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Tattoos are incredible works of art and beauty, but even when you are most excited about getting a tattoo, you must remember that it is also an invasive procedure. The tattoo needle goes in and out of your skin, leaving behind ink that remains under your skin long after the tiny pinprick injuries have healed. When you get a tattoo, although it will likely not be particularly painful, you will bleed, and you will experience some pain. This is because you are being stabbed with a needle and the interior of your body is, in a limited manner, being exposed. As a result, tattoo safety is of the utmost importance. Cross contamination of needles or other equipment can lead to the spread of blood-borne diseases and pathogens, including but not limited to hepatitis and HIV. Of course, because of these issues, nearly all tattoo artists are extremely health conscious and scrupulous about safety and sanitation. Here are several ways to make sure that you get your tattoo in an environment that places your safety first.

Look for clean and sterile equipment. 

Some types of tattoo needles are prepackaged and can be opened from their sterile packaging right before use. These packages should be sealed when they first come into your view, and be opened in front of you. If your artist is using a conventional tattoo needle, it should have been autoclaved before use to kill all potential pathogens. An autoclave uses intense heat, steam and high pressure to sterilize equipment, and they are used in hospitals and labs to cleanse equipment and destroy deadly fungi and other contaminants. If a tattoo parlor does not have an autoclave, then do not get a tattoo there. 

Some nail salons use UV rays to sanitize their tools. This is not only wholly ineffective, but it perpetrates a dangerous misconception that tanning bed rays are sufficient to sterilize tattoo equipment or any other type of medical needle. This is untrue, and you cannot rely on UV light to sterilize equipment for you. If you are considering a home tattoo, remember that you cannot sterilize the equipment and tools that you need effectively.

Check out the rest of the tattooing environment.

Things should be clean, orderly and neat. While some tattoo parlors thrive on an organized chaos of portfolios, loud music and eclectic design, they are all scrupulously clean. If a tattoo parlor is dirty or if the equipment appears untended or poorly maintained, these are all signs that you would be better off getting tattooed elsewhere.

Get references.

Reliable, clean, safe tattoo parlors tend to have good references. Ask the tattoo artists if you can talk to some former clients. Also, most tattoo parlors have an online presence that is mostly, but not entirely, supported by the company itself. You can usually find online reviews of tattoo parlors and tattoo artists, and well as any dirt, literally and figuratively, that other clients may have noticed. Of course, remember that you have to take everything you read online and off with a grain of salt, so do not write off a tattoo parlor or a tattoo artist without checking into the facts yourself.

If you cannot find references, try the Better Business Bureau or the yellow pages. If anything bad has happened with that tattoo parlor, then it will likely be documented by the Better Business Bureau. On the other hand, a long presence in the yellow pages and many years in business tend to indicate that a tattoo parlor, just like any other business, has mostly satisfied clients and conducts a good practice.

While tattoo parlor safety is important, it is also important for you to be responsible for your personal safety while getting a tattoo. This means no drugs or alcohol (these can make your experience significantly more unpleasant and painful), getting enough rest before you get your tattoo, staying hydrated and having a good meal before you settle in for your tattoo experience. Also, you are responsible for your tattoo aftercare. Just like any other wound, your tattoo is prone to infection, so be sure that you care for it strictly according to the guidelines provided by your tattoo artist. You can also purchase a variety of balms and salves to help your tattoo heal quickly, painlessly and beautifully.

There are many ways that have been used for years to help people get “The Perfect Tattoo” Because tattoos are permanent (or nearly so), getting one can be intimidating. People often get the following recommendations about how to select what tattoo design to get and where to put it:

Put the design on your refrigerator for a year. If you still want it after that long, go for it!
Imagine what you will look like when you are eighty and have that tattoo design.
Place the tattoo in a place that is not affected by age-related sagging or weight gain.
Do not get the tattoo on your stomach if you are going to have kids.
Stop thinking so much. If you want a tattoo, go get it! Life is short.
Carry the design around with you for a year. If you still want it after all that time and think about it when you see yourself in the mirror, then get it.

The list goes on and on!

