Tattoos are cool. There’s a good chance your parents raised you to believe otherwise, but guys, we’re adults now and it’s time to collectively admit it: tattoos are so very cool. They’re no longer exclusively worn by felons and midshipmen (seriously mom, I promise).

These days, your doctor is just as likely to have one as the kid working as a line cook at your local 24-hour diner. No longer holding the negative stigmas they once did, tattoos are now seen as a popular form of vibrant self-expression, a medium through which people can channel their life stories by way of permanent art on their skin. Every tattoo has a story, even the dumb ones – especially the dumb ones. As someone with Milhouse from The Simpsons tattooed on his ankle, I know this as well as anyone.

But taking the plunge into tattoos can be an intimidating experience. There’s a myriad of factors to consider beforehand, the least of which is your mom’s voice in the back of your head reminding you that you’ll be stuck with it forever. And trying to make sense of some of those factors can be even more confusing, with every person with a tattoo seemingly giving you different advice, often times contradicting what you thought you already knew. What this tends to lead to is your first tattoo becoming “something I’ve always thought about doing” and never becoming something you, you know, actually do.

As a guy with his fair share of tattoos who made plenty of rookie mistakes along the way, I know the pitfalls of getting your first tattoos all too well. Here’s what you should keep in mind before stepping into your first tattoo parlor.

Think It Through – But Not Too Hard

Ask just about anyone that doesn’t have a tattoo yet and, odds are, they’ll tell you that they have one that they’ve always thought about getting. The desire is there, but for whatever reason, they’ve yet to take the plunge. More often than not it boils down to them wanting to make sure that they really want that tattoo.

Maybe you’re unsure of the design you want, or worried that you won’t want it anymore ten years from now. These are totally valid concerns, to which I’d advise the following:

If you really want to think it over, give it six months to a year. If by then you still want that tattoo and haven’t soured on the idea, go ahead and get it.
If it’s longevity or visibility you’re worried about, get your first tattoo somewhere that won't always be visible. In my case, this meant my ankles. If you find yourself not being as fond of it years down the road, it’s easy to cover up with clothing. Plus, how often do you find yourself looking at someplace like your ankle? Not too often. You’ll find yourself forgetting it’s even there.

And if you find yourself in a worst-case-scenario, where years down the line you end up really, truly hating your tattoo, guess what? There are removal procedures you can look into. Or you can find an artist willing to do what they call a “blast-over”, which is when they tattoo right over the piece that you don’t like. Blast-overs are situational, as not every tattoo is going to be able to be entirely obscured, but they’re worth investigating if you find yourself needing one.

Pick Your Artist Wisely

It’s easy to walk into any old tattoo parlor and get inked. Most places, save for ones populated by extremely in-demand artists, will take walk-ins, and there’s nothing out-and-out wrong with heading into wherever and getting it done by the first person available. But your experience is going to go much, much better if you do a little bit of research beforehand.

Getting tattooed is a pretty intimate experience. You’re trusting a person with a potentially-dangerous tool to inscribe something into your body that is going to be there for the rest of your life. A person tattooing you should be held to the same standard that you’d hold someone like your barber or your therapist.

For one thing, find someone whose work best suits what you want in a tattoo. You wouldn’t get an American Traditional-style piece from someone whose specialty is in script or portraiture, just like you wouldn’t go to your favorite Thai takeout spot and try to order pizza. Find the artist who specializes in what you want, and while you’re at it, find one you’re comfortable with on a personal level. Like I said, getting tattooed is an intimate experience. Getting tattooed by someone who’s kind of an a-hole isn’t a great time. Not only will it serve you well in terms of personal comfort, but depending on the piece, tattooing can take a long time. You don’t want to be stuck sitting for hours with someone you can’t make conversation with, or worse, someone who’s just an outright jerk. I once did a half-hour session with someone who spent the entire sitting telling me why every opinion I had was wrong. And that’s the thing: once someone has started tattooing you, you can’t exactly change your mind and ask for someone else to finish the job.

Picking the right artist is crucial for another reason if you’re getting tattooed for the first time: walking into a tattoo parlor when you’re new to it can be incredibly intimidating. It feels like walking into a club you’re not a member of, like you’re not supposed to be there and everyone knows it. This is natural, and even if you find the perfect artist to work with, it can still happen. Don’t worry. It will pass. But this sense of intimidation can manifest itself in another way that can be detrimental to your experience.

Too often an artist will show a client their design before beginning the tattooing process as a final check. This is the point where if you have anything you want changed, you need to say it. But that sense of intimidation can manifest itself here in the client wanting something changed but keeping their mouth shut. As someone who’s fallen victim to this mindset before, let me assure you, you’ve got to speak up. The mindset in that moment is often that the artist is the professional, and as such, they know what’s best. If they drew the design that way, it’s for a reason. But the fact of the matter is that it’s your tattoo, and it needs to look perfect to you, not to them. If you’ve picked the right artist, communication should be easy on all fronts, especially this one. You should feel comfortable asking them to change the design, or telling them you need a break during the tattooing process. You’re not a mute canvas in this process. Communication is key, and any tattoo artist worth working with will echo this sentiment wholeheartedly.

Don't Skimp on Price

Everyone loves a good deal. We love finding that perfect rib eye on special at the grocery store, or seeing that the jacket we’ve had our eye on for months just got marked down 40%. Discounts are great. But there are some things you should expect to pay more for, and a tattoo is one of them.

