Tyler is great! We have known each other for around 8 years and he's done all 4 of my big color pieces and I love them. Tyler is a chill dude, super friendly, really easy to talk to and will bring your vision to life. Trust the process...I always ask Tyler to put his input into my pieces because he really knows his stuff and can make something go from a tattoo to a piece of art. Highly highly recommend this shop and working with Tyler. You won't be disappointed! Pictures are from when the tats were fresh/new. Everything's healed and holding color well for 7+ years read more

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I walked in to ask for piercing prices and the piercer had a passive aggressive vibe. I know you do this often but you don't have to make someone feel stupid when they want clarity on the service/prices. read more

They did a terrible and I mean terrible job on my tattoos. I went in and told them I wanted honeycomb and a bee on my hand and showed them a picture and it looks like crap and not even honeycomb and then they put blue on the wings of the bee which no one asks for! I now need to go find a real artist to fix this or have it removed. I am so pissed. I have never had a tattoo so bad. I am legitimately embarrassed by this tattoo from Frosty. I do not know if I can get it fixed and will probably spend thousands of dollars getting it removed. Update: called mayday tattoo which I highly recommend and ink master Gary Parisi is going to fix it. $3,000 but I know it will be sick read more

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I came in to have mine and one other person's ears pierced. There was no conversation about pricing, only that there were some higher priced jewelry. No mention of which ones fell into that category, no signage. There were only a handful of paired earrings remaining they had available, all others were single studs and did not match. The other person got relatively nondescript studs, I opted for small gold bees. The entire process was under 30 minutes. At checkout, my total was $520 + tip, something I would have expected for a small tattoo but certainly not an earlobe piercing. I will always pay a premium for body modification, but this was completely unjustified and left me feeling swindled by a snake oil salesman. There is no justification for any reasonable person living in Elgin or the surrounding area to expect either choice of earring would be more than $100 max. When I called after without saying who I was to ask the piercing fee, I was told an ear lobe piercing was $80. When I called back and spoke to the same person, they justified the cost as $80 per person, $35 piercing fee PER LOBE (4 lobes total), and the "premium" cost of earrings. This would mean the total cost for 2 people ear lobe piercings was $300 for just the piercing fee, not including jewelry. There was no conversation about why the $35 fee per earlobe and why that was not included in the initial $80 piercing fee. Not having this conversation with a customer prior to completing service was completely unprofessional and feels unethical. The piercer knew he screwed up too, because he then scrambled to find whatever free stuff he could find and thrust it into our arms as we left, baffled at the price. read more

best of the best!!!! if looking for the best tattoo artist ask for jeff great person! best artist ever! the place is so clean he sanitizes everything!! this is the only place to go if your seriously thinking of getting a tattoo once again you wont regret it! read more

The staff there is very welcoming and i go there mainly for my piercings and usually it's eddie who does them and i love his energy and spirit when it comes to piercings. He makes me feel so comfortable and i feel like i'm in safe hands with him. Overall the whole place is great and their tattoos also seem fantastic and i definitely do plan on going back for my tattoos read more

I walked in to get a tattoo for my birthday, when the artist came up to me and asked what I'm trying to get, I said I'm trying to get a tattoo. He rolled his eyes and said, where do you want it and when I showed him he started judging my own tattoos pointing out flaws in my tattoos and saying he'll bet X amount of money that the tattoo will look like shit like my other tattoos, I lost interest after trying to handle his attitude and turned around and walked out. read more

Every single time I come here, it's absolutely amazing. I had my custom industrial done by Sara and she did absolutely amazing! She was extremely knowledgeable and personable. I'm not usually nervous for piercings, but if you are usually nervous around needles and what not, she will definitely help to ease that anxiety because she's so easy to talk to! The piercing turned out amazing and I've had no issues at all! I also got my first tattoo here done by Jenna, who was also awesome. She did an absolutely amazing job and got my vision absolutely spot on, it turned out exactly how I thought it would! While I wasn't too nervous, my cousin, who was also getting her first tattoo, definitely was. Jenna let her take her time and take breaks whenever she needed to. My cousin mentioned how the sound of the needle makes her slightly nervous and Jenna switched over to her "quiet" machine to make her feel better. I'm definitely looking forward to coming in here for more tattoos and/or piercings in the future! I cannot recommend them enough! read more

