This was the original design that I absolutely loved when I first saw as I was looking around for tattoo ideas. It's a Celtic butterfly, and as I read about its symbolism (transformation, rebirth, or transition) I find that it represents me a lot...or at least, that's what I feel. Change is always good, and it'll be a reminder that I need to learn to change with the times too =) Plus, it's so pretty and yet has a bit of a tribal feel to it which I love.
So, with this design in hand, I set out asking friends for recommendations of tattoo artists. I went to a couple of them to ask for quotes with this design, and was quoted quite a high price. =/ I mean, I knew getting a tattoo wouldn't come cheap but I wasn't expecting a price this high for a small tattoo (I was aiming for about a size of 2 inches or so). Someone told me the size that I wanted was too small for this intricate design and it wouldn't look nice...minimum should be 4 inches! I printed the picture out in that size and it will cover the whole left shoulder...OMG. No thank you!
Enter Borneo Ink....heard about them quite a bit from friends as well as from Ramin Karimloo (I was stalking his FB page!) who gave great recommendations about their work. Surely a company that's famous would be even more expensive no? But I figured I would just go and inquire, since their place is rather near my office. So, I headed there and was surprised that I got quoted quite a cheap price. AND they could do it in the size that I wanted...YAYY! I made an appointment for 2nd February and promptly waited for the day to get my tattoo...
2nd February couldn't come fast enough and I find myself waiting nervously at Borneo Ink's reception area since I arrived early for my appointment. When I walked in, I saw quite a few guys hanging around...these guys look quite intimidating with the number of tattoos on their bodies. But they were quite nice, smiling and saying Hi when they saw me. One guy even asked me if it's my first time getting a tattoo...when I told him yes, he said, "Yeah, you look very tense. Relax!" Then he asked me what am I getting for my first tattoo. After he heard what I wanted, said guy said, "Ok lah...not bad for a first!" LOL!
As time ticked, a petite yet quite heavily tattooed girl came out and said, "Hello! Are you my next appointment? Are you my butterfly?" LOL! Lina is her name and she was quite nice as I showed her the design I wanted to do. She told me she will re-draw the design, which I'm okay with since I got this design off the Net...there'd probably be many people having the same tattoo, so if I could get something different, why not? Lina then went off to sketch out the design and showed me her sketch about half an hour later...I was floored coz she maintained the essence of the butterfly, but managed to make it look different. I was told also that it would look nicer to have the size slightly bigger since it'll be at the back of my left shoulder, so okay...I was then ushered into the tattoo room.
A little shaving of the area of the tattoo, some alcohol swabbing, applying the stencil of the tattoo on the area, checking to see position is nice, and making myself comfortable on the tattoo 'seat', Lina then proceeded with the tattooing. She is one. cool. chick *grins* With a sharp wit and even sharper tongue, she chatters on about Valentine's Day, marriage, cheating partners, life...like we've been friends for a long time. Quite often, she makes me laugh and not notice the pain that much. And before I knew it, she was done! It took about an hour or so...which was quite short! After letting me have a quick check in the mirror (and me admiring it), she promptly put some ointment and 'bandaged' the tattoo with some cling wrap (??!!) and duct tape. Some more ointment was given to me along with some instructions on how to care for my tattoo, and I was all set to go home.
What about the pain? I have to say, it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. I had anticipated pain in the level of injections by the doctor, magnified many times over....but it turned out to be like someone using a sewing needle and kind of 'scratching' your skin. I won't say that it didn't hurt at all, but the pain is rather tolerable. Bear in mind though that my level of tolerance for pain is quite low. So, if I could make it, I'm pretty sure most people would say it's not painful. Unless you have an even lower tolerance for pain. LOL! Some parts may be a bit more painful than others...more noticeably for me when Lina applied the colors with some bigger needles, but it was over as quickly as it happened.
The drive home felt a little sore...it kinda burned, but again tolerable. The funny thing happened AFTER I got home! Mom (who knew about me getting a tattoo the day before) wanted to know if I cried when I got it...then proceeded to cringe and nag when she saw my tattoo. The sisters also cringed, even though one has already gone through child birth -___-" Why? They saw this:
Yes, notice the 'blood' in the bandage? LOL! It's actually plasma....easily washed off but I was told to keep the bandage on for 2 hours before cleaning it, so I waited amidst all the cringing and what not.
And this was AFTER I cleaned it up and applied ointment...SOOOO much better! *grins*
Close up! I love the combination of the purple and blue! Lina initially told me she could do purple and pink, but I said I'm not so fond of pink, so blue it is =) Apparently, the mixture of purple and blue results in periwinkle blue. Hehe! Loved the gradual shading on it as well, so am really happy with how it turned out. Will update more when it's fully healed...happy!
