Ocean Mystique Ink Gallery

I am on my honeymoon in Virginia, and decided to start married life off right - by covering up a horrible tattoo on my back that I got when I was 18. I first went to Studio Evolve, but they were booked for a week - and snobby as hell to boot. I asked if they had any recommendations for another parlor, as I was only in town for a week. First they asked if I used google, which is a pretty dick think to say, and then they pointed me towards this shop. And I'm really glad they did!

First of all, huge difference in attitude when I first walked in. The guy behind the counter was friendly and helped me out when I said I wanted a coverup, but didn't know what I actually wanted to put there. He steered me towards two books of the artists he thought would be able to take on the project, and when I voiced my concern about color quality (the awful tattoo was color and it had already faded to almost nothing in only 6 years), he recommended Jaimeson. We met, talked about what we could put there, sketched a bit, and set up an appointment a few days from then. He was cool with me emailing him ideas, and cool when I asked him to change the drawing around.

The tattoo itself is awesome. The color looks absolutely stunning, and I'll be sure to update this review in a few months with how it holds up, though I'm not worried because I saw one of his tattoos on someone and the color looked incredible.

The process of getting the tattoo was also great. He talked to me when I wanted to talk, and he was quiet when I wanted to be quiet, without me having to say so. I think he's pretty good at reading what people need.

I sat for about 3.5 hours before I had to call it quits. I will be flying back in a few months to finish! It's unfortunate that people have had bad experiences at this place, because I can't speak more highly of it! Yes, tattoos are expensive. When they're not, well....that's how I ended up needing a tattoo covered.

I visited Ocean Mystique Ink Gallery recently to get a new tattoo on my forearm.  My other tats have been from other establishments and I had never been there before so I was slightly wary at first, but those feelings were quickly dispelled.  The people at the front desk were friendly, and had a tattoo artist come out to talk about what I wanted.  I had brought a sketch with some script and stars around it.  He advised me that the stars should be a bit bigger otherwise they wouldn't look right.  He made a design inspired off my sketch and it looked wonderful.  It was just what I had in mind, but just couldn't adequately put down on paper.   Needless to say my tat looks beautiful, and several people have asked where I got it done.   Thanks Stan!!!!!!

I go here frequently, and it is not so drastically dismissive. I feel very sad that a previous review had such an awful experience, I love these guys. Both of my calves are covered in amazing artwork from Gentleman Jim, who works at Ocean Mystique.

I have been to Ocean Mystique 5 times over the last 6 months since my Artist of preference Gentleman Jim has moved there. While they could in fact use a permanent counter girl that just focused on customer service and solidifying price quotes & concepts between artists and clients - they are amazing at what they do.

When you walk in, you need to go right up to the counter and tell someone why you are there, because the piercer is usually the one out front and he does not know regulars from those who may be wary or looking around. This will immediately clear up the "being treated  out of place" attitude that a previous review seemed to feel she encountered. The thing about people with tattoos is, we don't care if you have tattoos :)

All their books and artwork binders are hanging on the walls so you could spend hours looking for a tattoo that identifies with you. All of their artists will be very honest with you in terms of size, color, cover-up, placement - you just need to speak with them and have an open mind about what's going to be best for your tattoo. I have personally been told 'NO, that will not look its best, how about we __________' and it resulted in my favorite tattoo thus far.

I strongly suggest giving them a chance. They also have a Norfolk location.