Dear Children of Mine: The year is 2018 & two of you--my oldest two--are currently preteens. If *any* of you find this review at some point in the future, just scroll on by, okay? You're welcome in advance. Love, Mom - - - - - For everyone else, let me break it down for you in three simple words: Sara.is.amazing. I had my nipples done originally back in the early 00's at Progressive (at The Alley) & took them out during my first pregnancy in 2006. Not a bad piercing experience back then, but nothing like my experience today with Sara. First and foremost, she rocks as a human being. Super nice, super easy to talk to, funny, and all the while...completely professional. She explained *absolutely* everything, changed her gloves a million times (hi, germaphobe here!) & made sitting completely topless in a small room with a complete stranger as pleasant and un-awkward as humanly possible. My first contact with her was via email and she was both quick to respond and incredibly thorough. She has about eight million glowing reviews all over the world wide web & photos of her work speak for themselves. But here's the thing: the older I get, the more obsessive I am in my body modification research--especially when it comes to area piercers. Sara is a member of the APP (Association of Professional Piercers - https://www.safepiercing.org) & she takes her career very seriously. If you talk to her for even less than five minutes, you will know she is a true professional in every sense of the word; she knows her stuff inside + out & it shows. I never felt rushed, I never felt any jewelry upsell pressure, I never felt any hesitation in trusting her entirely. She even switched out my septum piercing (done elsewhere a few months back) & my upgraded clicker is amazing--so gorgeous. If you're contemplating a piercing and are anywhere near Elgin--hell, even if you're NOT anywhere near Elgin--Sara is who you want to see. I'm about an hour and ten minutes away from the shop and even sitting in hellacious traffic on the way home...so totally and entirely worth it. :) read more

My first tattoo was done here five years ago, and now my third was done just two days ago. I had a Groupon for an hour's worth of work, which is one of their best ideas ever; they must have gotten so many takers on that offer! Anyway, my design, I learned later, was very technically challenging due to its geometrical nature; it contained only straight lines and perfect circles. I'll try to add a photo. It was really done beautifully, though. The man who did it - Beto is his name - was nice and friendly, and the other guys in the shop were as well; everyone was funny and nice. The tattoo didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, though I can't comment on your personal experiences there. The place and stations were very clean and inviting and the process was simple. I definitely recommend the place for your next tattoo; it's conveniently located for Elginites and the staff is talented, friendly, and professional. read more

Topnotch Tattoo - My alphabet diagram tattoo. Done by Beto at Topnotch Tattoo on September 25, 2012. - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

I have been getting pierced and buying my jewelry here for the longest time. Sara has been delightful time and time again, however, I ordered a piece of jewelry from Sara, with the estimate time of 8 weeks. Totally willing to wait knowing it was a lengthy process. Here's the part that bothered me, I stop in to check on my order and Jonny, another piercer I'm not familiar with, straight up tells me he didn't listen to Sara on the size she ordered and went ahead and ordered what he believed to be the right size (even though he WASN'T EVEN THERE SIZING MY JEWELRY?) this original sizing and order was from 1/5/19 it's now ALMOST MAY! It was super unprofessional of him to make that call nor follow up saying he made an error. Thank God I didn't put a deposit down- I will probably never receive a phone call let alone the jewelry I wanted! Will most likely be taking my jewelry business elsewhere, sad to say. read more

Pimped out shop! The environment inside is chill yet exciting while getting tatted. Tattooist-Erik Thvedt made my 4hour tattoo session a breeze ! No price is too much for excellent art. Yup I recommend this shop! read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Just a glimpse of my sugar-skull tattoo.. - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

