Completely?

Yes.

Places that have a bend like that.

Like the ditch on your arm, The back of your near llamar sensitive.

You can't curse on a lower, can you?

Hi.

My name is Kira.

I'm 20 years old.

I'm from the Bronx and I'm getting my first tattoo.

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a little over a year now.

The inspiration behind the tattoo that I'm getting for the first time started in the summer of 2016.

I went to New Zealand and Fiji to dio environmental work out there on this farm in Raglan.

We were planting these like Bush Mita to Ribery trees.

And I remember just like digging into the dirt.

And, I don't know, I just felt so grounded, and that's what I want to get.

This tree is my tattoo.

I'm thinking of getting it behind like my left calf.

Kind of like, you know, kind of lead with your foot.

So maybe it's kind of like a grounding thing.

I found Rachel finale on instagram.

I saw representation all throughout her pictures on her Instagram.

I saw people who looked like me and designs that were related to mine that I wanted to get.

You know, I was always afraid of the permanence of it.

And But I just changed the narrative in my head and I was like, You know what?

You only live once.

Let's just just do it.

Let's just have some art on your body for the rest of your life.

All right?

I guess I can't.

My tattoo for the first time tomorrow.

Good morning, everybody.

It is around like 7.

56 or so is, honestly, time to go, like from the Bronx.

We'd like to go to Brooklyn.

Very nervous if you sweat when you're nervous.

So we're going to go on a very interesting How are you?

So nice to be here.

So I know this is your first time.

Tears.

I thought we could kind of go over what tattooing is and what the stuff they're gonna be in this process.

The first thing we're going to do is talk about your design.

After that, we're gonna prep your skin, clean it, make sure everything's really sterile and ready to go we're gonna do a shave just to get really any hair.

We're gonna get the stencil on your skin.

After that, we have our actual needle to skin time.

Like tattooing.

The part that might hurt.

Um uh, hey.

Outlining on the detail work.

Finally, we're gonna do a good final cleanse.

After the tattoos finish, we're going to put a bandage on you.

Make sure you can get out of here and keep living your life without worrying about exposing it to anything.

And then I'm going to give you a list of after care instructions before you leave.

So I'm ready to move on to the first step or we figure out everything that you want to see in your design.

I got the reference photos that you sent me, and I did a quick come, aka but what I was thinking might look nice, but I really wanted to work with you today and figure out exactly what you want to see and how to incorporate that into this sign.

So I'm thinking maybe I can bring some of these round or leaves towards the bottom, make it feel fuller.

Yeah, I got that.

That Look.

That you want, it could be less full towards the top.

Like I might break up some of my lines with dot work.

I might kind of just, like, leave a line out when the connection can be implied.

You know, you're only working in black.

So how can you get something that's like, hold on black to feel really delicate?

I think the trick is to just leave certain elements out and let your natural skin shine through.

So I know this is your first time to Is there any reason that you decided to finally do it?

The first time definitely wasn't the right time, and I'm glad I didn't go through with it.

I feel like I was obligated to do it.

She was just always comparing with white people, skin to mine and saying that like, Well, our skin takes this, but yours wouldn't.

So let's change it up completely, and I just didn't feel comfortable with that.

She just made me feel like I just wasn't meant to.

I only work in black ink, so I'm not really sort of totally savvy toe all the ins and outs of color work.

But one thing I know what color worker can do for you is do a swatch test.

We'll do you a test with each different color ink, and then you can come back a month later after it's healed and see how the color sets on your skin.

So for this artist to tell you straight off the bat, like you know it's not gonna work, it's not gonna happen.

Yeah, it doesn't really make any sense because there are plenty of options.

Which colors is anything standing out to you?

Something you don't change?

I really like from your first illustration here.

Like these dots coming on these little balls.

I mean, that's likely Are Okay, great.

So now that we've finished the outline and you're into the size and composition of this, I'm gonna put it in my thermal printer.

And that basically makes what is a temporary tattoo that will go on your skin and help us to turn in the placement for you.

I'm just gonna need you to roll up your pant leg, even if you don't have a lot of hair.

That shaving really helps us get a clean start, takes off first layer of dead skin and just perhaps the area, so it's nice and smooth and ready to go.

OK, so now I'm just going to clean the area with 70% isopropyl alcohol.

I'm gonna put this lotion down that helps the central sick, and then I'll hover this and you could guide me and tell me what it feels like.

It's in the right spot.

Could be like centered on the calf.

Yeah, there is good.

Yeah, it looks.

That's so cool.

Well, that's awesome.

I love that.

Yeah, Replacement feels good.

Done.

I only work with black ink, but I do have two different kinds, and I think one of these is gonna be a better option for you.

A lot of times I'll just use a true black, but on warm skin tones, darker skin tones, Sometimes this can fade to a green once it heals.

So I have a black here that's mixed with a tiny bit of indigo, and this works against warm tones so that when your tattoo heels that's going to feel like something that's a sure black.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I would prefer that one so you can get into position, you lying on your stomach with your calf over here.

