Rating: 2/5
As a girly with, now, thirteen tattoos, I have been in tattoo studios of all sorts. I have had tattoos done by apprentices, senior artists, drunk artists looking for a bit of fun, pop up market artists, and – as of recently – a very posh, incredibly professional, and extra expensive studio in Auckland CBD.
Auckland Fine Line Tattoo Studio, on K-Road, is a minimalistic, simple studio with ten artists ranging in levels of experience. My best friend – who lives in Auckland – booked a three day, $3000, tattoo with one of their artists, so I chose to also get a tattoo while we were both there. Although mine was significantly cheaper, I still found the pricing incredibly high. Their Instagram and posted artists’ work is very beautiful and well done, yet the entire experience felt a bit off with me. Being fine line tattoos, the prices are based by hour of each artist (which is standard), though the hourly rates seem to start at $200. I feel that most fine line artists typically have an hourly rate starting at $120 an hour.
The studio itself is very pretty, although very plain, almost boring. The walls have practically no artwork; the artists’ stations were all bare and the same. And I felt the entire studio felt very quiet from conversation or background noise.
Each artist tended to only speak about the tattoo you were getting itself and didn’t get into conversation with their clients or other artists. It felt almost awkward.
With all of this said, I do love my new tattoo. After twelve and a half hours of tattooing, listening to Greek mythology podcasts, and staring at the ceiling, I am incredibly happy. Although this experience may have been a bit fancier and more serious than my other tattoos, the work and quality are amazing. I think that I am personally more of a fun, chaotic type of person, so my time at Auckland Fine Line may have been just the wrong vibe for my personality. If a more professional and higher end setting if your cup of tea, then your experience might be completely opposite to mine. All in all, I love me a good tattoo so either way, I’m happy.