I've gotten two previous tattoos here and they've been great! However, the last one I got here was with a different artist and it healed badly. He assured me that he would touch it up if needed, so I emailed him asking for a touch up. I told him I was in no rush and understood touch ups aren't priority. He said he would call me on a certain day, so I waited. That day came and I received no call, so I waited a week before emailing him again. I never got a response. As I said, I understand touch ups aren't priority but it's sad to completely blow me off. I'm a really easy going, easy to please person but this just bummed me out. I ended up going to Funky Rooster to get a new tattoo and the artist offered to touch the tattoo up for free because the wonky lines and missed spots were bothering both of us. It was embarassing, but now I'll go there to finish my sleeve because of her kindness. Also, my tattoo was from a flash sheet and the design on the sheet was different than what I actually got. Not sure why, but lesson learned. I recommend Amanda and Jenna! read more

Got my first tattoo here last year as a walk in. Everyone was welcoming, friendly and helped right away. The place was clean and they were able to do exactly what i wanted. read more

Got my septum pierced by Sara Johnson, she was very knowledgeable and extremely experienced! She did an amazing job! read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Septum piercing by Sara Johnson - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

Still a five star review from me! I went back in September/october and I got a mother daughter tattoo done by Chris and he was so good at making it perfect! I also had a piercing done by Johnny and as much as I got nervous he did a great job in calming me down! read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Nose piercing done by Johnny! - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

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I have gotten all my tattoos done with Amanda Heinrich and she's such an amazing, calming presence! She's willing to keep re-sketching until the tattoo is perfect. I appreciated her patience and reassurance during my first tattoo, being sure to take it slow and check in on me! She makes great conversation and is so sweet. All the staff here are wonderful and very professional. The building is always very clean and I've always felt welcomed. Management is great as well and knows how to treat customers. I will be back soon for my 5th tattoo with Amanda. read more

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Paid so much and this is what I got. When I said so much it was $80 deposit plus $180 plus tip. For two small black basic tattoos. it has been almost 4 weeks. Been using the liquid soap from the shop. My tattoos before weren't like this after 3 weeks. I don't know much about inks but it looks like meh. They said cheap tattoos aren't good, so I was willing to pay much. Idk what happened there. They charge too much it's not even worth it. read more

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I've since returned three more times! Once for a piece on my upper back and once to touch up a small tattoo on my wrist (with Jenna again). The third time was to get my 6 year old's ears pierced (with Johnny). The ear piercing went great. He did a great job of explaining what he was doing and taking his time. Everything was very clean and her ears have healed perfectly. Thanks to the high quality earrings, they didn't need be turned and there was no redness, crustiness, or other unpleasant things to deal with during healing. read more

If I could leave a no star I would. To set the tone we went into the shop looking for a specific lettering tattoo for a quote. Speaking with Tyler first, which looked at the tattoo asked the right question such as: where do you want the tattoo? What size? Ok we answered all the questions and he said our shop minimum was $100 but per hour it's $175. Tyler said he didn't have the time but would check with another artist and took my phone to show the other artist the tattoo. Wrongly thinking they were discussing the tattoo because the other guy asked the same questions but with more details. He walked off drafted up the name tattoo which was nothing like the picture which was weird and he added shadowing along with with other customs which again was not the piece of art we wanted. He took so long that I'm sure he thought we would just leave because he was really bothered with our questions about the piece, to add he was in the back for well over an hour because we came in at 4pm and finally left at 6pm because he told us $200 for 4 simple letters which were small on a small section of the forearm. He went into how the letters will leak because two lines would become one line. He showed us his tattoo which I asked to touch just to feel the lines to understand what he meant by the two lines leaking into one and his response back was I would prefer NOT. That too was weird because of you're an artist most artist would allow you to touch their pieces to connect to what the issue you explained with the two lines leaking. After researching the artist his name is Scott which seems to be racist and if that is the case in the line of business you are in at least don't let the sickness show and be professional because as we noted this was a customer that this was her first tattoo. If you couldn't do the original art just say that don't be rude about it and money was never an issue if we came in same day for a tattoo obviously we just wanted the tattoo! read more

First time to the Chicago area and getting my chest piece was the BEST part of my trip!!!! Went to Betto he was amazing!! Was very helpful in making decisions with the design and his input was great! He is not a heavy handed artist which was great being it was on my chest he always checked in to see if I was holding up ok and informed me when he finished each part. The overall staff was great I liked that they consult each other for there ideas even some came by the both and asked me if I was doing ok I appreciated that! To top it off Betto showed me this amazing Argentinean place cafe to eat!!! That I fell in love with. I am originally from NYC I think this will be my new spot totally worth the 2hr flight definitely recommending read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

