What's it like getting a tattoo?

Photo taken straight after being done

Finally after soo many years of talking myself out of getting a tattoo, I took the plunge! The only reason I hadn't been inked sooner was purely because I am an utter baby when it comes to pain. Thankfully I managed to pull myself together and had mentally prepared myself that getting a tattoo would be no picnic.

So I visited Crazy Ape with one of my closest friends (who would be getting her 33rd or something tattoo), put a deposit down, discussed my idea and booked a date. The 13th of all dates. Thankfully not a Friday.

The 13th rolled around and I was ready. Fully equipped with a huge bottle of squash, 6 bags of chocolates and sweets and a mindset ready for the needle of torture. I signed the typical medical form and very nervously sat in the chair of doom. I actually found it really interesting watching the tattooist prep everything and it was quite a process.

My design was something that I had thought about for a really long time. I knew 100% that it would be Disney related and it had to be somewhere I could show off and hide depending on how I felt. I opted for the upper ankle area on my left leg regardless of how painful it would be. 

Traced up and un-naturally positioned in the chair.. this was the moment of all my anxiousness. The actual sound of the needle, I personally thought was horrid because it reminded me of the dentist (another fear of mine) and the pain.. The pain was completely and utterly fine. I really wasted so much time worrying (as always). I can only describe the feeling to a constant cat scratch and it was totally bearable. No dizziness, no feeling faint.. in fact I sang the whole way through (apologies to the tattooist). In total it took about an hour.

The healing process was rather long, but it was around the 11 day-mark for the really annoying itchy stage to stop (this was the worst bit of the whole experience). I constantly applied Savlon and washed the tattoo as advised and now it's all fine and looking good. 

So that's that. My first tattoo all done and dusted. I'm sure I just got lucky with the pain and other body areas will surely hurt more. Ultimately I would do it again if I had another idea and was 100% confident with it. 

*Small disclaimer, this post is just to share my experience and not to encourage anyone getting a tattoo. If you are thinking of getting a tattoo, I highly suggest waiting a while to make sure you are really happy with the idea. I'm 22 and feel that this is a good time for me. A tattoo is something that obviously lasts a lifetime so make sure you really like it and go to a place that is well known with good reviews.