We all know how important tattoo aftercare is, but what about BEFOREcare? Choose a wrong artist, have a tattoo done in unproper conditions, with unsterile pins and by a drunk artist and you will be #*cked up for life.

The only way to tell whether an artist is good or not is to see examples of his or her work. Recommendations are helpful, of course, but the recommendations should carry infinitely more weight if the recommender is proffering a tattooed example of the artist’s work. There are plenty of awesome artists out there who, though you wouldn’t deny their skills, just don’t appeal to you with the style of tats they do. So don’t take anyone else’s word for it – get a look at the artist’s work yourself. Furthermore, and don’t start thinking we’re paranoid, but it’s best to see actual examples of the work on a live person who can tell you who did the work. Anyone can put up a bunch of pictures and claim authorship.

I bet you don’t want to get one of these:

You can meet people and talk to them about their tattoos at tattoo conventions, in the tattoo studios you visit and on the street or at a club, so long as you’re not an idiot about it. People are usually proud of their tattoos, and if you seem genuinely interested a lot of people will be happy to tell you about their ink. Tattoo magazines are also a good source for information. The photo-essays they publish about various artists are likely to be well-researched and legitimate examples of the artists’ work. The key is to shop around and find someone really capable, because the quality of your tattoo depends so much on the talent of the tattoo artist.

Also remember that despite the fact that infection from tattooing in clean and modern tattoo studios employing single-use needles is rare, in amateur tattoos, however, there is an elevated risk:

Remember that it is always better to pay extra 20 bucks for quality and safe tatt rather than later on pay for the removal, being depressed about it or even have to visit a doctor and spend a fortune on treatment.

Be proud of your good tattoos, get safe new ones and take care!

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BMEzine.com: The Most Heavily Tattooed Mayor in America - an article about a mayor of a small town Campo, his life and his tattoos.

Tattoo-People.co.uk: London Tattoo Convention 2008 - The latest tattoo news from the 2008 tattoo convention.

Off Beat Ink: What Would YOU Do For a FREE Blackberry? - an article about a Blackberry-adict (probably, iPhone hating) guy and the incredible strength of his will for a new Storm… For free…

VanishingTattoo.com: The World’s 101 Hottest Women with Tattoos for 2007 - Anyone interested in celebrities’ lives will be pleased to check this one out.

Tattooblog.org: Wanna celebrate Obama’s victory with a tatt? - Can this be a beginning of a new tattoo fashion?

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What is a man’s imagination? That is the question… So far our readers have seen so many tattoo ideas. But could you imagine such a tattoo mod? Click the image to enlarge:

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Some people believe that tattooing your Zodiac sign you increase the power and make the connection with the stars stronger… To my mind, this is just another cute tattoo style. Also decreases the possibility of being asked what sign is yours. Here are the designs I loved with every piece of my big heart:

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According to the Nothern legend, the God Odin by name possessed the knowlege of runes, for which he sacrificed himself. The legend says, he has pinned himself to the ash tree of peace “Igdrazil” with a holy spear and spent there 9 days. The word “rune” itself does not mean “letter” or “sign“, but means “secret“.

A runic sign connects its keeper with the egregor of the Northern Gods, lit with the thousand-years polar lights. The egregore of Vikings would not stand for lies and double-dealing.

You should never thoughtlessly put runes together or rewrite runic spells. And offcourse I strongly recomend you NOT to tattoo yourself the runes you don’t know! This could be as dangerous as a drunk tank driver!

Here are some good runic tattoo ideas for you:

Thor Mjolnir’s Hammer - you may use these runes in case you need a protection. This runic sign is simple, but rather strong.

In case you want to increase the power of a spell, you may unite the runes, make them look more compact. For example, here is the rune for deeply understanding the truth:

The names of Scandinavian Gods have an amazing power too. You may get a tattoo of an animal connected with Odin (eagle, wolf, crow, horse or snake) and place his name written in runes nearby:

One more name for you to use is Tyr. He is the God of law & justice and likes rational way of thinking. I would recomend this rune to people with a high IQ level:

Thor is a god of unswerving loyalty and honour. He is a defender of humans. I would recomend his rune to somene with a srong personality:

And here are some very storng united runes patterns for you: (From left to right: Long life, Good Luck, I exist, Constant Success, Power of mind)

P.S.: You should know that once you’ve decided to get a runic tattoo, you shall have a glass of beer standing in front of you during the process as a gift to Odin (you may dink it yourself afterwards) and mentally prepare yourself for the contact with Gods!

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