I'm a tattoo artist who underwent a standard apprenticeship under a certified tattoo artist. I am an artist first, tattooer second, which means I put creativity and art into my tattoos, not just the 'you pick it, we stick it' type of tattooer. Apprenticeships for tattooing vary by state, according to the laws. I'm also a trained body piercer, as well. Any questions about the job or apprenticing, I'd be happy to help!
PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT price tattoos. Seek a shop for that.
Swelling isn't permanent. If a piercing is still swollen and hurts weeks after it's done, it needs to be taken out. Chance are, it's infected, or wasn't pierced correctly. If there is swelling around the entry sites, it may be a keloid, or a pocket of oil that sometimes develops after a piercing. Keloids shouldn't be popped, and they can be treated with tea tree oil, but there's a chance they may never go away.
The ink may not be done settling in your skin. During the healing process, especially if the area slightly scabs, the colors will go from vibrant to muddy brown and back to vibrant once the final healing stages are done. If you still aren't happy with the colors once it's completely healed, head back to your tattoo artist and have them put the golds and browns in.
I'd go back and talk to the artist about it. I'm not sure how they screwed it up to say whether it can be fixed or just needs to be covered up.
I don't price tattoos. Head to a shop and ask the artist you'd like to have do your tattoo.
Navy Officer (Former)
Dating Website Employee
Hospice Nurse
You can always ask an artist to draw you up something, but keep in mind 2 things:
1- They will probably charge you a deposit to do a drawing. That money will then be applied to the tattoo when you have it done.
2- You will more than likely not be able to leave with that drawing, or even take a picture of that drawing, to help you "think". This protects the artist's custom drawing, and ensures that they will be inking it, after putting the time and effort into drawing it.
You should not re-cover a tattoo after the first few days, and especially not 2 weeks later. However, to answer your question, tattoos can take up to a month to heal, depending on the area of the body, and ink can purge from the skin at any time during the healing process. The only concern is when the tattoo scabs and the scab rips off before it's ready; then you might be left with an empty spot where the ink came out completely.
You definitely need to wait until the tattoo is finished healing. If a tattoo is gone back into before it's ready, it's like dragging a needle on the outside of a filled water balloon; things may go fine, but you may hit that sweet spot that causes the skin to break open and bleed out, resulting in loss of ink, too.
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