I used to be blown away by how expensive tattooing can be until a few things were put in perspective for me. For one, tattoo equipment is expensive, and it’s not provided to artists by the shop they work for. A lot of times you’ll hear a store has a “shop minimum” on what a tattoo can cost, and what you hear is often just what the materials will cost for a small piece – anywhere from $40 to $100 depending on the store. That’s not even taking into account what it is you’re buying: a permanent art piece. Your tattoo is going to be with you forever. The artist who is creating it has likely spent years honing their craft. It’s not the time to haggle.

This is not to say that there aren’t artists who will try to charge you more than the tattoo they’re giving you is worth. It happens. But if you’ve done that ground work, if you’ve picked your artist carefully and done your research? It won’t be a problem. You can trust at that point that your tattoo will be well worth whatever you pay for it.

Which brings us to tipping. A not-insignificant portion of an artist’s income comes from tips, and yes, you are absolutely expected to do it. You’ll hear a few different takes on what a fair tip is. Some subscribe to a restaurant-style 15-20% tip of the total cost of your tattoo. Others say $10 for every $100 the tattoo costs is fair. At the end of the day, it’s your call. Just remember: if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to get a tattoo.

Respect the Process

It’s probably important to talk about the experience of getting a tattoo itself. Once you have your artist picked out, find out when their nearest availability is. For some, it might be on the spot. But for more in-demand artists you may need to schedule your appointment well in advance. Sometimes this can mean a few weeks, other times a few months. And if your piece is more complex, the artist may have you schedule some sort of consultation before the actual appointment. There they'll try to get a feel for what you want from the piece and present you with some concept art, that way they don’t spend the actual tattooing session making changes to the design.

Then comes the actual session itself. The obvious question people tend to have about this part is, “Is it going to hurt?”. You can ask ten people this question and get ten different answers because everyone's body processes pain differently, and it can vary greatly depending on where you're getting inked. If there’s anything resembling a hard-and-fast rule, it’s that thinner skin (like that on your inner arm) and areas close to nerve clusters (elbow and knee ditches come to mind) are going to be more painful than others.

Once the actual tattooing has begun, don’t be afraid to ask for a break but do be mindful about how many you ask for. On my most recent piece, which took about an hour, I took two short breaks to stretch, use the restroom, and respond to some texts. These breaks came after my artist was finished with the linework and then after he’d completed pre-coloring shading. If your piece is bigger, you can probably get away with taking a couple more. Tattooing can be an intensely physical process, so your artist should be pretty understanding (plus they’ll need breaks themselves for the same reasons you do). But try not to take so many that you’re interrupting their process. It can veer into inconsiderate territory.

Finally, with your tattoo finished, you’re going to need to take some measures to provide it with the care it needs in the following days and weeks. As you’d probably expect at this point, every tattoo artist is going to give you a different answer as to what to do in the immediate aftermath of getting tattooed. None of them is wrong, most likely, and it's easiest to just do whatever they advise. The main thing to keep in mind is that a tattoo is, as hard as this may be to remember, technically an open wound. Treat it as such. It’s going to scab, it’s going to itch, and it’s going to be sensitive in the days following your tattooing. It's annoying as hell, so prepare yourself. Other than that, here are the basics that most places will tell you:

Wash it with unscented soap – scented soaps can have additives that can create infection – plentifully in the few days that follow.
Apply unscented moisturizer regularly for about a week. Keep this going longer if the area still feels dry and/or itchy.
It’s going to be tempting, but don’t pick at it after it scabs over. Not only is it bad for your skin, it’s bad for the tattoo and it can lead to warping, fading, and a number of other less-than-stellar side effects.

Remember That Every Picture Tells a Story

Remember that Simpsons tattoo I mentioned? It’s not too pretty. It’s some mediocre line work depicting Milhouse in a leather jacket holding a pocket knife. It was part of a flash sheet special a few Novembers ago and cost me $20 as part of a Friday the 13th deal – $13 tattoos with a $7 tip automatically added. It’s probably the dumbest tattoo I have, or ever will. It’s also my favorite tattoo by a very wide margin.

When I got it, I’d been struggling financially for a few months and the stress had been wearing me down. But I toughed it out and had finally started to claw my way out of that hole. One Friday I found myself, for the first time in months, with money to spare, so I hit up my best friend that afternoon with all of three or four hours notice to see if she wanted to get tattooed at a local shop running this special. We got coffee while we waited for our names to be called and caught up, then got tattooed next to each other while the artist inking my Milhouse piece told us about the time he met Macho Man Randy Savage at a birthday party. After that, we wandered around town and eventually discovered a cool used bookstore we’d never been to. The night ended with cooking pasta at her place and watching TV. It’d been a stressful couple of months, but that night I felt like myself for the first time in a while. It was a special night. I’ll never forget it.

I tell you this because every time you get tattooed you’ll remember it, for better or for worse. They grow to form a map of your entire life across your body. Sometimes those mile markers will signify the good. Other times the art represents sadness, anger, or bittersweet nostalgia. Your tattoos and the memories tied to them are yours and yours alone. So the most important thing to keep in mind when getting your first tattoo – or any tattoo, for that matter – it’s this: do what makes you happy. It’s your body, your art, your expression. The only person who needs to love it is you. It doesn’t matter if it’s an intricate full-arm sleeve or a cartoon character from a $20 flash sheet. If you’re happy with it, you’ve done it right.

It’s worth the pain. It’s worth the money. And if you’ve found an artist whose work you love, it’s worth the wait for an appointment. It’s easy to find reasons to not get tattooed, but so rewarding to just up and do it. There’s a sense of self-assurance that comes with getting one, an inner satisfaction with the fact that you’ve made the decision. And once you get one, you’re likely to find yourself immediately thinking about your next one.

A Beginner's Guide to Getting a Tattoo