I had an exceptionally good experience at Halo on Marshall street. With the number of people I've seen in there the few times I've gone, I'm very surprised they don't have more reviews. In any case, this was my first tattoo and I was a bit nervous. From the beginning the woman working the front worked with me to find the right artist for what I wanted.
I had DJ Rose do the actual tattoo. He was on time and went over the text and design I wanted in detail to make sure it looked right. You can tell he's passionate about the industry based on his tons of tattoos and views on people who don't tolerate them. The process of getting the tattoo wasn't all that painful considering I had it on my ribs. Good hands and the tattoo looks great.
Overall, a clean tattoo parlor and great service made for an fantastic experience. I would definitely recommend them and would go back when I decide to get another one. Also, they'll do touch ups if your tattoo fades so that's worthy of note.
My little sister wanted to get her first tattoo, and we decided we'd each get one.
When we arrived at Halo, we were introduced to Jeff - who from the start was dismissive, condescending, insulting and incredibly rude. He was unhelpful and mean, and clearly thought our idea for our tattoos was just terrribly beneath him - so much so, that he loudly made fun of me, my sister and her tattoo to the other artists as he was beginning to tattoo her. What the hell?! We had originally come in for just a consultation and didn't have a lot of time before we had to be elsewhere, but quickly we were strong-armed by this dickhead into one of us getting the tattoo RIGHT then. My one biggest regret is not swooping in immediately and getting us both the fuck out of there.
When it was time for her to sit down, she asked him how he would like her to sit and he laughed derisively at her. When I offered to hold my sister's other hand (it's her first tattoo, come on), he snapped at me and refused to let me. Never experienced that before in any of my other tattooing experiences - and I understand there are safety concerns, but there is absolutely no reason to be an asshole about it either. He didn't ask how she was feeling, didn't prep her for what she was about to experience and in general just was one of those dudes who's too fucking cool to be a decent human being. It was like his entire purpose as a tattoo artist was to make other people feel like shit.
Afterward, he tried to strong arm me repeatedly into doing a tattoo with him as well - even after telling him multiple times that no, we had somewhere to be and hadn't planned to do ANY tattoos today at all. There was only time for one. He told me, "maybe if you stopped bitching for a second we could get the tattoo finished."
Seriously - guy was a major turd. And I feel we were overcharged. $70 for a tiny tattoo that he half-assed and finished in under five minutes. When I got my version of this tattoo (at a different store, Siren Studios, which was much better), it cost $60 and the guy worked much, much harder on the design and the actual tattoo. Luckily, her tattoo turned out fine and there was never an issue of cleanliness, but the way we were treated was so fucking lame that it almost ruined the entire experience.
I have multiple tattoos, and I have never seen an artist behave this way. Most artists care a lot about the work they do, and most of them really respect and care about the bond you enter into with the person you're tattooing. These pieces are forever, and a first tattoo can be incredibly vulnerable. Usually people don't enter lightly into having someone else's artwork branded into their skin until the end of time - and artists need to respect that. Don't be a dick just because you're so insecure about how lame you are that you need to make everyone else feel bad - and if you can't figure that out, stop tattooing people. I read online later that this guy is a guest artist at Halo, and I don't know the rest of the artists there, but Halo really should think about how they want their store to be represented.
tl;dr never get tattooed by Jeff at Halo and DON'T go there for your first tattoo! They're condescending and rude, and care too much about being cooler than you than they do about giving you a good experience.
Got my first tattoo here.
I went here with my roommate. It was spontaneous, I was bored after class so we went here. I think the guy who tattoo me is Mike. He's the one with all the cool comic characters tattoos. He has a Japanese wife.
Anyway, he was a cool dude and he designed the tattoo I want pretty fast, and then he started working on it right away. I got a nautical star on my shoulder and it took him around 30-45 minutes to finish it.
My friends all got tattoos here and they all recommended me to Halo.
I love this place, had great conversation with the tattoo artist and the guy who takes your name down.
First let me start by saying that I am VERY PICKY about my piercing places. So, this review need not apply to anyone who does NOT care much about SERVICE or QUALITY.
I always check out the places I go prior to buying even jewelry, let alone piercing places. I understand that being a piercer is all cool and whatnot, but seriously, don't be an ass about it.
My FIRST IMPRESSION should have told me all I need to know. I rang the line to see about hours, services, prices, and appointments. I received the voice mail, and was rather put off by the message. It did not provide any helpful information except to repeatedly tell me to NOT LEAVE A MESSAGE.
SECOND and LAST IMPRESSION confirmed my suspicions. I am HAPPY that you are making A TON OF MONEY off INEXPERIENCED college students (and possibly locals) who do not know any better. But, please, do not try to pull one over on me.
You are RUDE. Your JEWELRY is OVERPRICED and NOT QUALITY. Just because I don't look like any of the other SPENDING-DADDY'S-MONEY customers doesn't mean I'm not important or have money that's just as good.
Now, I understand this CHAIN has a different locations, and the only one I am familiar with is the M-STREET one. It is entirely possible that this is an anomaly. But, I guess I'll never know as I've found better elsewhere.
So after going in here again today I had to change my review. The new piercer, Quinn, is FANTASTIC. She was willing to go out of her way to help me and order jewelry for me and she made me feel like a valued customer. I will definitely be going back for anything and everything and I am so glad I went in here today because it totally changed my mind.
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