Girls with tattoos....

please help me with DH's birthday gift!

DH's birthday is not until December, but I decided I want to buy him his first tattoo. I wanted it to be a surprise (maybe schedule it a week after his bday and let him know on the day of) but I wanted to do research first.

1- Can you please reccomend a good, clean tattoo place? (pref. in Nassau)

2- How far in advance (generally) do you have schedule appointments? Would I have to show them exactly what DH wants at the time of the appoint? (I know he wants a Yankee symbol but he hasnt picked which one). Or can he bring it a week before or day of?

I've never gotten a tattoo so I'm clueless when it comes to this!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

DH (weird to say!! lol) goes to a guy named Jimbo at Lark Tattoo in Westbury. He's amazing! DH has 2 full sleeves and he did 90% of it. The place is spotless clean and everyone is really friendly and super talented. You can usually get an appointment with him within about a month.

Re: Girls with tattoos....

i would call a few days ahead if he is going to have a big piece or work done. other than they allow walk ins.

I know you want nassau, but there is a GREAT few in suffolk, so if you feel like traveling let me know

i have 5 tattoos and they are all still in AMAZING shape and color!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

Our artist is out in Suffolk but if you are interested FM me....he is super professional, super super clean, and just so talented! He has won many awards and is just amazing!

usually the way it works is when you go in to set up the appointment you discuss with the artist what you want and where you want it so he has an idea of how long it will take and or draw you up something. Then you leave a deposit...our guy requires a certain percentage, again based on area, size, and complexity of the piece. Then you make the appointment, which for some artists could be weeks to months before you get in their chair. Typically I have had to wait a month or two to get in my guys chair because they book up quick, the good ones anyway.

Many tattoo places sell gift certificates so this may be a better idea for your DH, that way he can go in himself and talk to the artist, show him where he wants it, discuss design and size and so on.

Hope this helps!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

What a great gift Colleen!! I would highly recommend Lark Tattoo as well. That's where I go for my work. Literally every artist there is awesome. They all have different styles and all, and they generally run about $100-$150/hour. You get what you pay for, never forget that with tattoos. My Snow White was done by Miss Jo, my bows, cupcake and candy were done by my friend Matt Vancura. Jimbo as mentioned is also great, so is Chad. Bruce is their owner and is a huge teddy bear. They book up far in advance, so what I would do is go in and look at their portfolios first. They have their work set up on touch screens that you can just browse through casually and see each artist and so you see who you may want to make the appointment with. Depending on the artist you could have a 4 week wait to a 12 or more week wait (for a weekend day). I made my appointment for my Snow White with Miss Jo in July-her first opening was October! After you've checked out the artists, if you're comfortable I would put down the $50 to make an appointment, and then buy a gift card. OR you can just buy the gift card and then your DH can go in and make the appointment but he would have to wait longer doing it that way.
I hope this has helped you!! Feel free to fb message me or FM me if you have more questions.

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by allegracristina

What a great gift Colleen!! I would highly recommend Lark Tattoo as well. That's where I go for my work. Literally every artist there is awesome. They all have different styles and all, and they generally run about $100-$150/hour. You get what you pay for, never forget that with tattoos. My Snow White was done by Miss Jo, my bows, cupcake and candy were done by my friend Matt Vancura. Jimbo as mentioned is also great, so is Chad. Bruce is their owner and is a huge teddy bear. They book up far in advance, so what I would do is go in and look at their portfolios first. They have their work set up on touch screens that you can just browse through casually and see each artist and so you see who you may want to make the appointment with. Depending on the artist you could have a 4 week wait to a 12 or more week wait (for a weekend day). I made my appointment for my Snow White with Miss Jo in July-her first opening was October! After you've checked out the artists, if you're comfortable I would put down the $50 to make an appointment, and then buy a gift card. OR you can just buy the gift card and then your DH can go in and make the appointment but he would have to wait longer doing it that way.
I hope this has helped you!! Feel free to fb message me or FM me if you have more questions.

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I recommend Jo as well.. she does AMAZINGGG work... she did one of mine as well

Re: Girls with tattoos....

Collen, Dino and I have a friend who is an amazing tattoo artist!!! AMAZING!!! His work is insane. My sister went to him too. His name is Matt (goes by Slim though) and he works at Peter's Tattoo in West Hempstead. I highly recommend him. When I get my next tattoo, it will be by him. He is amazinggggg sooo talented and of course the place is clean.