So in terms of, like, paying levels, they would be expecting here.

We're getting kind of close to increase here.

Really?

In a place where you have increased, you are a little bit more sensitive.

But this part of your calf isn't too bony, and there's a good amount of muscle and meat on top of it.

So I think that this is gonna be pretty easy as far as the first time talk to goes.

So the first thing I'm gonna dio is put a little bit of Andy on your skin.

You know, tattooing dry skin could be kind of painful.

So this just gives you a little bit of moisture and a little bit of protection.

Okay, I'm gonna do one line so you can get a feel for it, and then when you feel good, will keep going fully replica.

Are you ready?

Okay.

Here we go.

First line.

Oh, my Lord.

Oh, my God.

OK, that's not bad.

That's not bad.

Yeah, totally tolerable.

Right?

Like, that's uncomfortable.

But it's not like a big deal.

Yeah, so I'm just working on the outline now when we finish, that will move on to the details.

You might not be able to tell from just looking at this outright, but this needle is made from a cluster of really tiny needles.

The one I'm using is a size four, and it's called a four because it's made from four tiny needles.

At the end of the day, your tattoo is still made out of a bunch of time.

Looks like lines.

You can use a single needle, but you're also more likely Teoh Blowout attached You if you're using a single needles blowout is when you go a little bit too deep on a tattoo.

You might notice that there's like a blooming off color beneath your skin, so we're gonna avoid that with you.

Okay, I use a coil machine.

I'm controlling the voltage with this machine.

Over here, different places of the body call for different speeds.

If it's a really the skin area, like a palm of a hand or foot, you might need to turn the machine down and move a little bit slower and going a little bit deeper.

Otherwise, you can risk cutting skin instead of just pushing into it.

So we're maybe like halfway down the line work.

How you feeling?

It's war uncomfortable than painful, like you could go on, but they don't like it.

It's a make sense.

Doesn't seem to be worse than we get closer to the crack of the back of your knee completely.

Yes, yeah, it's like that.

That's painful.

I find that places that have a bend like that like the ditch on your arm, the back of your near LA more sensitive.

So we're ready to move on to some of the detail work and the detail ing that I dio.

If you have looked at my work before, you probably seen, but it's kind of like a stippling.

We want everything to feel really light overall, so nothing's gonna be solid black, but rather will be kind of like building up definition through groupings of dots.

Is there a place that people probably shouldn't get attacked?

Or if you're concerned about longevity and how your tattoo will look over time, you will have to consider the way that our bodies are inevitably going to change joints where your skin is folding all the time.

Armpit, this place that we call the elbow ditch your tattoo is going to get a little bit more weathered.

Any place that's kind of stable and not stretching that much.

Usually you'll get, like, a really crispy looking tattoo.

You know, stay that way for longer.

But a lot of people say this though, Like, you know, your tattoos.

Agreeing with terrible when you get older and responses like so is the rest of the way.

So luckily, we're at a stopping point where you can stand up and take a look at it and let me know what you think.

OK?

Okay.

So e fruit, Little You look so riel.

Yeah.

Okay.

You're totally tattooed.

Agree?

I'm going to give you one final wipe down, and then we're going to put second skin on you.

It was basically like saran wrap that sticks directly to your skin and comes down there for three days.

The duration of your care routine for your tattoos were in the last two weeks starting today, Senator Ms totally waterproof.

So if you're in the shower, you don't have to worry about water hitting this.

It's just gonna roll right off.

So you might notice that buildup upson fluid beneath the second skin, which is totally normal.

It's gonna look a little buggery, little brown.

But it's all good stuff that's helping you heal.

So don't worry if you see that, but you will have to do a pretty thorough washing the first time it comes off because that fluid buildup might be under there.

Once this peels off twice a day, you're gonna do two things.

Wash your tattoo with an anti bacterial soap.

Wipe that away, make sure it's dry, and then apply a thin layer of before.

Okay, definitely stay out of the sun for the next two weeks.

Isn't if you find that you're in the sun, the best thing you could do is cover it.

And from here on out, you might want to put a little SPF on it.

Cool Your tattooed.

Yeah, it's all happening a little sweaty, but to back.

I got my tattoo about a week ago now, and it looks full, you know, like halfway healed.

I told my best friend Maya, and we were both on her way to class, but she made a special video reacting to it.

You were supposed to face time.

Me?

Yeah, so managing.

But I'm also for you.

I can't see it in detail because I'm recording my stupid face right now.

But it looked really cool for what I could see, and I like it.

Oh, my God.

Congratulations.

Hi.

I love that I'm so happy for you.

My best friend.

You guys an icon on the day of the tattoo And I was speaking with Rachel about my first experience.

She just really validated the fact that that shouldn't have happened to me.

And that shouldn't happen to anyone after the entire experience.

I was like, Oh, this is exactly what I wanted a tattoo to be that into collaboration.

The pain wise, it was actually, like better than I expected the parts where it hurt a lot.