For about the last 10 years tiny tattoos have been on the up and up of trending tattoo designs. These minimalist tattoos can be subtle and are well suited for those that don’t want to commit to a full sleeve piece.

You have probably seen countless images fill your instagram feed with pictures of cute dainty animals and botanicals. Even small outlines of stars, hearts, pentagrams, and other such symbols. You might even have considered getting some tiny tattoos of your own. Well, here are 3 things to know about them before you do.

1. Fine lines are delicate.

Tiny tattoos are fragile when they are healing. It’s important not to pick off any scabbing as this could cause serious damage to your new ink. These lines are delicate as a single needle has generally been used with way less ink than a traditional tattoo.

These lines are also delicate as they won’t last like they first appear forever; most tattoos don’t. From the moment you get a tattoo your body starts breaking down the ink to try to flush it from your system. There is generally less black pigment used with a tiny tattoo so that it doesn’t bleed out as much and you get those fine delicate lines for as long as possible. This also means that your body will start to remove it faster.

2. Tattooists are human.

Mistakes can happen no matter how skilled, talented, and professional a tattooist is. Just like with anything, anybody does, there are always mistakes that can be made. Sometimes though they can be fixed or corrected in some way. A slight waver on a thin line on a traditional tattoo might just be a slightly thicker line to even it out. That solution isn’t really available when your tattoo only has that one thin line.

There are reasons that you may have a tattoo artist refuse to do tiny tattoos on certain body parts. This can be due to skin movement that increases the risk of something going wrong with your tattoo. Professional tattooists want to make sure that you leave happy, and with the best tattoo they can provide you with. When an artist tells you no they aren’t saying this to spoil your moment, it’s because their expert knowledge and experience has meant they have set boundaries around their work.

Tattoo artists spend years practicing and honing their craft to produce amazing art pieces. Finding the right tattooist to do your job is important. Not all tattooists can do fine line pieces. Some don’t even stock or have needles thin enough to do them, it’s not their style. There are many tattoo artists that specialise in tiny/micro tattoos. Our tattooists will be happy to chat to you about your small tattoo design ideas.

3. Testing out tattoos

If you have been thinking about getting a tattoo but not sure about starting with something big, a minimalist tattoo is a great place to start. There is a huge difference between getting a full sleeve or a thigh piece and a small lightning bolt on your wrist.

A fine line tattoo will give you the experience of getting a tattoo but in a short time frame. You will then be able to decide if the process and pain is something you want to do again. A tiny tattoo can also be covered up by a bigger piece pretty easily most of the time.