Sara Johnson is a fantastic piercer! She's extremely knowledgeable, great at what she does, and is extremely sweet. She's great at conversation to help ease any nerves too. Would highly recommend! read more

Sara is a godsend. She pierced my septum and was very kind and considerate. First question she asked me was if it needed to be hidden and showed me all the septum ring choices to accommodate! She was extremely patient with me and answered all my questions. During the actual piercing process, she walked me though each step and before you know it, she was done! Literally took one second. She was even nice enough to show me how to flip my nose ring up and down! I definitely recommend going to her for piercings. Literally the best piercing experience I've had! Price is $65+ depending what ring you get. Regarding the overall facility, by far the nicest tattoo parlor I've been to! Extremely clean, private areas for each client. The staff is really nice as well. My friend and I plan to come back to get our next tattoos. Starting price ranges from $80-100 and then $150 an hour. Will update on the experience. read more

I've gotten all my tattoos from Chris, highly recommended him! Every single time has been a great experience. The atmosphere of the shop is really nice and all the artists use clean tools. Everyone is always super nice and reassuring, I will always come here for future tattoos! read more

My first tattoo, and was done poorly. The lines were a little messed up and I noticed, the worst and rudest part was that the Tattoo artist talked to another fellow Tattoo artists about my Tattoo and the mistakes that were made while Tattooing me and they talked to each other in Spanish, which I am white and they did not think I understood or spoke Spanish, but they quickly found out that I could. Rude People, Crappy Tattoos at least from the artist they gave me. I will not recommend going to this place to ANYONE I know, unless you want a permanent mess up. read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Lines are not as on the picture I gave them - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

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Everyone here is the bomb. I had my other tragus pierced by Chux (the first one was done in New Orleans a few weeks back and I demand symmetry in my life). He did a great job lining it up and matching the first tragus piercing and had the same neometal posts (an awesome selection of them, actually!). A lot of piercers only pierce with hoops, but they're idiots. This place does it right. Chux knows his stuff, pierces quickly and efficiently (no bloody mess and no fumbling with jewelry), everything is sanitized in front of you, and he pierces as you please (either sneak attack, deep breaths, step-by-step, etc.). This will definitely be my go-to recommendation for tats or piercings. **UPDATE: Chux is no longer piercing at this studio and is now at Uprise Tattoos in Warrenville.** Buuuuuut if you want a kick ass tattoo, Erik is your man. He's hard to get in to (because he's so great) but when you do it's totally worth it. He just designed and tatted the most bad ass sugar skull thigh tat for me and it really is beautiful. Gorgeous design, beautifully done, and it has amazing color. He can take your crazy ideas and make an awesome tattoo for you. Trust me, my ideas WERE crazy but somehow he made it all work. I'm going to go broke getting tattoos from him but I'm already scheduling the next one. Seriously. The other artists seem legit too. I haven't had work done by them but as I sit there for hours getting my tattoo done I've seen some impressive stuff churned out. read more

I came as a walk-in. First impression was that the store was clean and well-decorated. Their selection of gauges and body piercing rings was awesome, and it was fun to look at while I was waiting, which was fairly short for a walk-in. As a small, added perk, the Coke machine there is really cheap. My tattoo was done by Amanda, who was extremely nice and professional, and I am very happy with my tattoo (: My only complaint is that one tattoo artist in particular (I don't remember his name) was pretty unprofessional while watching, ie. swearing and talking about prostitutes very loudly. It was more of a nuisance than anything else, though. Bottom line: Everything was clean, and my tattoo was very well done. Despite a little un-professionalism by one artist, I would go there again if I was to get another tattoo, and maybe even for a piercing, since they have a lot of selection. read more

