Tattoo Safety & Awareness
What if I have allergies?
Many people have specific, sometimes harmful, reactions to certain products/ chemicals; Latex is one of those common allergens. Starnes Ink uses 100% Latex Free gloves during the entire tattoo process.
Please talk to your tattoo artist about any allergies you may have or be concerned with prior to discussing the tattoo design.
Here is a link to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the Eternal Ink inks that are used at Starnes Ink:
Does it hurt?
Yes, but it is completely dependent upon your pain tolerance level, the location of your tattoo, and the duration of your tattoo session.
Adrenaline is your best friend for the first couple hours of the tattoo. Your fight or flight response is going off and it numbs the pain a bit. Once that hormone starts to level out (2-3 hours), the pain will begin to intensify.
On occasion, the fight or flight response can cause nausea, vomiting, or even fainting. If you feel ill or light-headed, please advise the artist immediately. DONT TRY TO IGNORE IT. Listen to your body.
Is it OK to get a tattoo if I'm sick?
Getting a tattoo when your immune system isn’t at 100% isn’t a good idea. You’re going to need your strength and your white blood cells to heal your tattoo, something your body won’t be able to do if it’s already doing battle against virus and bacteria. Not to mention the fact that it’s very inconsiderate to bring your illness into the tattoo studio and risk exposing others, particularly your artist. If you have an appointment, call and reschedule for when you’re feeling well again. See cancellation policy here.
Is it OK to get a tattoo if I have damaged skin/sunburn in the area I’m about to receive my tattoo?
NO! It is not ok to get a tattoo over a fresh/healing wound. Your body is doing a lot of work to repair that damaged area. Creating and adding more damage, by a tattoo, on top of an open wound can cause serious scaring and will leave your new tattoo looking like a distorted blob of ink... which, of course, is permanent. The same goes for sunburns. Peeling and blistering can cause your tattoo to become distorted and/or appear prematurely aged.
What about scar tissue and stretch marks?
Although scars can be tattooed over, there's a chance (depending on the size of the scaring/stretch marks) that line work will appear distorted. It is also more difficult for the skin to "accept" the ink. We would highly recommend that you search (online) for pictures of tattoos over scars and stretch marks before deciding if a tattoo in that area is right for you.
If you are scheduled for a tattoo and have damaged the tattoo area in any way, please call and reschedule your appointment. We would much rather reschedule than attempt to give you a new tattoo, which would just have a disastrous outcome.
How do you sterilize your equipment?
I use an autoclave and ultrasonic.
Autoclave - An autoclave is essentially a pressure cooker primarily used in the medical field for sterilizing medical instruments. An autoclave must maintain a temperature of at least 120 degrees C at a pressure of about 15-17 psi for 15-20 minutes in order to fully sterilize the equipment.
Ultrasonic - Cleaning is provided by cavitation action, which is the implosion of microscopic-sized bubbles in an ultrasonic cleaning solution as they contact the surface of the instruments. It is created by ultrasonic transducers excited to ultrasonic frequencies such as 37,000 cycles per second (37 kHz). The bubbles are small enough to penetrate cracks and crevices impossible to access by hand scrubbing. They safely blast away remaining contaminants.
There are several different kinds of autoclaves, all acceptable to use in the sterilization of the equipment.
Do you wear gloves?
Absolutely. Standard medical 100% Latex FREE gloves are always used.
And, yes, my gloves fit properly. If the gloves are too big or too small, the artist runs the risk of either poking a hole in the gloves or tearing them. All it takes is a pinhole to run the risk of cross contamination.
(This is more for the safety of the tattoo artist, but no one wants an infected tattoo artist working on them. If the tattooist doesn’t care about their own safety, why would they care about yours?)
Do you dispose of everything you use on me afterward?
Most certainly. Ointment, ink, water and other items should not be returned to a universal container after it has been removed for use on a client.
Unused inks should NOT be returned to the original container! They are contaminated with blood, and should be tossed out. The artist should be using these tiny little cups called “ink caps” to put just enough ink in for your tattoo, and whatever is left should be thrown away. The same goes for the water and ointments.
Do you use new sterile needles for each person?
Yes, new sterile needles must always be removed from an EO Gas blister pack in front of you. I do not remove the needles from that bag until we are ready to begin.
A professional will destroy and dispose of needles in a sharps container. A sharps container is a plastic container, usually red, with a biohazard symbol on the outside. Just like the one in the doctor’s office labeled “hazardous waste”.
Do you have a portfolio?
Yep, I sure do, and it’s available here.