Home made tattoos
How to make a basic tattoo with home made equipment

Required:
1. a good hand
2. courage or imprudence
3. a cork
4. a needle (better 2 inches long)
5. a thread of cotton
6. India ink
7. a transparent, slick paper
8. a permanent marker
9. a normal marker
10. desinfectant and sterile gauze

Premise.
First, a clarification: we advise anyone against tattooing himself on his own, as this can lead to infections or allergic reactions. It´s much better to choose a professional tattooist and rely on them. On a quality basis too there´s no comparison... and I say so on my very own experience: a tattoo machine beats this by far.

Procedure:
Stick the needle half into the cork, until about one inch is left out and the needle itself is firm (pic.1)

Tightly wrap the cotton thread around the needle, close to the cork, till you get a small roll about half an inch long and a couple of millimeters thick; this will be the ink "reservoir" (pic.2)


Your "chisel" is now ready.
Now you have to prepare the design.
Draw your design on the transparent paper with a permanent marker, which will remain on the paper without smudging, as in picture 3:

When your drawing is dry, turn the paper on his back and follow the reversed drawing lines with a marker that does not dry quickly, and which does not get absorbed by the paper (glossy paper will fit): THIS is the drawing which will be applied on the skin (pic.4).

Apply the transparent sheet back with fresh ink on the area to be tattooed: the drawing will remain "printed" on the skin, as from a stencil, easily. Hand drawing directly on the skin can be a dangerous alternative: the less accurate the basis, the worst the tattoo.
Dip the needle into the ink until the thread is well soaked (fig.5).

Here comes the hard part: you have to thickly prick the drawing in order to introduce the ink below the derma if you want your tattoo to last in time. The part you work on must be continuously cleaned with disinfectant to wash away exceeding ink, in order to see what´s already been inked and what´s not.
Tips

Disinfect when you´re done and protect the tattooed part till it´s completely healed, washing it several times a day with an antibacterial soap.
Three fundamental operations are now, as for any other tattoo: keep clean and disinfected, keep the skin moist and keep it away from sunlight till it´s completely healed.
Do not use creams or lotions containing fragrances, colouring or any substance which can irritate your skin.

This is the know how, as a curiosity. Reminding you that tattoos made this way are NEVER sharp, but remain quite blurred, we strongly suggest always to rely on a professional tattooist not to mourn on the results!!