i have to say that James had the most gentle hands i have ever experienced in my life. I have a lot of tattoos ( more than 10), but this was the most painless tattoo i have experienced so far. He tattoed my entire back within 4 hours and i didnt shed a single tear (which i usually do). In between they gave me a break and provided me with a nice meal and another refreshing drink. Once we were finished they showed me the result and even corrected little details i thought were necessary. The best tattoo i ever had. A beautiful experience. It changed my life and im a better person now. The tattoo healed within 2 days without any problems. Thank you Marlowe Ink, because of you guys i want to be an American now. Im looking forward for my next visit to the states to get another tattoo from you. You guys are the shit!!! So anyone who wants a great life experience and a beautiful tattoo go to Marlowe Ink and have the blast of your life. One day after my tattoo i returned for a piercing which also was done awesome. No pain, perfect aftercare instructions and healed instantly. I was having intercourse the next day already. Stay gold Marlowe Ink, I`ll be back!!! read more

I've had 4 tattoos done by James at Marlowe ink. My very first was in 2007 and was a large back piece that was about 4 1/2 hours in one sitting. I was referred by a friend who had a ton of his work. I did my research, I waited 15 years before getting my first and I chose James. Was I intimidated, absolutely. I'm a 30 something divorced working professional mom who wears a suit 5 days a week and wishes I could kick it in chucks and tattoo my neck... I felt pretty lame. Jacquie was the person who greeted me when I went in for my first consult and she was great. James took the time to hear me out and didn't poke fun at me, at least not to my face. I'm super picky and I asked for a pacific northwestern design which I brought to him with some mods. it was perfect. it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought, he was gentle and his bedside manner was great. My first tattoo experience here was amazing, I've been back for three more fairly good size pieces since and I'm not sure I'd allow anyone else to touch ink & needle to my skin but James. I Love the shop I love that you're not on display for everyone who walks in. Here's the key, it's a tattoo and piercing shop, not your grandmas house or your therapist's. Do your research. If you aren't comfortable don't go through with it. Don't ask your artist to do crap that doesn't translate well on skin or is impossible and don't do the tattoo if the drawing isn't what you want. Dont bring your kids and 5 million of your friends. You have no one to blame except yourself unless you got a Tasmanian devil on your butt when you asked for a butterfly. If you want an amazing tattoo do your homework and allow your artist to do what they do best and if you are intimidated, get over it and ask your questions and if you don't like how you are spoken to then try another artist or another shop. I love Marlowe ink. I can't give an opinion on anyone else there, but Jacquie and James I'd trust with my body. I love my ink, i always get compliments on it and i've been a customer for 4 years and plan to keep coming back. read more

I have been to Marlowe 3 times now. The first was in Fall 2011. My husband and I went to get our first tattoos done by Danny on the recommendation of a friend. My husband had come straight from a soccer game without eating first. He fainted 6-7 times during his tattoo. Dany had infinite patience. He brought water, snacks, and offered each time to stop and let us come back another day to finish, while still being quite encouraging that my husband could stick it out. He has a fantastic "bedside manner" - if I can use that term - with his clients. I see the other reviews about the old atmosphere of the place and I have to agree that when I first came to make the appointment I felt like scum of the earth as a tattoo virgin. The looks I got, oh man. But Danny never made me feel less than a person deserving of his respect. As a result of his attitude, personality, and the quality of his work, I have since returned to Marlowe twice and been blown away by the changes made in 2 short years. At each visit it's been friendlier and more welcoming. I feel at home there. Last visit there was a rowdy bunch of college students there with a friend who insisted on getting her tattoo upside down on her forearm. The crew was just amazing. Danny informed her that the orientation she had requested was upside-down, and then respected her decision and tattooed a fantastic Joker face exactly where she wanted it. Despite the immature attitude of the girl and her three friends, he never put them down or mocked them. Afterward, he wanted to take a minute outside for a cigarette before he tattooed me to relax after the craziness. Still, he asked me if I minded waiting a bit longer first and I believe if I had insisted on getting tattooed immediately he would have powered through. All that to say, Danny is a fantastic person working in a pretty great shop and I would get tattooed by him any day of the week. read more

