My husband got his tattoo at Skin Deep after reading reviews decided it was the best and had been on the island the longest.
Anna Paige was the tattoo artist and she was totally awesome. Drew went in wanting a "band" on his arm at the bottom of another tattoo he had. Anna said we are all out of "bands" today....in other words that is NOT going to work with what you have. Â She said I will draw something on your arm and you can have a think about it. Â Anna drew an awesome tattoo which blended the other tattoos together making it look like one. Â Drew tried to make a couple of suggestions but got told to "shut the f... up" and was slapped a few times.....deservedly so .... and all in good humour as he had no idea and Anna is the expert!!!!!! Â She took photos and said come back tomorrow if you are happy. Drew booked in for the following day.
I went and did a skydive (dumbest thing i have ever done btw) and when I got back went down to see how they were going and she had changed the design again as she had been dreaming about it that night!!! The new design looked totally awesome and we were both so happy with it!!!
Anna thanks so much. Hope you got the pics I emailed of you two!! We will look up your friend in Sydney at Illustrated Man as love your idea of "never again" tattoo with a parachute!!!
DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!! Â Scratch shop. Â Lazy and unprofessional artists. Go here only if you prefer jail art from the 90s. I Â have lots of tattoos and this is the most unclean, poorly run chop-shop that caters to bubblegummers on vacation. Â If you DO go here expect to end up on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FFailblog.com&s=b07c1feb08c7ed54c9fb9393c96e2a4e5f590e097d8d456c7a046ac66cf72ba0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Failblog.com</a>-worst tattoos. Â Shop located between a Tiffany & Co. and Vietnamese Strip Club!
I am too embarrassed to upload a photo. Looking forward to laser surgery:(
Brian, Thanks for taking me on even though you were at the end of your shift. I appreciate the care, detail, creativity, and professionalism you showed to me. I love my artwork! I'll wear it proudly.
Also, please share my appreciation for Stolfi, Anna, Rachel, and your other colleagues. The positive energy, fun, professionalism, and customer service they have is outstanding and must be acknowledged. The whole experience was great and one I'll always fondly remember.
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I checked out a couple other places but none had the customer service and positive atmosphere at Skin Deep. I want to give them 5 stars for the singing and good humor which helped the time go by a bit quicker and the tat hurt a bit less. Don't let that ease with people fool you. They are highly professional-- ID check, forms, upfront pricing, clean, sterile tools and work habits. You should feel great coming here knowing they take this seriously and have their act together.
In short, this place was GREAT! I was originally going to go to Tattoolicious, which was only a few blocks away from this place, because they have pricing information on their website which is surprisingly hard to find for these types of places. Â I called Tattoolicious today (Friday) at 4:58pm, no one answered so I left a voicemail explaining what I wanted done and the questions I had. Â From then to the time of this writing, almost 5 hours later, I still have not received a call back. Â After waiting about an hour for my call to be returned I decided to look up other places in the area that offered piercings.
  This is where Skin Deep comes in.  I called at exactly 5:58pm and after about 3 rings a REAL PERSON answered me.  I told them what I wanted and my questions and they told me how much it'd cost, but my questions couldn't be answered at the moment because the piercer, Debra, was out at the moment.  He told me to call back in about 30 minutes and I could ask her then.  This was not a problem for me since I was still in the comfort of my own home.  After 34 minutes of playing video games I called back.  Again, I was answered by a real person and told them I'd like to speak to Debra.  She came to the phone instantly and answered all of my questions.  At this point, Skin Deep, in my opinion, had great customer service.
  I quickly showered and headed straight down.  Upon arriving I noticed the place was somewhat hidden, off the beaten path, and had small square footage, but that didn't concern me at all.  They had enough room to do what they needed to do. I spoke with the nice girl at the front desk and asked to see Debra.  Immediately after meeting her I knew she was a very nice person with a lot of experience.  She understood my concerns and was more than willing to help me in any way she could.  I signed some paperwork while I waited for her to sterilize the equipment.
  Now, I originally came in because I thought my previous earlobe piercing had grown in again and I wanted it re-pierced.  Debra said that, due to her experience, she immediately knew that it hadn't grown in and proved it by putting the tapering needle straight through it, after asking me if she could of course.  To my surprise the piercing never grew in at all.  She said it was because I couldn't see the backing anymore and was probably just putting my earrings in at the wrong angle.  I was so surprised and thought, "Well, I'm all done here."  The experience was so enjoyable that I was willing to pay her just for that, but she refused and said she wouldn't charge for that, but would accept the payment if I wanted the other side pierced.  At first I declined, telling myself that I only wanted one side pierced, but then thought "You know what, up until now I've had nothing but a fun experience, why not get both pierced? If I decide I only want to keep one side pierced I can just remove the other side!"  So I opted to get the other side pierced.  She was very positive, friendly and comforting throughout the entire process.
  In the end, I payed only $20 for all of that!  Keep in mind 2 important things, though. One: I brought in my own retainers for the pierce, my workplace doesn't allow piercings on the floor, and two: They only accept cash, so if you don't want to pay the $3+ fee at the ATM they have in the shop then bring cash before you come in.  All in all, I was extremely pleased with this experience.  If I, or anyone else, ever wants to get a piercing remember to always ask for Debra at Skin Deep! She deserves more than 5 stars, curse you Yelp!
