Carry on Beautiful!

If you’ve read my last post, you’ll know that ‘get a tattoo’ was something i wanted to do before i turn nineteen, and i have! I thought I’d just made a little post telling you about my tattoo, why i got it and the process of getting my first tattoo! I think you can tell i’m still super excited about it.

So, i got the word ‘nine’ in Quenya, which is a form of Elvish from Lord of the Rings. It’s the tattoo that the actors that played the nine members of the fellowship (Apart from John Rhys Davies) got once they had finished filming. I got it on my ankle and its a lot bigger than the cast got but i talked about it with my tattoo artist and we both thought it would look better at the size it is.

I got it because Lord of the Rings has been a huge part of my life since i was eight. My teacher showed it to us in year four and i just fell in love. A few days after i first saw it i convinced my mum to get it for me on VHS because DVDs weren’t really a thing at the time. Does that make anyone else feel kind of old?

My year four teacher was one of the best teachers i’ve ever had and he absolutely loved Lord of the Rings. He had a picture of Gandalf above his name on the classroom door and he even gave me a figurine of Gandalf when i left the school.

To me, Lord of the Rings is magical. Its something that always makes me smile and i know that if i’m having a bad day i can just throw on the DVD and within half an hour I’ll be in a much better mood.

I also have a lot of memories involving Lord of the Rings, such as when i used to climb the fence to my next door neighbours garden (because he had more Shire like grass), grab a stick and immediately be next to Aragorn, battling Orcs to protect the halflings.

One of my most vivid memories is, again, from when i was eight. My dad had bought me a book about the cast of the movies and i learnt that they had gotten this tattoo, i immediately turned to my dad and told him i HAD to have it. I don’t remember what he said to that but I was eight years old so he was presumably just like ‘Chill you’re eight’. My dad bought this up again on my eighteenth birthday but i had so not forgotten about it.

Congrats if you’ve made it this far through all of that LotR junk! Now to talk about getting the actual tattoo. I got it on the 17th and although i’ve known for ten years i’ve wanted it, i had no idea when i was going to get it. Me and my boyfriend got the train into Liverpool to do some christmas shopping and as we walked past ‘design 4 life‘ on Lime Street i just ducked in and asked for a walk in appointment. It just felt like the perfect time to get it!

I’ve known ever since we moved to Liverpool that if i was going to get a tattoo, it was going to be at ‘design 4 life‘. The art work they have in the windows is absolutely beautiful and if you go online to look through individual artists work, they’re all insanely talented. That was why i just did a walk in appointment rather than booking it in with a specific artist. That and the fact that, come on, its a word, how bad could it possibly be messed up?

Obviously though, it was not messed up. I went back a few hours later for my appointment, paid, showed my ID, signed some forms to confirm i don’t have any diseases and i’m not drunk or drugged and then followed the artist who would be tattooing me, Martin Hancox, upstairs to the actual studio part.

I have been in some dodgy tattoo places with friends and i’ve heard all the horror stories of re-used needles and un-gloved hands but i didn’t have to worry, ‘design 4 life‘ is impeccable. I felt so comfortable (and nervous). It was clean, nicely decorated and definitely put me more at ease.

Martin also put me very much at ease and i think i’m probably going to go to him for all future tattoos. He’s professional, friendly and most importantly, very good at his job. He positioned the stencil on my ankle, let me look at it and made sure it was straight before getting started.

I’ll be honest here, it hurt. People have already asked me if it hurt and it’s a tattoo, its a bunch of needles and ink being forced into your skin, it’s going to hurt. Luckily, i didn’t think it was too bad apart from one bit especially close to my ankle bone. It felt exactly like Martin had said it would, a hot cat scratch. Nothing severe but i’m still glad i went for this little one as my first tattoo and not the bigger one i’m hoping to get in the coming months.

My tattoo took about fifteen minutes and then Martin cleaned it up, wrapped it in clingfilm and gave me some after care tips, which i have followed strictly because the tattoo artist can give you an amazing tattoo but it won’t stay amazing if you don’t look after it.

You can see that the entire process was super simple and no where near as nerve wracking as i had expected it to be. The end result, my tattoo, is amazing. I am so happy with it, every time i look at it i can’t help but smile. I was terrified i was going to regret it but now i have it, i know i won’t. I love it so so much and i would definitely recommend ‘design 4 life’ to anyone in the area.

Tell me down below about any tattoos you have or want! I hope you have a lovely day and just to let you know, i’ll be trying to post every other day for the next few weeks so keep checking in, there’ll be plenty of new content!

-Dana