Anyone and Everyone – Rising Sun – MISSISSAUGA , ON
Located at 2549 Hurontario St Mississauga, ON L5A 2G4, hopefully you will never have the opportunity to get tattooed at this shop. I walked in for a spontaneous tattoo with my friend about three years ago and am now in the process of covering up the hack job. I can’t remember the name of the person who tattooed me all I remember was that he was very eager and didn’t take the time to give me the kind of tattoo he should have. I recieved the words “live free” in a simple hand writing design on the top if my right shoulder. The tattoo bled out, the lines are thick and blurred and you can easily feel the large amount of scar tissue left over. Today it reads something like “line free”, “five free”, everyone who sees it says something different. Whats worse is that on hot days the scar tissue of the tattoo bumps up and rises on my skin. Something that a few other unhappy people who were tattooed by this shop share with me. The artists here are quick and tattoo very harsh on the skin. I would recommend this shop to no one, and recommend that they quickly go out of business.
Rising Sun Tattoo Studio gets ★ (just for using a clean needle)
Joe – Imperial Tattoos – TORONTO, ON
I walked into Imperial Tattoos about a year ago and was lucky enough to be tattooed by Joe. She is absolutely amazing! The tattoo I got when I walked in was very simple but she couldn’t of done a better job. Since then I have had my boyfriend go to her and he has gotten a couple larger pieces, one of which is still in the process of being completed. She has done an amazing job on both of them. I have recommended Joe to everyone I know looking for a tattoo artist. Besides being extremely talented she is also very nice and easy to talk to. The shop as well as her station are very clean.
Joe is seriously fantastic. My boyfriend and I will never go to another Tattoo Artist…ever!
You can check out some of Joe’s work at http://www.imperialtattoos.com or on Facebook.
Joe and Imperial Tattoos get ★★★★★
Chris MacDonald- Under My Thumb – TORONTO, ON
I have been going to this Toronto artist for almost two years now. While the wait to see him is usually a month or two, he is well it. He is a talented, creative and professional tattooist who makes you feel right at home. He owns his own shop in little portugal and is awesome at re-creating ideas or doing custom work for you. He tattooed my side piece of my father using a 30 year old black and white photograph from a public photo booth as his only reference. His shop is clean, well maintained and his work is worth every second and penny of his time.
I always have a good time whenever I go to Chris’ shop and I always trust what he does. His lines are always clean and neat and I have never seen anything done by him that I havn’t been amazed by.
He is available by word-of-mouth only and does not take walk-ins so if you are lucky enough to be referred to him then you are one lucky mother f*cker!
Chris and Under My Thumb Custom Tattoo Shop gets ★★★★★
(Check out his work at undermythumbtattoos.ca or on Facebook)
Chris- Deluxe Tattoos – CHICAGO, IL
This shop I checked out while on a vacation trip to Chicago. I had looked them up online ahead of time and the portfolios of the tattooists working there looked unreal. So I walked in, my boyfriend and I, and they were all really friendly and willing to take us. If you are looking to get an awesome old school tattoo done in Chicago then this is defiantly the place you want to go. You can see online how well almost all the artists there are at old school tats. They also have one guy working there who is AMAZING at doing fonts. So chest rockers, side pieces, whatever you fancy, if you are looking to get some words done, go there!
The prices were really reasonable and as always the shop was neat and clean. I was tattooed by a guy named Chris, and my boyfriend by the font guy.
This shop is so good that I am going back again this year to add on to the piece I got from them. This is for sure a good trusted shop if looking to get an awesome tattoo while visiting the windy city.
Deluxe Tattoo Shop gets ★★★★
(Check them out at http://www.deluxetattoo.com/ )
Joey- Way Cool Tattoos- TORONTO, ON
I walked into Way Cool with my friend during the winter for some spontaneous finger tattoos. They have a few locations , this shop; the Queen West location gets mixed reviews. I liked Joey at first and went back a second time with the same friend for more finger tattoos, but each time we went she made us feel more and more unwelcome. It was as if we were not worth her time or were wasting her day by asking for a small tattoo. She was unfriendly, uninviting and once even tried to pass us off to another tattooist. Very disappointing. Not to mention that one of my friend’s tats, done on the inside of her middle finger, was left uneven, crooked and hardly filled in. We won’t be returning to this shop ever again, not even for our touch ups, which by the way she only offers one free touch up. A bit unreasonable in my opinion for the fact that our tattoos are very small and finger tattoos take longer to hold in the skin. Joey was not alone in her situation, we did not receive a good vibe from any of the other tattooist in the shop. Tattooing 101: make your customer feel welcome and excited about getting a tattoo from the minute they walk in! This shop will not take appointments over the phone and require a deposit in order to just speak to an artist. Your best bet is to wait outside the shop at 12pm when they open and hope to snag a walk in appointment. This is an all around let down and inconvenience.
