I was tattooed by LongTea about a week and a half ago, which was pretty straightforward, no complaints there. However, I don't feel comfortable coming back to this shop at all. The shop was dirty and chaotic (and I get it, it was busy, but the shared supplies looked disorganised). On top of that, there was a man who came in that everyone was buddy-buddy with, who took out a marijuana joint and made the whole place reek of weed. He asked for a light and thankfully, one of the artists told him he'd have to go outside if he wanted to smoke, but another artist gave him another joint. I thought he was the owner because of the way everyone was interacting with him, but I later figured out he was there as a client. I'm sensitive to smells, esp. marijuana and cigarettes so I did my best not to gag physically.
Normally, I wouldn't fault a shop for something their client did because it's not like you can control your customers' behaviour, but you can to an extent (like not encouraging pot use in an enclosed space full of other people). However, this is the first time I've ever encountered this at a tattoo shop (and I've been getting tattoos for almost 10 years now). Because the style is surrealism/realism, I know I'm going to need a touch-up in about 2 years, which is really unfortunate because I have to find a different shop and a different artist who is willing to do touch ups of someone else's work.
Overall:
5/5 for the artist because it was straightforward, no talking, just tattooing, and the only reason for the 2 star rating.
0/5 for the shop itself read more