Questions I Get Asked All the Time
Almost five years in, I've realized that most people walk in with the same handful of questions. Some of them they ask out loud. Some of them they're clearly thinking but are too polite to say.
So let's just get into it.
"Does it hurt?"
The number one question, always. And the honest answer is: less than people expect.
Most of my clients say it's uncomfortable but very manageable, somewhere in the range of mild irritation. The areas I work on are often scar tissue, which frequently has reduced sensation to begin with. I use numbing, and I check in constantly.
The people who are most nervous walking in are almost always the ones who end up saying "wait, that's it?" on the way out.
"How long does it last?"
It's a tattoo, so the ink stays. But like any tattoo, color softens over time. And scar tissue may not hold ink as long or good as normal, healthy skin would since it is “damaged” skin. Sun exposure can also speed that up considerably, which is why I'm so annoying about SPF.
Most clients come back for a touch-up eventually. How long that takes depends on your skin, your sun habits, and the area we worked on.
"Will it look fake?"
This is usually the real question hiding behind all the other questions.
Nobody wants to trade a scar they don't like for a tattoo they like even less. That's a completely fair concern, and it's the entire reason I build color slowly across sessions instead of going all in on day one.
The goal isn't to make something noticeable. It's to make something that stops being noticeable.
"Can you fix it in one session?"
I wish. Almost NEVER.
Most cases need two to four sessions, sometimes more depending on how the scar tissue holds ink. I know that's not the answer anyone wants. But the alternative is rushing and ending up with a result that looks obvious, and neither of us wants that.
"Am I too old for this?"
I've heard this one more than I expected, and it always gets me a little.
No. You are not too old. I've worked on clients in their seventies and had some of the most emotional appointments of my career. There's no expiration date on wanting to feel good in your own skin.
The one nobody asks out loud
"Is this vain?"
Nobody has ever actually said this to me. But I can tell when someone's thinking it, usually because they're over-explaining why they're here.
You don't have to explain. Wanting to feel comfortable in your own body is not vanity. It's just being human.
That's the thing I most want people to walk away knowing. Ask me anything you want about the process, the sessions, the healing, all of it. But you never have to make a case for why you deserve to feel good in your own skin. You already do.