Joey and Way Cool Tattoos Shop gets ★★★
Jason- Lucky 13 Tattoos- TORONTO, ON
Both creators of this site have recieved tattoos by Jason at this shop early in 2008. All 3 tattoos done were simple black fonts. This artist seems to have trouble tattooing straight, clean lines, and making his work filled in and stick. The work done was not terrible and is livable, however it is just another Toronto tattoo shop checked off on the list of where never to go for a good, clean tattoo. The shop was always busy with people walking in and out and passed you every second. With every step the floor shook, perhaps that was the cause behind the wiggly lines. Any shop that offers $13 rate specials on the unluckiest day of the month is sure to be a no no.
Jason and Lucky 13 Tattoo Shop gets ★★
Can’t Even Remember His Name- Le Rock Tattoo Shop- MONTREAL, QC
I can only laugh when I look back at this one Friday night spent running amuck on Montreal’s streets. It was my own premeditated idea to get a drunk tattoo, BUT from a decent shop! This place, the same place I happened to grab my weed, housed one of the worst tattoo artists I’ve ever seen. A simple rainbow was too difficult for this artist to handle, you can see from the photo how uneven the lines are, how crooked the arch is and how messy the colours are. The tattoo cost $60, was done while my friend rolled our weed beside me, and took him at least 30 minutes to figure out how to make it not look like a 5 year old did it, yea well he failed. Hopefully this destruction is fixable, if not it will always remind me of that one night in Montreal I can’t really remember…
The Dude from Le Rock Tattoo Shop gets ★ ( I hope he used a clean needle)
Allie K- Adrenaline Tattoo Shop- TORONTO, ON
This shop was pretty cool. Everyone was really friendly and there is a pretty big and comfortable lounge/waiting area which was nice since it did take the artist quite a while to draw up the tattoo. I took a friend of mine here for her first tattoo done by Allie K which turned out to be a pretty awesome tattoo. The set up of the shop was neat, every tattoo artist has their own private room to work in upstairs and its surprising just how much bigger the shop is than it looks. It also has a wide variety of body jewlery, clothing and acessessories you can buy and shop around in while you wait. I took a peak at some of the artist’s books and was impressed by what I saw. All had different styles of work but I would generally let any of the artists tattoo me without worry. They do take walk ins and appointments over the phone have to be booked with a deposit. Unfortunately Allie K does not work at this shop anymore but like I said all of the artists looked awesome. I would definately take anyone back to this shop if looking for a tattoo done in the city of Toronto.
Friends of mine tattoos done by Allie K at Adrenaline.
Allie K and Adrenaline Tattoo Shop gets ★★★★
Nikki- Forever Young aka FY Ink- TORONTO, ON
A friend of mine referred me to go check out this shop and I’m glad I did. I like finding solid places to get tattoos in the city because they are very many that I trust or that do original work. The shop has only been open since october 2011 so its not as well set up or as aesthetically appealing as most other shops are but don’t let that fool you. The people are very friendly and I felt right at home even though it was my first time in there. Nikki, the artist who did my tattoo, was really cool and very attractive. She was quick, did my tattoo in under an hour, and honestly she was so gentle I hardly felt the thing and I got it on my left ribs! I would definitely choose this place if I was getting another tattoo downtown. They were clean, professional and fairly priced. Only tip is since they are not as set up yet be sure to bring in pictures of whatever you want to get, ie. drawings, fonts etc. Or else you will have to look it up online while you are there and have them print it for you. All in all this place is awesome, I’ll be going there again and I recommend all too also! They also offer $35 piercings every Thursday and often throw wicked parties inside the shop, so keep updated on their website at; http://www.foreveryongeink.com/ .
My tattoo of a lyric from my favourite song, and Nikki finishing up my tattoo in the shop.
Nikki and FY Ink tattoo shop gets ★★★★
I had the pleasure of getting this little sparrow tattoo, again by Nikki, recently. Once again, clean line and almost no scabbing!
