Snake and peony
- Size
- 18 cm
- Sitting
- 3½ hrs
£420Repeatable
What we do
Six kinds of work, priced by the hour and the day
Tattooing is sold as artist time. A small piece has a floor because a station has to be broken down and rebuilt whether the work takes twenty minutes or two hours; a big piece is cheaper per hour because the chair is yours all day. Everything below is what we actually charge, and the deposit terms are the ones you agree to when you pay one.
Rates
The rate card
Rates are the artist's, not the studio's — a senior resident and an apprentice do not cost the same and should not pretend to. Every price includes the station, the single-use kit, aftercare film and a written quote before you commit.
Minimum charge
£70The floor. New needle, tube, ink caps, razor, barrier film, and the time it takes to set the station up and strip it down.
Hourly
£110–£140per hourAnything that fits in one sitting. Apprentice work on the walk-in chair is £70 an hour.
Half day
£380–£4503½ hoursBetter per hour than hourly. Most forearm and calf pieces land here.
Full day
£700–£9007 hoursSleeves, backs, thighs, freehand. Includes two proper breaks — you will need them, and so will the artist.
Consultation
Free20 minutesIn person or by email. No charge, and no obligation to book at the end of it.
Touch-up
Freewithin 8 weeksOn our own work, once, if you followed the aftercare. Hands, fingers and feet are excluded — they drop ink regardless of who put it in.
Deposits
£80, or 25% over £600
The deposit is deducted from the final price. It is not a booking fee, it is not extra, and it is not refundable — those three sentences settle nearly every question we get asked about money.
- It comes off the total. Pay £80 now, pay £80 less at the end.
- It moves once, with 72 hours' notice. Tell us in time and it follows you to the new date.
- Under 72 hours, it's gone. Not a punishment — the chair sat empty and nobody else could take it.
- More than 20 minutes late is a no-show. Ring us. We will nearly always work something out if we know.
- No ID, no tattoo, no refund. We have to check, every time, even if we tattooed you last month.
Card in the studio or bank transfer. We do not take deposits over the phone and we will never message you asking for one — if you get that message, it is not us.
Worked examples
Real jobs, real totals
Nobody can quote your tattoo from a table — placement, detail and skin all move the number. But these are genuine recent jobs, so you can see the shape of it before you ask.
| Piece | Artist | Sittings | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lettering, inner forearm, 9 cm | Marta | Minimum charge | £70 |
| Traditional swallow, 8 cm | Nell | 1½ hours | £180 |
| Ornamental band, forearm | Ross | Half day | £420 |
| Chrysanthemum skull, upper arm | Nell | Full day | £780 |
| Japanese half sleeve, outline and shade | Sunny | 3 full days | £2,700 |
| Cover-up, old tribal, forearm | Ross | 2 full days | £1,480 |
Totals include the deposit. Prices current August 2026 and reviewed each January.
The flash rack
Already drawn, already priced
Every sheet on the rack has a size and a price on it. Repeatable designs can be tattooed again; one-offs are tattooed once and the sheet comes down. Walk in Thursday to Saturday from 11am and pick one — no deposit, no wait, photo ID at the door.
Chrysanthemum skull
- Size
- 14 cm
- Sitting
- 3 hrs
£340One-off
Hannya, small
- Size
- 11 cm
- Sitting
- 2½ hrs
£260Repeatable
Dragon, forearm
- Size
- 22 cm
- Sitting
- Full day
£780Gone
How it's put down
Four needle groupings, and what each is for
Worth knowing before you choose a style, because the tool decides what a design can do. A liner cannot pack colour and a magnum cannot hold a hairline.
1RL
Single round liner. The finest line in the shop, and what fine-line and single-needle script are actually made of. Unforgiving — there is nowhere to hide a wobble.
3RL
Three round liner. Script, small traditional, detail inside a larger piece. Our favicon is one of these.
7RL
Seven round liner. The standard outline weight for bold traditional and Japanese, and the grouping in our logo — seven needles round a hole.
9M
Nine magnum, soldered five over four. Shading, packing colour, whip work and black-and-grey gradients. Covers ground fast and cannot do detail.
Aftercare
Six weeks, and most of it is leaving it alone
You will be given this on a card as you leave, and it is on the back of your receipt. It is here as well because whether you can commit to six weeks of it is part of deciding to book at all.
Day 0–1
Dressed
You leave in film and it stays on for as long as your artist says — usually overnight for small work, up to three days for a full day's work. Fluid collects under it. That is plasma and surplus ink, not your tattoo falling out.
Day 2–7
Washing
Wash your hands first. Unscented, non-antibacterial soap, lukewarm water, rinse until there is no soap left, pat dry with kitchen roll — never a towel, it sheds fibres. Thin layer of balm three times a day. If it looks wet, you have used too much.
Week 2–4
Flaking
Dull, patchy, slightly waxy, and this is the week everyone panics. Do not pick and do not scratch. No swimming, no baths, no sauna, no steam room, no gym mats on it.
Week 4–6
Settled
Now it can be judged and now it can be touched up. Keep it off sunbeds and out of direct sun for six to eight weeks while it builds its own protection, then factor 50 on it for the rest of its life — sun is what fades tattoos, not time.
Questions
The ones we get every week
Does it hurt?
Yes, but not the way people expect — it is closer to a hot scratch than a sharp pain, and it is boring long before it is unbearable. Ribs, sternum, inner arm, knees, ankles and the back of the hand are the ones people find hardest. Eat beforehand. Tell your artist when you need to stop; nobody is impressed by sitting through it.
Can I use numbing cream?
If you want to, buy a lidocaine cream from a pharmacy, tell us in advance and follow the instructions exactly. It changes how the skin takes ink, so the artist needs to know before they start rather than halfway through. It also wears off, usually at the worst moment.
Can I bring someone with me?
One person, and they sit where we put them. No children — this is a room with needles and sharps in it, and a child cannot be watched by someone who is being tattooed.
I'm on blood thinners / diabetic / pregnant.
Put it on the medical form and talk to us before you book. Blood thinners and alcohol both make skin bleed and push ink out, so the work suffers. We do not tattoo anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding. None of this is us being difficult — it is the difference between a tattoo that heals and one that doesn't.
Do you tattoo hands, necks and faces?
Only on people who are already heavily tattooed, and never on a first tattoo. It is not a judgement about you; it is that those placements fade fast, are hard to fix and are visible in every job interview you will ever have.
Can you copy a tattoo I've seen online?
No. It is somebody else's drawing and usually somebody else's tattoo. Bring it as a reference and we will draw you something that does the same job — that is the part you are paying for.
What if I don't like the design on the day?
Say so. The design is drawn ahead, adjusted in front of you, stencilled and checked in a mirror, and none of that is permanent. If it still is not right we rebook and the deposit moves. What we will not do is start something you are unsure about.
Book in
Send the idea. Get a number back.
Placement, rough size, references, and the dates you can't do. Usually two working days for a quote, from the artist, in writing.