Bitterroot Tattoo Company gave me a great first tattoo experience

As someone who never had a tattoo before and had a lot of questions about the experience, I wasn’t sure when or where would be the right time for me to get my first one.

When Bitterroot Tattoo Company had their Friday the 13th Flash Sale with a $50 to $100 price range, my questions were answered.

The Friday the 13th flash sale featured designs both from the shop and a visiting tattoo artist.

Not only did this give me a wide range of options to choose from for my first tattoo, it gave me the ability to choose a tattoo that was in my price range. Which as a broke college student, was much appreciated.

Another thing I was worried about prior to the sale was the environment I was going to get my tattoo in.

For me, getting my first tattoo was a big deal and I didn’t want to do it in a shop that felt unnerving to me. Thankfully, Bitterroot was the opposite of that. The décor was amazing and unique, and the tattoo artists made sure all their tools and areas were clean. Bitterroot also went above and beyond when it came to cleanliness.

With concerns over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) running rampant right now, Bitterroot made sure there was hand sanitizer readily available, and even required you use it before the handing me a contract before getting my tattoo. They were needed to be signed before you got your tattoo.

Another one of my concerns was the pain. Even though I wasn’t expecting the tattoo to be super painful, it was still an experience I had never had before.

The tattoo artist did a great job of explaining to me what areas on the body were the most and least painful to get tattooed and what to expect regarding my left forearm —the area I chose to get tattooed.

What really rounded out my experience was the interaction with the tattoo artists. There was never a point of awkward silence during my tattoo and the conversations weren’t forced.

The conversations we had during the hour-long period felt natural and the tattoo artist was extremely friendly. And he wasn’t the only one either. All the tattoo artists tattooing at the time were holding conversations with their customers and there was constant laughter throughout the shop.

Overall, all my fears regarding getting a tattoo were lifted with my experience at Bitterroot. Now that I have this first experience out of the way, I plan to get another tattoo in the future.

And Bitterroot will be my first choice when I do.

Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected].