I like tattoos, but I like tattoos that make sense.
I already have 2 tattoos, Imperial Dragon on my right upper arm that has been done spontaneously about 14 years ago when I was on the beach in Hunstanton Norfolk.
Second tattoo was done on the 22/02/2024 and it’s a matching tattoo with my wife. It’s on the side of the left pointing finger. We didn’t want to buy silly things for Valentine’s Day this year, so we decided to have matching tattoo.
Now, my big day is coming soon. On 02/03/2024 I have booked an appointment for my third tattoo. A spider web and a black widow spider on the inside of my right forearm.
I’m super excited but also a bit worried. Am I going to be brave enough to withstand the pain or should I use numbing cream?
I don’t what it is, but lately my body reacts strangely to needles, especially when I go for blood tests. On couple occasions the nurse, bless her heart, hit a nerve with a needle, “fuck that hurts” and it made to faint, almost.
Anyway, I decided to go with the numbing cream. The one I did choose was Yellow TKTX cream. Great reviews and recommendation from tattooist was enough for me to purchase it. BE AWARE: LOADS OF FAKE CREAMS AROUND. Here is direct link to the official website https://www.tktxofficial.co.uk
So, I have done the patch test just to see if there is any unwanted reaction to it and how long does the cream lasts. Everything went well, no reaction. Just a bit of redness for little while. It started to wear off after about 6-7 hours, so I thought that should last the whole session, great.
Now, I am ready for my big day in tattoo chair. I applied the cream and left it for about an hour and thirty minutes as recommended. As happy as I was with the area totally numb I went for my session. All went very well until about 3 hours into the session. The numbing cream worn off and the pain just kicks in. Not a usual tattooing pain, it fell like it was multiplied by 10x. It was in some places unbearable and swearing kicked in occasionally. Well, I sat throughout the whole session with a couple of vaping breaks. So, my advice about numbing cream: If you are having done small or medium piece done that will last up to 3 hours, go for the cream. If it takes longer, no cream for me next time.
Here is the spider web and black widow tattoo. I think it turns out nicely and I can’t wait for my next one.
Now, for the healing process. There is huge amount of creams available in the shops and online. I have been advised to use Palmers Fragrance Free Coco Butter.
Thank you for reading this post. Hope to see you in the next one.
