Have a good meal 1-2 hours before your appointment. It's a good idea to bring a snack and a gatorade also. When you get tattooed, you lose a bit more blood than you expect, so having something in your stomach will help keep your blood sugar level up.
Bring Snacks, Drinks, and Water
Also bring a drink that provides electrolytes such as Liquid IV, Gatorade, Pedialyte, etc. Keep in mind these drinks are often high in sugar and should be sipped slowly throughout the appointment to avoid blood sugar spikes. Finally, bring plenty of water to stay hydrated.
It's important to make sure you're hydrated and you've had a little something to eat before your tattoo. Drinking something with natural electrolytes and sugar, like a fruit smoothie or some coconut water, can help to bring balance to your body.
Drink LOTS of electrolytes, I typically drink one of the large bottles of Gatorade during my tattoo, and a bottle of liquid IV or similar beforehand. Make sure to eat some food as well.
Avoid alcohol and coffee
In addition to this alcohol also has a blood-thinning effect that may cause you to bleed more easily. Bleeding will reduce the quality of your tattoo. Coffee, and energy drinks containing caffeine, have similar effect, and should therefore also be avoided before having a tattoo done.
You notice the effects of caffeine within 15 minutes. The levels in your bloodstream peak an hour later and remain there for several hours. About 6 hours after you consume caffeine, half of it is still in your body. Caffeine may not completely clear your bloodstream until after 10 hours.
Skip the caffeinated drinks and alcohol.
While you may think alcohol will numb the pain, it's actually illegal to tattoo someone under the influence in most states. So if you're serious about your ink, grin and bear it. Caffeine and alcohol also both thin the blood, which makes it harder to tattoo.
As with tipping waitstaff, 20-25% percent is a good standard. An easy way to include tipping in your budget is to add it in when getting the estimated costs for having your work done. So, if your tattoo is expected to cost $200, with a 20-percent tip, that's $240.
Dry skin can impact the appearance of your tattoos during and after the process. Moisture is key to protecting and caring for skin, so the moment you decide to get a tattoo, keep the area hydrated with Vaseline® Healing Jelly to lock in moisture and help protect the skin.
Bottom Line: Alcohol and Tattoos Don't Mix
To sum up: we all want to celebrate a new tattoo, but do not drink for 24 hours before getting a tattoo or 48 hours after getting a tattoo.
Hold still! If you find yourself needing to cough, re-adjust your position, stretch your leg, wiggle, answer the phone, laugh, or flinch; you have to give the artist warning first. You should also not assume that because you don't hear the machine running, they don't still need you to be motionless.
If you are booking a tattoo session, water is your best friend. Keep your body's fluid levels high to keep your skin hydrated. Not only will your skin benefit from drinking lots of fluids, but your tattoo artist too. It will be easier for the needle since your skin will be a lot firmer.
1. Lack of Sleep 💤 😴 When you're tired, your body is weaker and less able to handle stress or pain, making it easier to faint. 2. Missing Breakfast🍔 No food means low blood sugar, which can make you feel lightheaded or faint, especially during something stressful like a tattoo.
If you do need to drink Gatorade, it should be consumed in addition to water, not as a replacement.
As we state generally “tips are not required, but appreciated “ because most tattoo artists in a shop minus the owner are making 50-60% of the total cost… on a $1000 tattoo (most likely multiple sessions) I would tip at least $100-$150 for every session done.. so roughly I'd say average a good tip on a tattoo that's ...
Tattoo tipping rates
But as a rule of thumb, a 15-20% tip is usually a good place to start. So, if you spent a total of $200 on a tattoo, tipping anywhere from $30 to $40 shows your artist that you appreciate their handiwork.
Many people choose to tip about 20% of the overall price of their tattoo – just like at a barbershop or massage appointment.
Have a good meal 1-2 hours before your appointment. It's a good idea to bring a snack and a gatorade also. When you get tattooed, you lose a bit more blood than you expect, so having something in your stomach will help keep your blood sugar level up.
Just remember to use numbing cream before starting your session; take breaks throughout; choose smaller tattoos over large ones; avoid sensitive areas; and use ice both during and after your session! With these tips in mind, you'll be on your way towards getting the perfect traditional tattoo in no time—painlessly!
What You Should Not Do Before A Tattoo Session. No tanning, fake tanning, chemical peels, sunburns, major cuts or scrapes, in the area to be tattooed within a month prior to your session. We cannot work on freshly damaged skin, as it will not heal properly.
“There is some speculation that L-theanine can counteract the jitteriness of caffeine, but this may not be true in everyone.” While you can minimize the effects of caffeine by drinking water, switching to decaf and moving around, again, there's no proven method on how to flush caffeine out of your system quickly.
Further, the EFSA indicates that, for most people, up to 200 mg of caffeine at once doesn't raise health concerns, even “when consumed less than two hours prior to intense physical exercise”. However, they caution that 100 mg of caffeine taken close to bedtime may affect sleep quality.