To be honest, I came across several bad reviews on Yelp and Google and Yahoo that initially deterred me. of course, there were some good and great ones, but the bad reviews stood out because of bad attitudes or poor behavior at the parlor. one question--were these reviewers on crack? honestly. I went in half-expecting all this shit service I've read about, and was blown away by the honesty, professionalism, and friendliness of the employees. at the same time they were very casual with the talk before and after, while maintaining that professionalism. hell, I wasn't even going in to get the ink done that night but their affability hooked me and since they weren't real busy I decided to wait for the person ahead of me to get done so I could go ahead and get mine. Danny was my artist, and he was perfect. great precision, caution, fluidity, and care towards how I'd like it. at the same time he made the experience the opposite of dull with music that suited us both, casual talk, laughs, the whole experience was freaking great. and with other customers in and out, I knew it wasn't just my luck--these guys were all-around friendly. I honestly don't remember the name of the guy I first spoke to behind the desk; big guy with sleeves and huge gauges. he was like the front for the parlor, the outer facade of the parlor's attitude and was what made me stay. he's an artist too but Danny inked me. in the end, bottom line, give Marlowe's a shot. if you don't live too far away and are ambivalent about it, just walk in and make your own judgements like I did. I almost guarantee you you won't be disappointed. Marlowe's is now going to be my first place to revisit; I have 5 other tattoos, 1 done by a coworker's friend and the other 3 by Johnny at Comes A Time. Now, my sixth by Danny at Marlowe's. and my seventh? Marlowe's. read more

Marlowe Ink is definitely the place to go. i'm not a regular, but i've gotten my nose, tragus, and belly button pierced here as well as my first tattoo which is on my foot. Danny is a GREAT GREAT tattoo artist. my mom and i both got similar foot tattoos, and our ideas were quite unclear but Danny drew up a great stencil and made sure that i was really happy with it and happy with the placement. with it being my first tattoo he was super thorough as to what i should expect as far as pain and made me feel a lot more comfortable because let's be honest, i was nearly pissing my pants from all the nerves. he was truthful about the pain and he didn't sugar coat anything which i really appreciate because i pretty much knew what to expect when he started. he did a little test line to make sure i'd be able to take the pain and talked and joked with me throughout the tattoo to keep my mind off the pain. he was super thorough about the aftercare too and made sure my mom and i both left with all of our questions answered. the price, $130 dollars was totally reasonable for the size of the tattoo and the amount of font. i would recommend him to ANYONE looking to get some work done, especially those new to the world of tattoos like i am. he's awesome, i literally cannot express how happy i am him and the work he did, he's just great. i will definitely without a doubt be going to him for my next tattoos. read more

I absolutely love this shop! I came in a couple weeks ago inferring about a tattoo and left with a new nose stud. First off, the shop is small but is tastefully decorated and the waiting room is pleasant and impressive with it's framed flashes on the wall, unlike way of ink which is spray painted and unimoressive. I was greeted by Danny and Rob and we talked about my tatto but was pressured by my friends to get a nose ring. I was so indecisive and it took me about ten minutes to decide but the whole time I was never pressured by Rob or Danny. I found this very impressive because a sale is a sale and money in their pocket. Unlike other reviews, I was nev met with attitude. Rob took the time to explain everything he was doing and what I needed to do for aftercare. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. A couple weeks later I was getting a hypertrophic scar because I wouldn't stop messing with it, and came in to speak with Jacquie and she explained what to do. The waiting room was crowded but she didn't rush me out and was wonderful!! To say the least, Marlowe is one of the best shops I've been to (I went to way of ink for a Tagus piercing and its was a horrible experience). I'll be going in for a triple forward helix tomorrow and can't wait. Marlowe ink is my new go to for piercingly and tattoos!! read more

marlowes is the best im soon turning 16 and i wanted to get my bellybutton peirced sooooooo badly i looked every where for months and months to find a tattoo parlor that would take me in since im young i first went to this place near my home and it was very unproffesional looking and the lady there scared me so then i looked some more and called marlowes, and the guy i danny was very nice. so i came in with my mom and friend and my mom is very strict so for her to approve of the place was a bonus for me. when i went into the room to get it done danny explained everything that was going to happen and he even sprayed and cleaned the chair in front of us! he made me feel very relaxed and comfortable and explained every tool he was using on me and every thing that was going to happen. and when he put the needle in i didnt feel a thing except for a little pinch. and then it was over! i went home so happy and listened to all the instuctions he gave me and lets just say my peircing never got infected once and just today i went in to get the ring changed and jackie was soooooo sweet. im going there when im older to get a tattoo, i respect them and they are very nice and friendly and danny is soooooo funny. i recommend marlowes out anywhere else, if my mom approved of it then you should definitly go! read more

