Baby’s First Tattoo 😜

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When LA Ink first aired in 2007, I was in high school. It ended up being a show I found while discreetly channel surfing and landing on TLC. I used to watch TV upstairs in my parents’ room, with my thumb hovering over the ‘recall’ button just in case I had to switch back to kid-friendly Nickelodeon or Disney Channel if my mom came charging up the stairs without warning 😂.

Oh, good times.

But LA Ink wasn’t a “bad show”. I’ve always been interested in the biography/memoir/documentary genre, and this reality show based on the lives of tattoo artists in LA was right up my alley. It followed famous tattoo artist (and vegan badass 😍) Kat Von D, owner of LA Ink, and her team as they designed and inked the denizens of So Cal and beyond…

With dinner on my lap, it made for good entertainment.

What intrigued me the most was how “normal” many of her clients were. Sure, there were the stereotypical biker guys and tattoo buffs, but most of the people featured on the show were people with everyday lives—hoping to mark their skin with art commemorating a loved one or memory. For some of them, it was their first tattoo!

Since then, I pondered over the idea of getting a tattoo myself, but I was never one to be carried away by random pretty art—I wanted my tattoo to have meaning.

For a while, I was thinking maybe an ankle tattoo with the initials of my friends—because I couldn’t think of anything better 😂 but as I got older, my personal experiences eventually shaped a “better” tattoo idea. Eventually, I came up with a simple, yet elegant design in my head that encapsulated my heritage with my personal story: a blooming lotus.

My best friend is a graphic designer, and as soon as I told her, mid-2019 or so, that this was my tattoo and I was set on getting it eventually, she drew up a sketch that I could use as a reference for my future tattoo artist.

I was growing more confident with the idea of getting this tattoo, and thought it would be so badass 😂 to have it placed on my forearm 😎. As for the size, I wasn’t sure how big to go, although looking back now, I think I would have been fine with bigger size (but I don’t regret my current tattoo at all!).

Because I am a daddy’s girl (I literally call him everyday to chat), I ran my thought process by him to see how he’d react. When I first told him, there were a few seconds of silence before he said, “okay…”. He’s not the kind of person to force anyone to do/not do something, but I could tell he wasn’t really for or against it…I hate it when he has that stance 😂. For him, he just wasn’t used to the concept…even though tattoos have been a part of Indian culture for centuries 🤔.

I thought it over for a few more months, and I guess it was something I truly wanted, because I caught myself gazing at my forearm a number of times imaging something there…

But I wasn’t going to settle on any ol’ artist. At first, I stumbled upon Captured Tattoo in Tustin, CA, which was close to home and run by a former staff artist at LA Ink. I wasn’t too quick to jump into the seat though, as I wasn’t fully convinced that that was my shop.

I am convinced that big brother is monitoring me through social media (LOL) because as I was scrolling through my feed one day, Johnny Dagger’s profile popped up:

My eyes were at attention immediately. I loved how simple and sharp his designs looked, and I was even more elated that he was in West Hollywood taking appointments at the beginning of the year.

So began my 2020…with a fresh tattoo…

My appointment with Johnny was on a Saturday afternoon in late January. I didn’t feel like driving ALL the way up from the OC, so I opted to take the train to Union Station and then take a Lyft from there to WeHo. The guy who dropped me off asked me what the building was when we arrived and I was like, “Oh, a tattoo shop”, after which he wished I stay safe 😂.

But Johnny’s studio is in a nice part of WeHo that I used to pass through a couple times when I lived in LA. I remember having dinner with my sis and her BF once at a nearby vegan restaurant, and since we were parked on hilly Sunset Blvd, we were gifted with some gorgeous sunset views after dinner!

But, I digress…my appointment was around 2pm, and after meeting Johnny, I showed him my friend’s design for my blooming lotus tattoo. He made some suggestions to make the design “tattoo-friendly” and then he got to work prepping his space. This consultation/prep time took about an hour in total.

I wasn’t too nervous going in—I was hyped up by my friends since I was messaging them before it was time to get inked! Things got real when my forearm was shaved, disinfected, and placed with a pattern of the design. I was all-in at this point and ready to go…and honestly?

I can only describe the feeling as “getting a blood draw but WAY less intense“. I mean, it really wasn’t painful at all! Of course, I tried to find anecdotes online about others’ tattoo experiences, and everyone had a differing opinion, so ultimately I just had to try it for myself.

And obviously, no regrets had by me:

After he was done, Johnny applied some water-proof adhesive over the tattoo to protect it from the elements (lol). Aftercare was pretty simple: I could apply lotion on it if the area was itchy, otherwise just have it protected from sunlight and I could peel it off in 4 days!

This tattoo cost me $200, which is a very fair price given the size, quality, and the fact that Johnny uses vegan ink (Panthera, I believe is the brand name).

I was a little bummed that the weather wasn’t warm enough for me to flaunt my new ink right away, but that at least guaranteed some protection. After 4 days, I was ready to peel—but not before I noticed weeping!

I’m glad I read about this phenomeon before, otherwise I probably would have freaked out lol. It’s basically the new, fresh tattoo leaking plasma, no biggie 😂.

Right after I peeled off the adhesive, I regretted that I did not have lotion on hand because the area started to ITCH.

I did not dare to touch the area, even though I felt like clawing off my skin. It’s an absolute test when it comes to resisting an itch!

Fortunately, the urgency of the itchiness dies down after a couple minutes (or I was distracted enough at work that I forgot about it). When I got home, I put some fragrance-free lotion on it right way, and since then, the tattoo has made itself cozy on my inner-forearm 🖤.

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

You can say I’ve been bitten by the bug, because I’d love to get another tattoo (or multiple…) in the future, if there is meaning, I like the artist, and the timing is right. After my appointment, I spoke with my Dad and sent him pics as well, after which he semi-joked about not getting anymore tattoos…well, not too sure about that 😏.

I don’t want to credit my tattoo with giving me self-confidence, but it has definitely boosted it. I love having my arm exposed and casually going about my day, with people stopping to remind me that I even have a tattoo when they give a compliment.

Not too mention, I feel like a freakin’ badass not to be messed with 😎!

I feel like every woman should get a tattoo—what better way to feel empowered and on top of your world?

How do you feel about tattoos? Would you get one? Do you have one, or two, or multiple?