In general, the “surefire” ways of choosing the perfect tattoo for you are far less than surefire. After all, you may think, who will really be looking at your ankle when you are eighty? Shouldn't you just enjoy it for the next 60 years and then worry about how your ankle tattoo looks when you are eighty? Similar arguments can be made about the sagging and weight gain issue, although since many women have children relatively young, belly button tattoos should be considered very carefully since you might have to live with their altered versions for years and when these types of tattoos stretch, they often create an odd look that prevents many women from baring their otherwise impeccable stomach area in bikinis. Finally, the idea of carrying a tattoo design around with you or placing it where it can be viewed on a daily and repetitive basis may seem like the answer, but there are several factors that most people do not consider:

Looking at the tattoo design that you do not yet have will only make you focus on how much you want it, thereby possibly preventing you from viewing things objectively and ultimately leading you to get a tattoo design that you do not really like all that much.
Looking at a tattoo design on a piece of paper tells you nothing about how it will look on your body and with your skin tone.
You probably will not make it a year. Most people only take a few weeks (maximum) to decide to get a tattoo, decide what tattoo design to get and then go get the tattoo. Waiting a year is not only tedious, but it is impractical. After all, you want to get the tattoo so that you can enjoy it, not so that you can admire it on the wall.

However, there is still one more hurdle to cross. Imagine that you have picked out the tattoo design of your dreams. You take it to a tattoo artist, who inks it on your skin. However, every artist has a certain style, and your beautiful, delicate and flowery unicorn tattoo ends up looking a little more muscular and tough than you had hoped. You are heartbroken, but it is there to stay, so you try to make the best of it. After all, no one can perfectly replicate a tattoo design unless they drew it, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. If you had taken a tattoo stencil, which can be transferred directly onto your skin to provide a line by line guide for the artist, and the stencils corresponding color guide, which tells the artist what color to place where, you could have had your perfect tattoo in perfect order. A tattoo stencil is the final step in the perfect tattoo process, and it is the key to actually getting your perfect tattoo in ink on your skin. You will spend a lot of time, thought and energy selecting the tattoo that is perfect for you. Be sure that your tattoo is perfect on you as well by taking a tattoo stencil and color guide with you when you go to get tattooed.

Katzen, the German word for “cat” is the self chosen name of Katzen the Tiger Lady, a modern day tattooed woman who has made a career out of her lifestyle choice to live as a feline. Katzen, who is a tattoo artist, started her career in the performing arts as a contortionist in Key West, Florida. She was also a fire eater and a juggler before deciding to get her full body tattoos that ultimately led to her name, Katzen.

Katzen the Tiger Lady has stylized tiger stripes all over her body. They begin on her forehead and extend all over her face and down her shoulders, arms, torso and legs. Katzen also has extremely rare and painful eyelid tattoos to enhance her catlike appearance, as well as facial piercings that allow her to screw on whiskers onto her face when she wishes. Katzen is the first woman to have a full body theme tattoo, although of course La Belle Irene, a European sideshow act, was the first woman to be tattooed all over. She had heart tattoos, scroll| tattoos and cupid tattoos, but other than having feminine tattoos, her tattoos had no theme. Katzen actually planned her tattoo design in its entirety before it was implemented, and over 150 tattoo artists have worked on her strips. 

Before Katzen began her own body themed tattoo, she was instrumental in inking her former husband, The Enigma. This famous tattooed man grew up eating slugs and playing piano, and ultimately combined these two talents to create a very profitable sideshow act that was originally called simply The Slug. However, after the Enigma met Katzen and they fell in love, the two of them began designing his overall body themed tattoo, which is a jigsaw pattern. Katzen, who had a few hand-drawn tattoos but was otherwise inked very little, actually got her start as a tattoo artist through Enigma, who sent her money and tattoo equipment so that she could plan and ultimately ink his jigsaw puzzle design. While she was working on the Enigma's tattoos, she got the idea for her own body theme tattoo of tiger stripes. 

In interviews, Katzen describes seeing herself with markings from the time that she was very young about five years old. She describes feeling strong, independent and happy in those dreams, and wanting to recreate that feeling in real life. In her teenage years, she tried to recreate the feeling through rebellion and ended up in some trouble with the law, but ultimately as she was tattooing The Enigma, she realized that giving herself the feline markings that she now sports would be the right route for her to these positive feelings. 

