My old stick and poke kit vs what we use now

Bought my first stick and poke set in 2015, just india ink and a sewing needle. Now I see kids using actual tattoo needles and ink from Amazon. Kinda wild how much safer it got in 10 years, have you noticed the same change?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.uma14d ago

Man, the difference is night and day. My first set was just a sewing needle I'd sterilize with a lighter and some India ink from a craft store. Now the kits come with proper sterilized needles, actual tattoo ink, and even stencils. It's wild how easy it is to accidentally mess up your skin with the old school stuff. Definitely glad the whole scene got safer, even if it lost some of its grungy charm.

gray_morgan14d ago

See this kind of change everywhere now. Honestly, it's like how people used to learn guitar from a friend who kinda knew three chords and a bad attitude, but now there's YouTube tutorials with proper camera work and slow mo finger placement. The old way felt more raw and real but the new way saves you a lot of pain and bad decisions. Ngl, I think we romanticize the danger of the old school stuff too much sometimes. Tbh, giving people access to better tools and info just means more people can actually get good at something without wrecking themselves first. It levels the playing field in a good way.

claire87214d ago

Ask yourself this though - does having all that proper gear actually make people do their homework before they start tattooing? Cause I've seen some horror stories with brand new kits where people think having the right tools means they know what they're doing. You still gotta learn about depth, stretching skin, and how different spots on the body take ink. The old school method at least forced you to figure out if you had any actual talent before you dropped real money on equipment.