Damnit Deb

 I’ve harped on a bit before about quality jewelry. It really is vital to the health of your piercing that you choose an implant grade material when you’re first pierced (and preferably after). Poor jewelry can result in the failure of your piercing in a best case scenario and a horrible infection at worst. Most of us pick jewelry because it’s pretty or because it fits our aesthetic without looking any further.  Jewelry standards for initial piercing are set by APP guidelines. While these aren’t required for piercers to follow they’re what your piercer should be following if they want to your piercings to be successful.  Not all Metals Are Equal When modern body piercing first became a thing we had steel. Jewelry was created in the 80s and 90s specifically for piercing and the only available material was natural horn or bone as used by many tribes or steel.  Steel is a mystery metal that can have any number of different mixes and additives. As body piercing became mo...

 There’s been a rise in studios marking themselves as upscale or private in their marketing. Like most marketing tactics these buzzwords are meant to invoke a certain feeling about how you see that business. Do they actually mean anything though? Private Studio The rise in private studios is very new. Tattoo studios until recently were a group setting. But, like many jobs that involve creative minds it can be hard for all of us to get along. In general a “private” studio means a small business run by one artist with only them working there. It’s generally only you and the artist in there so it can be much more comfortable for revealing tattoos knowing you wont have other artists or clients milling about. It’s something that a lot of high end artists have opted for rather than paying shop fees and having to work with shop owners on schedules and rates. Some artists dream of this as it’s a completely autonomous situation where they get complete artistic freedom. These places are almo...

 Do you get nervous when you get tattooed? Me too. It’s totally normal to feel some anxiety before your body mods. It’s a permanent change in appearance and it can be painful. So how can you best minimize that anxiety? Staying calm isn’t always easy but here are a few ways you can help chill out during your session.  Box Breathing Picture a square box in your mind. What you will want to do is to mentally follow the lines of that square. As you move through inhaling, holding, exhaling and holding along those 4 lines try and stay focused only on those. It helps regulate your breathing pattern and can reduce anxiety by giving you mindfulness.   1: INHALE - inhale through your nose to the count of 4.  2: HOLD - Hold your breath for a count of 4. 3: EXHALE - Exhale slowly in a controlled manner for the count of 4 4: HOLD - Hold again for a count of 4.  REPEAT.  You can also do a similar technique with a 4 second inhale, a 7 second pause and an 8 second exhale. T...