Okay so my friend just sent me a picture of her new tattoo. And when my mom told me about it I expected it to be really nice and professional and gorgeous.

Nope. Not even fucking CLOSE.

She now has wilted flowers, blown-out spots, spotty line-work, missing parts, and a fucking infection on top of that. Now, one of my good friends does my tattoos now, and that's only because he is a licensed fucking professional tattoo artist from a licensed tattoo shop. Not some guy in his basement saying "Oh hey there, I'll do ya a really pretty tattoo for free, I just got this equipment and these rubber gloves and don't worry I'm totally a professional."

No you're fucking not. You're an idiot with a tattoo gun. Please, kids, if you're 16 and begging your parents for a tattoo, and they keep saying no, let them say no. Don't go to your "friend" and let them tattoo that fucking infinity symbol on your hip. Wait until you're 18 and sign for it yourself in a legitimate clean and friendly place to get tattooed. I know most artists are freaking terrifying looking, and they seem intimidating, but you're gonna want to go to someone who will give you something you're really proud of. Trust me, they're not all that scary. But the thing with some shops is, you have to do your research.

Let me tell you a story. When I was 15 I tried to kill myself. The band HIM kinda saved me from this situation and I was grateful for that. Then, for years I begged my mom to let me get heartagrams on my hips. It was always "Wait till you're 18. You're not old enough for that."

So I waited until my 18th birthday to get these suckers done, I went to a professional, and now I've got them on my body. I'm not completely happy with the way they healed and I'm now getting my friend to cover them with roses for me. But I waited, I went to a professional, didn't get infected. I was just a dumb-ass kid who picked at scabs when I shouldn't have so I've got some spotty parts.

Ended up doing some research and found a much better shop, with amazing artists. They've got off the wall reviews from everyone around here and the owner has been tattooing for somewhere around 30+ years. He's a beast. Got my foot done there, and it's perfect. Paid freaking $100 for it.

One hundred dollars.

You can make that money in a week, it's not that hard.