This was my very first tattoo experience ever. I wanted 3 little dragons. I gave Crows Nest…read morereference photos beforehand, as they requested through Facebook messenger. As soon as I got there, she (artist Courtney) had a design ready to go and said she wasn't able to do the detail nor size for what I wanted... so I should have immediately left then and there, but they had already taken a $50 deposit from me and I wasn't about to just burn that money, so to speak. I settled on what she said she could do. I trusted the artist to do what they do, and make art. I felt so confident that she would create something beautiful, even if it had to be bigger and have less detail.
She first drew three flying worms, and I tried to be as polite as possible but it was not what I wanted, especially the featureless heads. They were NOT happy to redraw. The receptionist was extremely rude, hostile and defensive straight out of the gate for no reason. Every time I asked a question, her tone became more and more aggressive. They made sure I could hear them grumbling and complaining behind the counter while working on the design a little more. Red flags, red flags, red flags... I should've left... but the $50... I work hard for my money.
Courtney was clearly frustrated, but still professional, although she didn't seem to want to talk at all throughout the session and was very short with her responses when I did ask questions.
Once the tattoo was done, it honestly didn't look done, but at that point, I was thinking, "What do I know? This is my first time? And it's on my upper arm so I'm looking I'm at it upside down... I'm sure it's great". I felt rushed and the whole experience was awkward because of their staring and frequent hushed whispering while staring directly at me.
For aftercare, I had asked the artist if it should be any specific brand or type of moisturizer, and she said no, that it did not matter as long as it was unscented and that I washed it with unscented antibacterial soap. So I got the famous unscented dial antibacterial soap and decided to stick with my regular trusty unscented moisturizers I already have and love. I took care of it well, as directed, never let it see the light of day, didn't pick or scratch at it, and kept that puppy moisturized... and everyday, it looked worse and worse. Tattoos aren't supposed to disappear. Ironically, the only part that actually looks permanent are the heads that I asked them to redraw in the beginning... the rest is fading away, worse in some spots, less worse in others. Looks terrible though.
For experimentation purposes (and because I love dragons and eventually want many tattoos) I got another dragon done by an artist in Pennsylvania and a sword done by one in Massachusetts. I wanted to see if perhaps that entire experience at Crows Nest is not how the tattoo experience should be. It is not. My experience with the other artists was fabulous. Those tattoos are healing great. Both of these artists/shops were knowledgeable, kind, willing to work with what I wanted, talented, and fair. Everything Crows Nest is not.
I'm not sure what went wrong, maybe they have a specific ink that didn't agree with my skin or maybe all the other artists are correct in that Courtney just didn't do a great job, went over the lines too much/used inconsistent pressure which caused scarring, or some even suggested it looks like expired ink was used. Who knows... all I know, is that something went wrong, and they acted very unprofessionally. Crows Nest told me to come in so they could see (they tried to blame every thing they possibly could). I respect Courtney - like I said, I've seen some nice pieces come from her hand, and I tried to work with them about it. I said she could keep the tip and the $50 deposit for her time that I took up...but I want the $100 back. They refused, were SO RUDE, and said that it's my skins fault that they turned out so terribly, which is just not true. That my "strawberry skin" is the cause of my problems, which again is not true. Even if keratosis pilaris was some terrible condition (which it's not), it's not hidden. It's extremely common. I don't have dry skin, I stay moisturized. My dotted skin is visible and the artist is not blind. I got the other dragon tattoo on my "strawberry skin" and it's healing wonderfully, so Crows Nest accusing my skin type is just idiotic. Something is wrong with this tattoo - whether it was just an unforeseeable accident or negligence from the artist, I'll never know. It does not change the fact that I have this garbage on my body forever.
Go somewhere else, because on the off chance that something does go wrong or you don't bend to their will, keep quiet and accept what they give you with a smile, they'll basically just tell you to f*ck off.
