I want to start off by saying that this isn't by any means a guide on how to tattoo yourself. This is solely my experience, thoughts and opinions about the whole deal.
As of now, I have 3 tattoos that I have done myself and to be honest I am quite happy about the process itself more than the actual tattoos.
Not being new to tattoo's I realized that if I was going to do this it would be best to use an ink that would not turn that hideous green like some black ink's tend to do. Color pay off was a big thing to me. So with a little bit of searching I came across Kuro Sumi in Eggplant Black.
In all honesty I love this ink. I don't know much about inks but this color is just beautiful!
This ink is solely responsible for me loving the whole experience to the degree in which I do.
With the ink taken care of, it was time to think about needles.
See I've always been a body modification enthusiast. For most of my younger years, I was set on the thought that I would someday be a professional piercer.
So my thoughts exactly were "hey, I'll just use my piercing needles"
Of course that is just not, not at all a good idea.
The problem with piercing needles is that, obviously they are meant to pierce skin.
So using a piercing needle to tattoo, is just not going to work.
First off, the tip is so incredibly tiny and sharp, so your pokes will be not only painful, but useless because again the tip is so fine and tiny that you won't get a sufficient amount of ink in your skin.
So of course, at that point I was left empty handed.
So at that point I grabbed my sharpest sewing needles and went to work.
I found using a sewing needle quite good. The only thing I must say is that you do have to apply more pressure because the needle is not meant to penetrate skin.
I found this technique to work like a charm for my first, two tattoo's (my first tattoo was the three lines in the picture above)
After having tattooed myself twice, I was content enough and picked up my materials a couple of months later.
This time I was set on using some sort of tattoo needles.
Of course I came across tattoo needles, but with there not being any guide out there on what tattoo needles to use if you were to perform this on yourself, I was left confused.
Not knowing what size tattoo needle to buy, I just impulsively purchased these.
Round liner needles (3RL)
Once I got these needles I felt as they were too thin, but I was determined to try regardless.
I don't recall where, but I saw how in a particular country hand poking tattoos is a cultural thing and I saw a specific tattoo artist use a special technique.
Basically he had several needles together, which I completely tried to imitate.
So to not overwhelm myself I only taped together two needles by the middle.
While tattooing he also mentioned that it was best to go at an angle and almost lift the skin.
So I did the same, this method is amazing and works beautifully. It allows the whole poking process to be less painful.
I also find it to be easier on the hand, the needles almost, ever so gently glide into your skin.
My experience with that tattoo was by far the best. The tattoo came out lovely and ever so straight, and I found that I barely had to go back to the same spot.
Now, about the healing.
I feel as I can go on and on about the healing process.
The healing process honestly has me strongly doubting to ever get a tattoo by a machine.
Now, I almost feel like a tattoo machine "chews" your skin.
Being tattooed twice before hand poking my own tattoo's, I can say the worst part about getting a tattoo was the healing process. For me, the healing process for the first tattoo I ever got was probably horrendous as ever. My tattoo went through this horrible itchy phase, an ugly peeling phase as well as a phase where it almost felt like it was burning. All in all, it was all just painful and obnoxious.
To get to the point quickly, the healing of a hand poked tattoo is just spectacular.
You do not have to deal with any obnoxious phases, and the healing time is so quick! you almost forget that you have a tattoo because you don't feel it all.
So that was my experience, this goes without mentioning that everything must be clean and sterile to avoid any potential problems. Be patient, because tattoos are permanent, so take your time and try to be neat as possible.
* The tattoo ink and needles were purchased on Ebay all together coming at about $12 dollars.
