Good Tattoos aren't Cheap and Cheap Tattoos are on Craigslist.

There are a large amount of people who will agree with me when I say I suck at self-promotion. Not that I don’t talk to enough people, or that I don’t pass out enough of my cards (which, by the way, don’t even say I’m a tattoo artist either). I mean I honestly don’t tell anyone. I can bet money there will even be people who read this and say “Wait…Cara tattoos?” It’s terrible for business, actually. The promotion and concern for my clientele comes from...my clientele. They’re my walking canvases, and refer anyone who comments on their tattoos to me. Even though this isn’t the most effective means of networking, I prefer it much more than the disreputable advertising that's going on on Craigslist.

I get it. We’re in economic hardships, and we all feel we have to retreat back to the Renaissance way of living- to exhaust yourself with as many different skills as you can fit onto your paper plates in the hopes that they will help you live a financially stable life. In some ways, we absolutely should be more Renaissance in the way we live right now. Learn a new skill, sure. Find something rewarding in your spare time that might make you a little extra cash. But in no way, shape or form does this mean you should pick up a tattoo machine and go to town on the first person to give you 25 dollars.

Because this is what happens:

It almost feels like your eyes are playing tricks on you, but that's as clear as it gets. And yet- it makes no sense. This girl went to get a lighter tattoo underneath it covered up, and found a tattoo artist on Craigslist that charged her $40 an hour for....this. She knew immediately that he was messing up, and he threw her empty promises that the blotch of ink would "fade and look better". Last time I checked, when a tattoo fades it doesn't necessarily look "better". It looks, well, faded. Also, koi fish don't usually have a giant tumor attached to the left side of their lip. Just saying.

So yes, she absolutely admits to wanting to get a cheap tattoo, like so many people do. Do you want to know how much she actually spent on this affordable tattoo?

$3,120.

120 for the three hours this guy in Anaheim spent butchering her arm, and $3,000 more for the laser surgery treatments that left her arm scarred and felt a lot like what I think Freddy Krueger's face would feel like. She spent 3 years in long sleeves, hiding it and considering amputation (that's not a fact, sorry. But wouldn't you?).

I found her on Craigslist (surprise!) looking for another tattoo artist (I said the same thing) to cover up this one. I pulled her off of there and got the entire story, and here we are. I spent 6 and a half hours on her today, working on two different cover ups that she had botched. It was a semi-emotional parting, but I sent her off with a scolding for using Craigslist, and one session done:

I wonder if the people who post on Craigslist understand the consequence of turning on that homemade tattoo gun and pressing it into someone’s skin. “Good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good”. God, I can’t even begin to explain how perfect this saying sums everything up that I’m trying to say. If you honestly want to be a good tattoo artist, you have to put so much time, effort and money into it. Actually, you put time, effort and money into every tattoo you do. From sterilizing to cleaning, down to needles and inks and machine parts. It’s costly keeping your work clean. I’m not sorry that tattoos are expensive.

If you really have a problem with the price of getting a tattoo, I have two options for you: A) don’t get one or B) pop on over to Craigslist and check out which one of your neighbors rigged himself a tattoo machine and have him mark your body on his kitchen table.

See you in hell. xo