I went to Marlowe Ink to get an Italian phrase on my wrist last weekend. I loved the layout of the place and it was very clean, open, and they've done a great job promoting their work on the walls, albums in the waiting area, etc. At first, it didn't sound like I'd be able to get what I wanted done (I have pretty small wrists and there were a lot of letters in script font) but Link was amazing and really worked on making my request a reality. After a couple sit down's, we'd worked out what I'd envisioned. They were even concerned one word might have an accent so they looked it up online to be sure. I was visibly shaking (only my second tattoo and my threshold for pain is nonexistant) but Link was pretty cool about it, he even made me laugh a few times which made the pain easier to deal with. He did a perfect job and I'm thrilled with the result. This tattoo means a great deal to me and I can't thank him enough. I thought the other employees at Marlowe were great as well, friendly and knowledgable. The pricing was less than I'd expected also. I definitely highly recommend Marlowe Ink! read more

Yo this is George V in Fairfax. I have gotten 3 piercings from Marlowe Ink and have at least 4 future tattoos that I refuse to get done anywhere other than Marlowe. I used to work at the Starbucks just up Main Street next to the Walgreens and when the Marlowe Ink guys and gals used to come in I refused to charge them based on principal. Jacquie has done all my piercings and she has been nothing but the best. Professional care advice, fun to talk to and she definately knows what she is doing. Always a very clean environment, always friendly and knowledgeable staff. Very down to earth man, James has given me a quote on a rather elaborate tattoo I plan to get and I went to another of the artists J and asked him for a quick quote. I got the exact price range from the both of them with no collaboration so you know youre not gunna get hustled here. Good music playing, not too loud, not too soft, overall fun environment. I recommend to anyone in the Northern Virginia area. If it's not really close to where you are I suggest you pack your things and move. Marlowe Ink is worth it. Period. read more

I've been a customer at Marlowe for a little over 3 years now. I started off getting pierced by Danny, who was always great. He has moved on to become a tattooer, and he is still great. Phil (the newest piercer) recently pierced me, and he is awesome too! Everyone who works at Marlowe is super knowledgeable and extremely talented. Compared to other tattoo shops I have gone to with friends, everything is EXTREMELY clean, which is an incredibly important part of both the piercing and the tattoo process. Everyone is professional, especially the counter girls. I have personally witnessed myself (while sitting in the lobby) extremely rude customers, and the staff at Marlowe always keeps their cool. You seriously have to give the shop props for this, for people can be so unreasonable and straight up crazy. I recommend this place to anybody who is looking for a great tattoo or piercing experience. It is affordable, fun, and once again CLEAN. I can't imagine ever getting work done anywhere else and look forward to being a loyal customer for many years to come! read more

I'm in sales and know that one person's bad day can affect the ease of a sale and the moods that are perceived and exchanged. One person's intimidating scene is another person's cozy professional experience. People are people and the reviews here are so personal that I'm not sure how it replaces actually visiting a shop,looking through portfolios,talking to the artists/piercers,checking out the cleanliness of the place and then making up your own mind and trusting your gut. I have been tattooed by many different talented artists from va,Cali,ny,Ks,Co fla and Germany. I know what style I like,I know what attitudes I get along with and have been lucky to meet the crew at Marlowe. I have been tattooed by 5 different artists there and pierced by both Jacquie and Danny. I don't even know how many years it's been but when I am lucky enough to have money to make an appointment ,i make it at marlowe and I leave there knowing that I have solid,colorful work on me and it was money well spent. read more

I've been getting ink now for almost ten years. I've made the mistake of not having a shop I could call home and that has resulted in a few pieces that I'm not to thrilled about. About two years ago, I started hearing a lot of good things about Marlowe's and finally I made it down there to see what all the fuss was about. I made an appointment with a guy named Matt. He's new to Marlowes and I sense it's cause everyone is booked solid for over a month. He's been slinging ink for 17+ years. From the moment I walked in everyone treated me like they knew me. Matt sat me down , went over what we discussed in the consult and started laying it out. During my tattoo he hooked me up with cookies from subway , put a great movie on and kept the shop open until well after closing. I got in at 8 pm and left at 1 am. This was by far the best tattoo experience I have ever had. I highly recommend Matt or Jason. So in conclusion, if you are looking for a place to call home, make it Marlow ink. I have. read more

you know, James did a custom half sleeve on me and was nothing but awesome. I think that some people come in expecting roses and smiles but they need to realize that this is a tattoo/piercing shop, its where pain happens, not to meet best friends, The staff was helpful, I met with Jackie when I made my appointment and she was helpful and friendly. This is one of the only parlors I've found where there is NOT a god complex. While James was tattooing me, other artist came in and admired his work and made me feel nothing but comfortable. I've read the reviews on here and if someone writes that they are concerned because their skin is raised has never had a tattoo before and should have no business getting one. Gee, i wonder why your skin would be raised, may have something to do with the needles that were digging in your skin, Get a clue before you write a review. Marlowe ink is fantastic, professional and I highly recommend it read more

