How long does stick and poke last with pen ink

Please look through this before asking anything! You won’t get a response if it’s something that I’ve already covered. But feel free to ask clarifying questions! Also check the tags for more specific answers!

What is a Stick and Poke?
A stick and poke (also known as s&p, diy, homemade or jailhouse tattoo) is an at home way to create tattoos. it’s a modern version of what people have been doing for years.

What do you need for a Stick and Poke?
You will need a needle, thread, skin, ink, and all the precautions to make it safe and sterile. (boil the needle, wear gloves, use alcohol on the skin)

Thread?
Thread is optional. You wrap the needle, almost completely to the tip, with thread and that will act as an ink reservoir  You can also attach the needle to a pen/pencil/what have you with ink so make holding it 10000x easier. The tutorials below have pictures of what the completed “rig” looks like.

What needle should I use?
You can use a normal sewing needle but a tattoo needle works the best. DO NOT USE A HOLLOW PIERCING NEEDLE OR SAFETY PIN. 

What ink should I use?
Tattoo ink is the best, but non toxic india ink (such as Higgins, Speedball or Winsor and Newton) works well also. But if you ask me a question about ink, I will automatically suggest tattoo ink. It’s easily available on the internet. Stay away from pen ink and inks that may be toxic. If you’re going to do color, please just be on the safe side and use tattoo ink. And please stay away from red ink and don’t bother with white ink tattoos (A lot of people are allergic to red dyes and chemicals in red ink are known carcinogens. So just be on the safe side. And we highly recommend against doing a white ink snp. I have two professional ones and they’re very tricky to do and are very different from color ones. For white inks to work the best, there are a bunch of different factors such as skin pigment, placement, outlines, and even then you have no idea how it’s going to heal. It can be white, yellow, pink, look like a blotchy scar, be totally invisible, etc. There’s a reason why a lot of artist don’t fuck with white ink. So if you really really really want one, do your own research and find an artist who is willing to do it. It’ll be way more worth it in the long run.)

Is *insert random ass ink name here* okay to use?!
Dude, we do not know every single brand of india ink out there. So throwing random names at us isn’t going to give you a solid answer. The best we can tell you is to use your own discretion  Obviously the best ink to use is tattoo ink (readily available online for cheap prices) but if you’re going for India, all I can do is provide you with the ones I know from experience. So please do not send us messages about other brands. I will not have an answer for you.

I used pen ink for my tattoo!
Good for you. We highly suggest no one else does. Pen ink isn’t sterile and will most likely make for a shitty older tattoo.

How do i make an outline?
Draw on yourself with non-permanent pen (like ball-point) in a light color (like blue or green) if you’re doing it free hand. If you want to do an actual design  you can look into the transfer method that professional tattoo artist use. You can also use stencils and edges to make sharp and perfect lines.

Where should I place it so I can hide it?
We are hesitant about answering this question because we assume a reason you want to hide it is because you’re underage. (I know for a fact a lot of 13-14 year olds follow this blog) and we are not condoning or promoting you do something so dangerous or permanent so young. And we think tattoo placement is very personal, just like the design itself. But if you really want to know (and it isn’t like a secret or anything, you could honestly come up with these places yourself) anywhere your underwear covers, anywhere your bathing suit covers, in-between fingers, inside of feet, behind ears if your hair will cover it. I don’t know. You know your body better than I do, and you have more of an idea of what gets covered most of the time.

How much will X area hurt?
Everyone is different. But here’s an infograph.

How long will these tattoos last?
Depending on how deep you poked and the type of skin you did it on, they should last forever. You should not think of these as temporary tattoos though. And any questions concerning how to make them not last long will be automatically deleted. 

How deep should I poke?
You should never exceed 1/8 of an inch. You should be able to feel a pop of the skin while you’re doing it, don’t go much past that point. You’ll quickly see in your results if you’ve gone deep enough. We don’t want to make ourselves bleed.

How do I get a good and solid tattoo?
 By going slowly, making sure every poke you make is on purpose, going over the tattoo many times, and using high grade equipment. People who have excellent tattoos put in the time and effort to show for it.

My tattoo isn’t staying, why?
Either you didn’t go deep enough or the area of skin really doesn’t hold ink well. try going over it again or just pick a new spot.

How long until I can do a touch or go swimming?
 Please wait at least 2 weeks for a touch up. Your tattoo should be healed before going over it again. Please try and wait at least 3 months before going swimming. You want a full layer of skin to cover it. It you can’t wait, 2 weeks at the minimum and try not to let it be fully soaked in water for very long.

What should I do for after care?
Keep it clean with anti bacterial soap and use lotions without scents or dyes. Try to stay out of direct sunlight too. Pat dry and let it breathe. The aftercare for an SnP is the exact same as a professional tattoo. So please look into that if you have any further questions.

I have a scab!
Good. DO NOT PICK IT. It’s a part of the natural healing process. You can learn more with a simple google search about tattoo healing. 

Can I donate blood after this?
Yes, as long as you wait the proper amount of time and have clean blood. You can gather more info here.

How do you make a tattoo gun?
It’s called a “machine” and we don’t know. We do our poking by hand. Look on the internet.

What about Slice and Smudge tattoos?
We do not condone or promote those. 

S&P tattoos are dangerous and dumb. Any one who is promoting them is a fool.
Please leave our blog.

Why haven’t you posted my submission!?
Every single submission we get is put into a queue. The queue can be anywhere from 3 posts, to 300 posts. So seeing your submission may take a few days. 

Who runs this blog?
Hannah and Sam

here are two basic tutorials. 1 & 2

And here is a link to all the questions we’ve ever been asked! 

Can I use pen ink for a stick n poke?

Do stick and pokes fade away?