FAQ

You can find more information and detailed instructions about tattoo aftercare here.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS, CALL US IMMEDIATELY AT:  (910) 346-5031.

If it is after hours or if you have a medical concern, please contact your doctor.  If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.

Yes tattoos are art. However, some tattoos are good art, poorly done… and some tattoos are bad art, done well. Find a tattooist who is competent with both a pencil and a tattoo machine.

This guy is taking it pretty well.

You bet it hurts. Not as much as you think and definitely not as much as some would like you to believe. Yes, some areas are more tender than others, but the discomfort is manageable if you’re getting what you really want, where you really want it.

Where to place a tattoo is, and always should be, your own decision. Don’t be influenced by “it’ll hurt less there” or “it’ll be cooler here”, get the tattoo where YOU want it!

General advice on placement is that you should consider what kind of clothes you wear, work and social, whether you would like it to show all the time or only when you want to show it off, and in some cases, the appropriateness of the design itself (i.e. the naked warrior girl might be better placed on the calf than the forearm for those who have to attend PTA meetings or be Soccer Mom/Dads!

Most professional tattoo shops will not tattoo faces. They may tattoo your neck and hands IF you already have a lot of coverage. Do not expect to be able to get your first tattoo on your knuckles at a reputable shop!

There are certain areas of the body where the skin does not cooperate well with tattoos over time, notably the fingers, toes and feet. Hands are constantly exposed to the sun, scuffing and rubbing on things, likewise the feet and toes rub on shoes. This means the skin is tougher in these areas and constantly regenerating so it is likely the tattoo will fade fairly quickly. It will need to be touched up on a regular basis. It may not seem like a problem at first, but on your fifth redo, you might begin to wish you hadn’t bothered! Women who are considering having children are advised not to get tattooed on the stomach and local area as the skin stretches so much during pregnancy that the tattoo is often badly damaged.

Some types of SCARRING can be tattooed over, but not all, consult with an experienced artist about this. Surgical scars should be at least 6 months old before they are ready to be tattooed over.

Yes… if proper sterilization and infection control standards are practiced by the studio you’ve chosen. Basically, this means anything that comes in contact with blood / body fluids must either be disposed of (single – use) or sterilized (autoclaved).

An autoclave is a heat / steam / pressure unit that achieves and maintains 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius) under 10 pounds (4.5 Kilograms) pressure for 30 minutes or up to 270 degrees Fahrenheit (132 degrees Celsius) under 15 pounds (6.8 Kilograms) pressure for 15 minutes. Most units run a 55 minute cycle from a cold start.

It is the only accepted method of sterilization that will kill every living microorganism known to mankind.

This means that every set of needles used to apply your tattoo are brand new. They are individually packaged, sealed, and autoclaved. An indicator strip on the package changes color when processing has occurred. After use, the needles are disposed of.

One needle, one customer.

All ointments, pigments, gloves, ink cups, razors, etc. used to apply your tattoo are discarded after use.

Nothing is reused.  This eliminates any possibility of contamination of materials.

After the tattoo procedure has been completed, the work area surfaces are disinfected with an EPA approved veridical which kills any surface bacteria or viruses.

First, look around. Is the studio clean and professional looking? Appearances can tell you a lot. Then, ask questions.

A professional tattoo studio takes pride in its safe tattooing procedures and won’t mind answering your concerns.

Our job is done, now it’s your turn… Not looking after your tattoo properly may result in loss of quality, so you should follow these instructions carefully.  Do not listen to your friends and people in bars who think they have a better idea!!!!!

• Remove bandage in 2 to 4 hours.
• Wash tattoo carefully with warm water and mild soap.
• Pat Dry.
• Apply a thin layer of lotion after a few hours and then twice a day for about a week or until the skin is no longer dry.
• A good lotion to use is Lubriderm.
• Don’t use fancy creams, hippy potions, or perfumed lotions.
• You do not need antibiotic creme.
• Showers are fine. Baths, swimming, and sauna are out until the tattoo is healed
• No sun or tanning until the tattoo is completely healed.
• Sunburn on a fresh tattoo can cause severe irritation and allergy.
• Do not pick, scratch, or ‘help’ the scab to come off.
• If you have any questions please call the person who did your tattoo.

Don’t bet your skin on it.

The ability to draw neat designs does not make a tattooist. Without the proper equipment, mechanical skill and technical knowledge, that pretty paper design can turn into anything from mush to scar tissue in a couple of months. Every tattooist has artistic talent. Unfortunately, this is false.

A good deal of a professional tattooist’s time is spent fixing or covering someone else’s “artistic talent”.

Not necessarily. While most professionals are capable of a variety of styles, they usually have a specialty, a unique style of tattooing they’ve developed and are very good at. That artist who’s known for his killer tribal work may not be the choice for the portrait of mom and dad you’ve been planning. Match the design you want with the artist who can pull it off.

Bad idea. Odds are that if their first attempt is botched, so will their second, and third… Steer clear.

A professional may be able to fix-up that blotched job, but if you keep going back to the butcher, you’ll probably end up with an even darker, uglier tattoo that requires a cover-up… Much larger and much more expensive.

Yes, more than, say, 10 or 20 years ago, but not as mainstream as you may think.  Most non-tattooed people still associate tattooing with sailors, circus sideshows, skid row drunks and outlaw rebels. You would be wise to place your first tattoo where it is covered by normally worn clothing.