My friend talked me into getting the groupon for this location a couple months ago. I was hesitant at first, but luckily I yielded (after looking at the artists portfolios). Andrew Mullen really stood out to me as a solid artist with a style I like. I gave him pretty vague instructions as to what I wanted and when I showed up last saturday he promptly met me at the counter and showed me a gorgeous design that was better than anything I could have come up with in my head. Andrew was extremely professional. Once the tattoo was finished he took a look at it from different angles and then did some more work on it. It was clear that he wasn't going to let me leave there until we were both satisfied with every last detail. He did a fantastic job and I couldn't be happier. I will definitely be back here in the future and would happily recommend him to any friends or family. Here's the tattoo: http://i.imgur.com/VK4qp.jpg PS Don't forget to tip your artists if you like their work read more

Great experience!!! I went hear due to a Groupon that I purchased for 3 hours of work. This was big leap of faith, having not been to the studio and seen any of the artist portfolios. I did ask some friends if anyone had been hear or recommended an artist. I got several recommendations for Nate, and decided to go ahead and get the Groupon. I was a little put off at the start as when I went in, I was told that Nate was no longer accepting Groupon bookings. I talked to the the guy at the head of the shop and was explaining to him what I was looking to get, and was asking who he hought would be the best canidate. After several artists were booked up I started getting a little worried. He then asked Luke and he said he was avaiable. Now going into the whole thing blind and then being bounced off of a few artists, I didn't know what to expect. I talked with Luke and gave him some reference material and a rough scetch. We talked about what I wanted and made an appointment. Once my appointment rolled around I went in to the shop and Luke came out with something that I really didn't want scetched out. Now I know when your looking for a custom piece, you have something specific in mind and it's the artists job to put it on paper. I was really getting worried at this point, but I decided to let it ride and we talked about what changes I wanted made. We rescheduled to give him time to re-work the design and come back with something else. When I came in for my second appointment, I had the time wrong and I wasn't sure if it was a stall tactic or just my own error (as I had lost my reminder card). When I came back a couple hours later Luke came out and showed me what he had re-worked and I was truly impressed. He had completely redesigned the tattoo and incorporated everything I had asked for. I was blown away that he had actually captured what I had in my head for so long. Once we decided to move forward I started to get a little worried again as we headed into the back. All the other artists had stations up front and I felt like we were heading to the back closet. He made sure I was comfortable and we got down to work. It wasn't till later in my tat that I found out that Luke was the proprieter and hence the more private isolate work station. Luke seems like a great guy as the conversation flowed durring the tat and time flew by. He was very layed back very professional at the same time. I give him a great deal of respect for the way that he handles himself and the exceptional job he did for me. I highly recommend this place and will deffinatley be looking to get more work done here!!! (Maybe I'll get a link for the tat soon.) read more

I will never go anywhere else for a tattoo. Very clean shop, super friendly staff, and ASHLEY is AMAZING! I have a good amount of tattoos (13) but was a little nervous about this one as it was going on the inside of my bicep. We all heard how painful that could be. NOT AT ALL. She is light handed, fast, and VERY sharp lines. I would give her 10 stars if I could! read more

Very Psychobilly/Rock-a-Billy, First time here today and it seems like a pretty cool shop. I came here because of the piercer that works here, Chux. He also works down at Infinite Ink. He has more if his stuff here which why we decided to come finally check it out. When I get more info about the artists that work there, I'll let you know. Final note they should be accepting credit cards by this week. But bring cash just in case. Also the ATM they have there is out of order. Bonus Points for free garage parking right before the shop, on Chicago St. Another entrance is also on Highland. read more

I had a tattoo done there with Chris, he is such a sweet guy. BUT I will never go back for a tattoo. My tattoo cost about $150 with out tip and it's terrible. I'm having it covered up by someone else, but the lines were blown it and it was straight. Most of the people there are rude and smell like weed. I don't care if you smoke weed but don't smoke a bowl then tattoo me. NO THANK YOU. read more

My experience was a 3, while Girlspawn's and the husband's were both a 5. While not unhappy with the work Andrew did on me (coloring in of an existing tattoo), all the sections where he used red ink got terribly infected. In my almost 30 years of getting tattoos, this has never happened to me before. As a result, healing time was a nightmare and detracted from what should have been a higher-rated experience. Girlspawn and the husband both got custom pieces done by Nate. While I am not a big fan of Girlspawn's choice of permanent body adornment (some wacky black octopus-thingie with no coloring), there is no doubt that Nate did a great job on it. The true awesomeness though, was the piece he did for the husband. I remember when he first showed me the ridiculous painting of a honey badger holding a cocktail glass and told me he wanted it as his next tattoo. Nate turned the ridiculous into the amazing. I am really grateful for that, because I have to look at the damn thing every day. read more