You can call anytime. Some people book up fast. You could go that week and show the symbol he wants...Or the artist will draw some pictures to give him different ideas and he can pick one.

(516) 292-8622 Ask for Slim!!! Tell him Jackie and Dino recommended you :)

Re: Girls with tattoos....

I've had all of mine done at DaVinci's in Wantagh

Re: Girls with tattoos....

DH and I go to Timmy's Tattoo in Huntington, although we only see one artist everyone there is great. in the case of our shop, you kind of tell them what you want and then they figure out the best artist, i only say this because our artist only does larger custom pieces, and since he only works one day a week he's hard to get an appointment with. if you have an idea of what DH might want you can always start researching artists and then go from there. I know DH and I made appointments in July and the earliest we could get were two saturdays in october, but again it really varies by artist.

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by T E R I

I've had all of mine done at DaVinci's in Wantagh

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my friend swears by this place too. they are very clean !

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by T E R I

I've had all of mine done at DaVinci's in Wantagh

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This is where I got mine too. They were good and clean!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

Brian Paul at Kings Avenue tattoo in Massapequa. DH & I followed him when he left Lark. He is amazing!!!!!!!!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by FinallyMrsB18

Brian Paul at Kings Avenue tattoo in Massapequa. DH & I followed him when he left Lark. He is amazing!!!!!!!!

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Kings Ave is really good!! One of the guys there has been in newspapers and is really famous. he is always booked...damn what is his name? Mike Rubenstein or Matt..something like that

Re: Girls with tattoos....

A very close friend of mine owns two places, one in Kings Park and another in East Northport, I know you said you prefer Nassau but his work is AMAZING. He has been on covers of magazines and won awards and stuff. The name of his place is Tormented Souls, you can mention my name, he is like a brother to me. Its worth the drive.

Re: Girls with tattoos....

Bruce at Lark Tattoo in Westbury!! They do book up far in advance but are well worth the wait!!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

The one DH goes to is across the street from the Nassau Colusium...on hemptsed tpk.
ugh i cant think of the name at the moment...give me a second....
oh
Skin Deep!

very good!! they fixed a tattoo i had on my foot, cuz i didnt like and and made it fabulous!

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by jackieee

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Posted by FinallyMrsB18

Brian Paul at Kings Avenue tattoo in Massapequa. DH & I followed him when he left Lark. He is amazing!!!!!!!!

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Kings Ave is really good!! One of the guys there has been in newspapers and is really famous. he is always booked...damn what is his name? Mike Rubenstein or Matt..something like that

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its mike rubethal. he went to school with my brother.
i agree that kings avenue is great quality. they are hard sometimes to get an appointment though depending on the artist.
i would also recommend body design in bay shore. me and john use the owners daughter, i forget her name, tara i think. shes good.
i've also used matt's tribal dragon in bethpage for the big piece on my back and 2 others i have. my brother used them for his sleeve.
Colleen...your best bet is getting a gift certificate and letting him go talk to the people. the artists will not be able to give you accurate prices and what not until they see the piece, the size, the details etc. plus he can go there then and have them draw him something if he wants.
do you have any idea what kiind of size he wants? to give you an idea (since you have seen my tatts)...my wrist was $150, my back was $400, my new ones on my collar bones were $120. hopefully that can help you figure out the price of a gift cert to get. OR just take him there and pay. thats what i did for John as an engagement gift, we just went and i paid after it was done when i found teh price

Re: Girls with tattoos....

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Posted by jackieee

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Posted by FinallyMrsB18

Brian Paul at Kings Avenue tattoo in Massapequa. DH & I followed him when he left Lark. He is amazing!!!!!!!!

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Kings Ave is really good!! One of the guys there has been in newspapers and is really famous. he is always booked...damn what is his name? Mike Rubenstein or Matt..something like that

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Brian does amazing work, he can prob fit your DH in soon if it is not too large a piece. FM me if you are going to use them, and I can call him for you to let him know we sent you.

Some Pics of work he did, sorry these are all I had. LOL

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Re: Girls with tattoos....

Re: Girls with tattoos....

Thanks girls for all the responses.

Jackie- I was worried about how to figure out the pricing- tattoos do gift certicates? If they do maybe I'll just get him one. I have a general idea of what he wants (yankee symbol- probably about the size of John's tigger on this arm).