I don't usually write reviews, but after a handful of visits to Marlowe and seeing their great work I want to add to all the positive reviews they have on here. I've been to a couple shops over the years and this is the warmest and most welcoming business. Notice that I called them a 'business', right? I happened to be there on a rare night when one of the crazies came out of the woodwork and was trying to weasel her way into a free microderm piercing. I felt bad for the employees as they told her over and over that she would actually have to PAY for their services. You can tell a lot about people when they're dealing with crappy customers. Jill, Danny and Phil were patient faaaaar beyond what I could have managed, so they get a big thumbs up from me. I've been tattooed by Danny and Steph and they are both incredibly talented, friendly artists. I can't recommend this shop enough. Keep it up!! read more

I've never been to this shop, however I've been pierced by Rob who works there now (which is why I'll give them a 3.... would be a ZERO if he was still at his other shop). Rob pierced my nose back in November and it's still red all around it. I went back 2 months after and asked him WHY it was still red and his reply was "because it's cold outside." REALLY?! Really? REALLY?! It's cold outside is the best answer you can give me?! I call BS. My friend just got her nose pierced a month ago, in FEBRUARY, when it's cold outside, and it's perfectly fine. I've had my nose pierced in almost the same spot as before, and for some reason it's just red everywhere. If you go here, do yourself a favor and DON'T LET ROB PIERCE YOU!!!! Not only am I dissatisfied with his work and his LOGICAL answer to my red nose question, but he was 45 minutes late! Get real dude. You suck. read more

I went to Marlowe Ink after researching several studios in the DC area. I couldn't have made a better choice than going here. The staff were friendly, laid back, and professional. I went there a total of three times: to check out their studio, a consult, and finally to get my tattoo. I worked with Matt who was fantastic. Besides being a really cool guy Matt was completely patient (working with a tattoo newbie such as myself), completely professional and most importantly a passionate perfectionist at his art. The end result was above and beyond my expectations -- a tribute to Matt's time, effort and care he put into it. Overall it was great experience and very collaborative in nature. Cheers to Marlowe Ink JD P.S. (my profile pic is of my tattoo...it doesn't do it justice at all -- it was taken on a cell phone camera that was blurry to begin with.) read more

I have had the pleasure of being tattooed here by Anna. I have been completely impressed by the business and professional attitude. Anna will take her time to sit with you to talk about your new artwork before you have your work done. Before meeting her, I went to another shop (will not mention who b/c that's childish) but it was like wham bam thank you maam. If you are into tattoos as I am then every tattoo should be a great experience. no matter how many tattoos you have, you will remember what the experience was like for each one of them. i have spent LOTS of tattooing hours with her and have loved every minute of them. she has put beautiful work on my body that I show it off to everyone I can. I have found my home for being tattood meaning, I will never go anywhere else. Anna, I even had "Your Name" tattood on my ass. Thank you Anna read more

I have been a customer of Marlowe Ink for years! My son turned 18 and wanted to get his first tattoo. I normally saw James but he was a stand up dude and said that he didn't feel that he was the best person to do the tattoo that my son wanted. So we booked with Jen White after looking through the albums. She did an AMAZING job with working with my son to ensure that he had exactly what he wanted. His tattoo ended up completely badass!!! Of course I couldn't let my son get ink without getting something too. She has since done two of my latest tattoos and completed my son's first tattoo. Jen was (and is) so good with taking time to make sure that she had an understanding of what wanted. She is so talented and artistic. Most of all...she is so easy going and sweet. We are scheduled to get more work done mid July and I am so super stoked!!! read more

I figured that since I used this site to first get in contact with this shop that I owed it to them and others to write a review. I seriously cannot say enough wonderful things about my experiences at Marlowe Ink. Both of my recent tattoos were done by Matt. His attention to detail and quality of work are astounding. He was able to turn my ideas into pieces of art even better than I could have ever imagined. In fact, my first experience here in late August was so awesome that I was back for more just 6 weeks later! Being in and around other tattoo shops over the area, I can say without a doubt that my experiences at Marlowe Ink were the best of them all. My only regret at the moment is not having ideas for more. I'd strongly recommend Marlowe Ink and especially Matt for an amazing tattoo experience. read more