Spent $80 on a DIY tattoo kit and the ink gave me a rash that looked like a strawberry
I bought this starter kit from a sketchy website thinking I'd save money, but after one line on my arm I broke out in red bumps all over. The artist I went to fix it laughed and said the ink was probably meant for stamp pads. Anyone else buy junk gear and regret it immediately?
Oh come on, you can't blame the kit for user error. $80 is actually decent for a starter setup, most people buy cheap ink and don't test it first. You're supposed to do a small dot on your skin and wait a day before you start poking holes. Also that "artist" you went to sounds like a snob who just wanted to upsell you on their overpriced supplies. I've used discount ink for years and never had a problem because I actually read the instructions. Maybe the real lesson here is to patch test instead of blaming the whole industry.
80 bucks for a kit that doesn't include something as basic as a test ink is a ripoff, not a deal. If you have to read a manual to not mess up your skin, maybe the kit is the problem.
Well, Susan's not totally wrong about patch testing, but $80 for a starter kit is on the cheap side, not decent. Most decent kits that won't ruin your skin start around $100-150. The problem is a lot of those cheap kits use mystery ink from China that literally has heavy metals in it. I've seen people end up with permanent scars from that stuff, not just a rash. Patch test or not, bad ink is bad ink.