My friend and I wanted to get our rook and tragus pierced (respectively) for my birthday. I called on Sunday afternoon and was told that I would not need an appointment and that they closed at 10 pm that night. My friend and I made it there after 8 and we only had to wait a few minutes before Chux was ready for us. He was super patient, friendly, and helpful, and gave great suggestions for what studs or barbells we wanted in. He answered all of our questions and was very professional but friendly the whole time. He really put both of us at ease and really made us feel comfortable. He performed the piercings very professionally... everything felt really safe and sanitary and he's clearly a pro. The atmosphere in the shop is a really friendly one, and you can tell all the people who work there have an awesome raport that keeps their customers coming back for friendly, comfortable, and safe service. Chux gave us great instructions for post-piercing care, and told us we could email him with any questions. He answered all of our questions and really catered to our specific concerns and questions. The customer service here is awesome. They really go above and beyond! It's very clear that those who work here really care about their customers, and want them to feel comfortable and have the highest quality service and materials. I don't think I'll be going anywhere else for piercing (or my possible future tattoo) needs. read more

Only place I would ever go to get pierced. Chux is an APP member (look it up at safepiercing.org, seriously!) and the jewelry selection is both beautiful and high quality. What makes Chux stand out is he cares about educating people on the ins and outs about piercings and he is always available to answer questions or help you take care of your piercings. Do yourself a favor and get pierced by him, don't even think about going to a shop offering $10, it's a trap! Chux is all you need, his work speaks for itself :-) read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Philtrum piercing and jewelry by Chux - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

I've had nothing but good experiences with Topnotch. Betoo did my calf piece and my side/ribs/stomach piece. He also did Wifey-poo's back and wrist. His work is all really clean and crisp. The line work is all very even and steady , and the shading is all spot on. None of the work I've seen from him on me or my wife is choppy or sloppy. The shop is clean and professional. The prices are great FOR THE QUALITY OF WORK. That's the big thing, you can find a cheaper tattoo ( like my shoddy shoulder piece from Ronin Tattoo) but you won't find work at this quality for less. I've been nothing but impressed with this shop and will continue to go to them for the rest of my work. read more

I just got our second tattoo. I got my first tattoo back in 07. Nate did the work both times. I would strongly recommend using Nate as your tattoo artist. His work is awesome!!! read more

Topnotch Tattoo - Great work!! - Tattoo Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

First off, I was very happy with my tattoo. It healed well and looks fantastic! I also saw a few other tattoos that other people got while I was there and they also looked great. My problem was with one of the artists there. When he was up front, he interupted the other artists (mine included) to talk on and on about any subject that he could justify saying "f**k" every two words. And when he wasn't doing that he was in the back loudly voicing his opinions on everything else, including politics and religion, in the same fashion. Have whatever opinion you want, but do you have to forcefully and loudly insert yourself into other peoples conversations to voice them? Everyone else who worked there was very nice, helpful and pleasent. I personally won't come back for any big work because an hour was far more than enough if I have to listen to that guy again. Very unprofessional. read more

I've had inverted nipples my entire life and learned that getting them pierced could be a potential solution for solving that issue. I was extremely nervous, but Johnny did an amazing job helping me stay distracted and talking to where the experience was really easy. It has been a few weeks and the healing process could not have been easier, I absolutely love the way they look, Johnny really did an amazing job! The shop is super dope, it was really clean, and everybody was super friendly. I will definitely go back in the future. read more

Came in to get my second tattoo. I searched around a lot and found Topnotch with the best reviews in the area and they lived up to it. I came with an idea of what I wanted that my husband put together on the computer. I met with Amanda who knew exactly what I was looking for. She cleaned up my image in 15 min and did my tattoo in 25. She made me feel comfortable and was very professional and friendly. Clean facility and great staff! I will definitely be going back :) read more