Katzen owns her own tattoo shop and does custom tattoos. She also is known for her willingness to do controversial types of tattoos that other tattoo artists might shy away from, such as facial tattoos and overall neck and head tattoos. She has worked on personalities such as the Leopard Man on the Isle of Skye. Before she will tattoo anyones neck, face or head, Katzen consults with them to determine if this step is something that they fully understand. Any tattoo is a major undertaking, but a highly visible tattoo such as one on the neck or face can be particularly dramatic and have a major impact on a person's life in every aspect from social interactions to professional advancement. However, Katzen believes that some people truly will be happier and more successful if their inner markings become their outer skin as well, and if she is confident that tattooing is the right step for that person, she will help them by designing a tattoo regimen that will lead to the look that they desire.

In August 2005, Fox Television premiered a show about a man who deliberately commits a robbery in hopes of being sent to prison. Michael Scofield's goal isn't to run cellblock D or work in the prison cafeteria. His plan was to break his brother out of death row from the inside out. The show, Prison Break, became an instant success, bringing attention inmate life and the justice system with its detailed storylines. The program brought attention to prison tattoo culture because Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller) had his entire upper body covered with detailed tattoo work. While most tattoo enthusiasts will tell you that piece of their ink has story and a meaning behind it, Scofield's are even more special. They hold the key to his crew's escape plans hidden within the tattoo symbols on his arms, back and chest. 

The actual tattoo on Prison Break was designed by Tom Berg and created by Tinsley Transfer. The tattoo was created using several separate transfers. When it was time to put the tattoo on actor Wentworth Miller's body, the transfers were pieced together to create the entire tattoo design. Putting the tattoo in place added another four to five hours to Miller's makeup time, beginning with cleaning the skin with rubbing alcohol. Then the tattoo transfers were pressed onto his skin and the paper was peeled off. Next, using a combination of glue and waterproof sealant, the tattoo pieces were stuck to his body. The final step was filling in blanks spots with body paint. Applying the famous Prison Break tattoo took nearly six hours, including an hour to remove it after shooting. To cut down on that time, in scenes where only a portion of the tattoo design would be visible to the camera, only that area would be applied to Miller. 

During Prison Break's first season, Scofield's tattoo led him and his team through each of the steps to construct an escape route out of the fictional Fox River State Penitentiary. In the second season, the tattoo still holds the clues on how to get the men out of the country and to Panama, where extradition to the U.S. would be impossible. The storyline often involved showing the designs of the Prison Break tattoo with special effects to explain the clues. In the fourth season premiere of Prison Break, Scofield has the tattoo removed to avoid being recognized while on the run. However, the show drew criticism when it chose to show him having the extensive work removed with one extended laser tattoo removal session. Critics said that Prison Break had finally moved into the science fiction genre because even the smallest tattoo requires several lengthy sessions of laser tattoo removal. Later, Wentworth Miller admitted that he actually asked the writers of Prison Break to remove the large tattoo from his character. "It was a fan favorite the first season," he told the Star Telegram. "But then Michael escaped - mission accomplished - and suddenly it was just something that had to be borne rather than be something that could be used as a plot device." 

Prison tattoos are one of the biggest subculture of tattoos. True prison tattoos are done while still incarcerated with homemade needles and tattoo guns. Needles can be made of paperclips, staples or nearly any pointy object. The needle is this placed inside an empty ballpoint pen and hooked up to a small motor that makes it move back and forth. While in prison, ink can be taken from a pen, melted plastic or even burned Styrofoam. Because of the makeshift equipment and unclean conditions, true prison tattoos are dangerous and can result in damage to skin and permanent scarring. Serious diseases like HIV and hepatitis can also be passed from one prisoner to another because of the lack of sterilization. Often it is safer to have prison tattoo designs done after an inmate's release. Most prison tattoo designs represent extremist beliefs, gang affiliation and/or violence. Common prison tattoo designs include teardrops and hourglasses as wells chains and the inmate's gang name. 

A prison tattoo design tells a story. It often is used to convey that the wearer has done time, is tough or is a badass. According to Wentworth Miller, the actor who plays Prison Break's Michael Scofield, he lacks in the toughness department. In an interview, the actor told The Daily Mail I need all the help I can get to feel like a bad ass . . . On the rare occasions when I have worn [the full torso tattoo} home and I am walking down the street I get some pretty strange reactions. Grandmas tend to give me a wide berth and I will get people who actually have the full sleeves for real come up, thinking we have some kind of experience in common. And then they are always looking at me with a little contempt when they realize it's not the real deal. Also a bit of envy when they realize it's not the real deal and that my tattoo didn't hurt.