new york adorned is DODGY

another day, another person screws me over.

i got a white ink tattoo at new york adorned in june. i spoke to the assistant and told him very specifically what i wanted done, and he gave me an appointment with michelle. i went into it fully knowing the risks of white ink, i read up on it as much as i could online and was determined to give it a try anyway. michelle told me that we'd go over it until i was happy with it. she was initially going to charge me $90, but knocked it down to $75 after i chatted with her. the tattoo took 20 minutes, and while i was happy with how it looked, there were some areas of discoloration.

i went back in august to get it touched up, because the grey areas hadn't disappeared. before and throughout the appointment, michelle consulted with another artist at the studio who seemed to be the white ink guru. he told her how to go over it, what kind of ink to use, etc. this time she mixed the regular white ink with intense white ink from japan. unfortunately this time didn't take either, and i went back in october for another touch-up. she used the same special ink mixture and told me they'd ordered a plastic needle especially for me. the other artist again advised her how to go about touching up. i had to wonder at this point why i hadn't been scheduled with him in the first place, and also why the plastic needle hadn't been used initially since the areas of discoloration were because of the regular needle. there seems to be a lot of bureaucracy at ny adorned, the really top-notch artists only work on large pieces. all the small pieces and walk-ins go to michelle, from my observation. would it really have been impossible for him to take me on and done it right? it would've taken all of 45 minutes, it would have turned out a lot better, and they could have proven they deserve their good reputation. michelle totally missed one of the lines and looked upset after the touch-up, and refused my tip.

i scheduled another appointment with michelle for this past saturday. by this point, i'd given up on the white and was ready to go to color and be done with it. friday night i got a call from the shop and they said michelle said it was too soon to go over. i told the girl that was weird, it was completely healed and i hadn't had it touched up in 3 months. she said michelle would call me in the morning. she never did, and i called back to change the time of my appointment. the girl went to consult with michelle and was gone for a few minutes. she came back saying michelle was uncomfortable doing it and basically, didn't want to do it. but she would call me in a bit to explain. she never called.

what. the. fuck.

i quickly scheduled an appointment at tattoo culture and had a fantastic experience there. the tattoo looks rad. as he said, he feels responsible for every tattoo he does. i feel like michelle fucked the white up from the get-go and would never recommend anyone go to new york adorned, which is sad because i got my first tattoo there and had a great experience with michelle edge, who doesn't work there anymore. figures my smallest tattoo would cost me the most.