Nonsense. Most established professionals have more work than they can handle and can make more money doing a lot of small, uncomplicated pieces than a few large complex ones.

Don’t get one.  An impulsive whim is a really stupid reason to make such a permanent decision.  If you wouldn’t get a tattoo tomorrow, don’t get one today.

No. The best way is to see real tattoos on real people. Photos are second best. They do give you a good idea of what the artist is capable of.  Drawings or FLASH may reflect a tattooist’s taste and artistic ability, but give no clue as to his ability to tattoo those designs on your skin.

Go home!

If you’re shopping price, it’s a safe bet you’re getting tattooed for all the wrong reasons… It’s cool, my friends have one, I’m expressing my individuality, it’ll piss Mom off.  If you’re serious about getting a tattoo, get exactly what you want, even if you have to save up for it.

Yeah, right.  And that guy over there still thinks true love is having his ex-wife’s name forever tattooed on his chest.  If a tattooist refuses to do a particular design, think about it before you blow your top… He just may have a good reason.

Absolutely not. The only acceptable means of sterilization is with an autoclave. Boiling water, dry heat units, alcohol, bleaching or any other kind of voodoo just won’t cut it.

Definitely not true. A person with one terrific tattoo displays more respect for the art form than someone with an armful of uninspired badly inked images.

Partly true. You must not “soak” a new tattoo, but gentle hand-washing of it is necessary to remove harmful bacteria from the healing tattoo. When you shower, simply apply a little extra coating of ointment to the tattoo before you get in the shower, and avoid direct shower spray on it. Blot off excess ointment when you’re done bathing.

You can find more information and detailed instructions about tattoo aftercare here.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS, CALL US IMMEDIATELY AT:  (910) 346-5031.

If it is after hours or if you have a medical concern, please contact your doctor.  If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.

Black and Gray Tattoo inked at Classic Tattoo Inc. in Jacksonville, NC

Black and Gray basically means tattoos done with use of degrees of black to gray shading. There is usually no application of color at all, although depending on the design a small amount of color can be added to enhance areas of the design.

This type of tattoo is particularly suited to darker skin tone, which does not accept color well, and also to those who are regular sun-worshippers or solarium addicts.

Time tends to soften the tones of the piece and give it a realistic depth quality.

Color Tattoo inked at Classic Tattoo Inc. in Jacksonville, NC

Color tattoos are full color pieces lined with black and also shaded. There are 2 main types of color design.

1.  Old style traditional tattoos, using block color and no tones.

2.  We use color shading to obtain subtle color merging.

Color tends to fade if subjected to intense or long-term regular sun exposure as the skin cells, which hold the pigment molecules are damaged by u-v rays and removed by the body system.

It can be retouched if necessary and without much sun exposure looks good for many years.

All colors are dermatological tested pigments, but those with known allergies should request an allergy test prior to the application of a color tattoo.

Portrait Fineline Tattoo inked at Classic Tattoo Inc. in Jacksonville, NC

Portraits can be taken directly from photos, which should be of good quality and large enough to clearly see the details of the face or animal in question. There is a minimum recommended size for this kind of work and anyone interested should contact us for more details.

Fine-line is exactly what you would expect from the description and is mostly used for portrait work. It can be used for high detail and definition in larger pieces.

Tribal Tattoo inked at Classic Tattoo Inc. in Jacksonville, NC

Tribal is the name given to solid black graphic designs which have become popular in recent years.

Its origins are, among others, in the Polynesian islands where the tribes have a tradition of tattooing for ritual and ceremonial purposes; the Maori of New Zealand with their facial mokos are probably the most well known example.

Modern tribal designs do not generally have any symbolic meanings and are simple body decorations for those who are unsure of what kind of picture they could live with. Celtic designs, gangland style lettering and Japanese characters all come under this description in modern tattooing.

Tribal combines well with the other styles mentioned and can be useful as background or for connecting separate pieces.

Freehand Custom Tattoo inked at Classic Tattoo Inc. in Jacksonville, NC

Freehand tattooing simply means that the tattoo is drawn directly onto the body area without use of a stencil or pre-prepared drawing.

The advantage of this is that the tattoo can be better fitted to the body, making use of the body shape, to give the image more movement.

Freehand is also used for cover-up tattoos, to allow a more direct fitting of the new image over the old, making use of the existing shape and lines.

We would be happy to prepare a custom design for you.  Custom tattoos are prepared on paper and may, in certain cases, be applied by stencil to the body area.

All custom pieces are designed as a unique piece similar to an artist’s commission.

Classic Tattoo Inc. does not repeat custom pieces, so they remain completely original. 

Contact Classic Tattoo Inc. to discuss your requirements.

Some bad tattoos are restorable to a proper version of the original plan and these are known as reworks, but the majority are usually only savable through cover-ups and you may be limited on the choice of design.

Remember that a cover up cannot always be your dream tattoo as it may not be possible to fit a specific design to the old piece, this depends how dark and distorted the old tattoo is. Usually we can come up with a good compromise though and anyone needing help or information about cover ups should contact Classic Tattoo Inc. and be prepared to send a photo!

Tribal is not usually applicable here unless you want a black square, but there are more options than the standard black panther or peacock depending on the size of the old tattoo and intensity of dark pigments.

Every cover-up is an individual custom fitted piece and those interested should contact us for more details.