There are so many things that are personal to men and two of those things are where they get their haircuts and their tattoos.

Gone is the age where tattoos are seen as an aberration, now, it is one of the most fashionable things to get and they are so beautiful.

The decisions, or the mistakes, you make in a tattoo artist’s chair will last you a lifetime. Or at least as long as it takes to save up for laser removal surgery.

The trick is not only to be sure of what artwork you want to be inked onto your skin but also to make sure the work is top-notch.

Below are some things to consider when taking a tattoo according to Men’s Journal:

Research
Do your research. Know your shop and know your tattoo artist. A good shop is not hard to find, and when you do, allow yourself to trust your artists. Like a doctor, believe they know what they are doing and talking about. When they give you advice on size, placement, design, or color schemes, it is for a reason. Ask questions. Get the tattoo you want to get but also be willing to compromise.

Which Shop?
Most good shops will have good things written about them in reviews on the Internet nowadays. You always want to look at a shop’s cleanliness, and everyone there should have portfolios of their specific work. You want to look for clean and crisp lines and shading that doesn’t look choppy but smooth. All the colours should be solid and bright. When you’re looking at any black or gray work, check for varying degrees of weight in the shading and smoothness. Unless you’re looking for something super specific, it is always good to look at versatility and how long the artist has been doing it. How long has the shop been there? Have they had the same guys working there for a long time? Ask around to see what people may say about the place. Talk to heavily tattooed collectors, and they’ll usually point you in the right direction.

Moisturise
A few things you can do to keep your tattoo fresh are keeping it moisturized and using a higher SPF when out in the sun. After getting the tattoo, just basic healthiness will help keep your tattoos fresh. Taking care of yourself and maintaining healthy skin is essential, which means eating well and keeping hydrated. It’s most important when you first get the tattoo to really take care of it during that healing period.

So if you are about to get ‘tattooed up’ consider the steps above.