Homemade tattoos and the handpoke at home. A complete guide for those who want to start in this fascinating world. For you, brave
Why have we taken to homemade tattoos and handpoke in recent months? Having so much free time during lockdown has done a lot, a lot of damage. People have taken to doing everything, almost to the point of being able to baptize the quarantine as the wanabee quarter. What if hairdressers, makeup artists, youtubers, instagramers, chefs, athletes… some have even dared to jump into the pool to become authentic tattoo artists (or at least they have tried), some getting informed and others have done it a little “like crazy”. For those of you who have the fly behind your ear, we leave you a small basic guide of the necessary materials and the steps you have to follow If you want to become a true master of the homemade tattoos. We also leave you with some images that the photographer Lucía Martínez has sent us, who during these months ago has compiled real testimonies of some of the brave who have dared to practice the art of tattooing during quarantine. Photo Above: @batu_madz
In the first place it is important to get all the necessary materials, this time we are going to be modest and we are going to throw handpoke Instead of using a machine, we are not going to go overboard with being creative, so what happens later happens. For those of you who don’t know what this tattoo method is about, now we explain what it’s all about, but its literal translation (push by hand) It will make the modus operandi quite clear to you.
The handpoke is the ancient tattooing technique that was used before any type of tattoo machine existed. Not doing it this way is better or worse, since Currently, many tattoo artists continue to opt for this option.. With a needle, the ink is introduced puncture by puncture into the first layer of the dermis so that it later heals and remains permanently.
Photo Above: @i_am_baby_king
If you are thinking of trying to get one (or several) tattoos handpoke at homedo not miss all the necessary materials to get the basic home tattoo kit:
The first is the hygiene at the time of tattooing, for this we will need gloves to avoid contact of fluids with the skin and above all to avoid unwanted infections. We have found this pack of 100 gloves without talcum powder, latex, anti-allergy and wear-resistant (€21.20). We will also need special needles for tattooing, being able to be sterilized, sounds difficult to find, but in reality it is not. We leave you here a pack of 100 professional mixed stainless steel tattoo needles with various sizes (€19.99).
These ideal needles for your homemade tattoos usually have a very fine handle, so unless you want to prepare a good Christ, it is best secure the needle to a supportyou can use a pen or a wooden stick (depressor) to secure your needle by wrapping both with hypoallergenic plaster lifetime (€7.99). With these elements we will have our tool ready to make our homemade tattoos.
Photo Above: @uvethekid
Then comes the ink moment, it is best to use a tattoo specific ink, although many have already done the test with other types of inks such as China (we do not recommend using this). Today it is something that can be easily achieved. We recommend this vegan ink from the Viking Ink USA brand that gives you the option to choose between the 30 ml, 120 ml and 270 ml bottle. With the first to start you get more than enough (from €12.99).
We will also need a support where to pour a small amount of ink, on the internet you can find packs in which there are a number of special caps for tattooing, we have found this one of 300 pcs (€9.99). Surely you don’t need that many, so if you don’t feel like spending so much you can also use something you have at home, yes, we recommend that everything is well cleaned and sterilized.
Photo Above: @uvethekid
As a little trick to fix on our table the little bottle in which we have decided to pour our tattoo ink and not spill it, we recommend getting a good vaselinewe leave you here a 1kg bottle of pure Vaseline for dermatological use (€12.99), apart from this, it also comes in handy apply it on the skin before starting to make our tattoos homemade so that the excess ink does not expand too much when we put our needle on the skin and the area to be tattooed is, so to speak, “controlled”.
With all these elements to handpoke at home We could already start to prick the needle and make our first tests directly on the skin, but for those who want to go a step further and make a more complete design, we recommend the hectographic paper or transfer paper (25 sheets from €13.51), you just have to draw your design on it and then transfer it to the skin as if it were a decal, then you can start (with a lot of patience) to go over the tattoo with your tools.
Photo Above: @ketepintxo
What the experts recommend is not to insert the needle completely straight, but to introduce it by letting it fall to the side at a 45 degree angle so that the ink enters the skin better. You don’t have to push too hard either.no more than 1mm deep), otherwise we may have unwanted ink leaks. Another tip is to stretch the skin a little with our fingers so that it is easier to control the place where we are tattooing and the result is much better.
If with what we have told you you dare to try with your homemade tattoos do not hesitate and get all the necessary materials to become a true master of handpoke at home. If you see that things are going well for you, you know, you take your bags, you get on a plane to the paradisiacal beach that gives you the most anger and you dedicate yourself to tattooing tourists eager for new and risky experiences.
Photo Above: @uvethekid