Was there over Xmas 2012
Maybe I was there the wrong day, but when I made my appointment they seemed very organized and very helpful. HOWEVER, when I arrived to get the tattoo, things went downhill fast. The lady at the counter was bitching about other customers and had the nerve to say to my wife that "I was being really picky" of course I didn't find this out until after my tattoo was completed. Which upon 1st inspection it looked great, but when I lined it up with the original sketch that I gave them, it was way off. Now i'm going to a previous tattoo artist whom I trust dearly to fix it up as best as possible. I spoke with other locals in Honolulu and they mentioned a few other "better artist and better priced" places to go. Waikiki is a tourist mecca and I'm sure that Skin Deep cashes in on those tourists because of it's location. Either way I wasn't very happy with the final product.
Final statements: too expensive, not that great, I wouldn't go back, cash only, appointment only
This place is amazing! Randomly decided I wanted a tattoo, walked in there and got an appointment about an hour later. Rita was so cool and very helpful. Jen did my tattoo and she did such a great job! Â She was very gentle and picked amazing colors (I told her I wanted them bright and she made it very bright). They were able to work with me on a decent price and I left Hawaii with my favorite tattoo I've gotten so far!
Review Source:My friend, Kellie and I went here at 11:30pm on a Thursday night for tattoos. We were leaving the next day and both wanted to get one. Kellie wanted a black star that she was able to get that night. I wanted a more detailed koi fish that was also a cover up. Kelly at the front desk let me make an appointment with Stolfi for the next day at noon.
 I knew I wanted a Koi fish. Kellie and I were trying to come up with a design for the past 4 months and finally at the tattoo place we found the perfect one. Stolfi asked if I wanted to change anything and I told him: I wanted the koi to have Asian eyes that are light brown like mine, have feminine eyelashes, and be magenta/orange. I ended up also being about 30 minutes late to my appointment due to dropping Kellie off at the airport. On the way back someone got into an accident on H1 and it stopped traffic. Ugh! I called that tattoo place and told them I would be late and they were cool with it.
 It took about 3-3.5 hours for the tattoo to be done. Stolfi was really nice and cool as hell! Found out he lived in Korea for awhile at a city I used to frequent and so we started talking about living in Korea, Hawaii, and tattoos. He said if I needed a break he would give me one. But I didn't need one. Did it hurt? Of course, it's a tattoo...like glass cutting through the first layer of skin. Did I love the experience? ABSOFREAKINLUTELY! He has been the most down to earth and talented artist I have had and this is my 7th tattoo in my 6th place. I highly reccommend this place to anyone that wants to get a tattoo.
 I only suggest that people try to get appointments because we got lucky they were not to busy the next day. But the day of my appointment they were getting pretty busy. So do yourself a favor, go to Skin Deep...book an appointment with Stolfi and you will be glad you did. I sure am!
Thanks, Stolfi!
If you dont have cash with you...they have an ATM machine ;)
Awesome shop. found it on yelp cause it had the highest ratings. here on a deployment port visit. this place deserves five stars. super clean work professional affordable. Really fast Too.but best of all gentle. Â i was suprised at how much it didnt hurt. i fell asleep for a while. Â will definately be back after deployment. They answered all my questions. Â let me use their wifi, and had me laughing the whole time. I walked out with a sick peice. thanks jen and all the people at the shop. i would reccomend this place to anyone. woohoo!
Review Source:I did some research before coming here for a tattoo. Â I had a tattoo idea that I'd been working on for some time, and then my father passed away. Â I decided to incorporate a tattoo he had into my design. Â I brought it here, based on the reputation and positive reviews I found. Â Rita, who was very knowledgeable and thorough, greeted me first, took the design and discussed with me what I was looking for before giving it to Brian. Â Brian worked on the design, and we consulted on it a couple of times before he inked the tattoo. He was VERY professional, friendly, and easy to work with, and made sure that it was exactly what I wanted before we even started. Â Well, in the end, it didn't come out exactly as I had imagined...it was BETTER! Â If you're looking for quality, professional work, don't waste your time going anywhere else!
Review Source:I love this place. Small, old school and real. It almost feels like I'm not even in Waikiki but in a basement somewhere in a time long ago, getting amazing work done. Really clean and sterile environment and artists that take what they do very seriously. I plan on getting tattooed there again very soon.
Review Source:My skin is a veritable map of tattoo parlors from Hawaii to SoCal.......and I have to say, I have decided to that I MUST become extremely loyal to Skin Deep....!! Â I love that it's been around forever (I remember being in high school, and hanging around there..thinking I was oh so cool)!! Â But, I digress AGAIN....!! Â Anyhow, my last 2 tattoos have been by Stolfi @ Â Skin Deep...the second was just this past Saturday....But he is SOOOO AWESOME!! The first tattoo was LITERALLY PAINLESS (probably has more to do with location on my body), BUTTT...there was almost no healing time. Â From the second day I had it, there was no swelling, redness, warmth or scabbing....and there never was. Â My tattoo the other night was slightly painful (again...LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION), but again, no after pain, warmth or scabbing, and its only Day 2..... It's totally BIZARRE...but I Love It!! Â It makes the aftercare a complete breeze!! Â I have had enough work done that I am able to tell if an artist is heavy handed or not....and I have had some HEAVY HANDED artists.....And NO I will not say where!! Â I love that Stolfi's hand moves in such a way to be efficient without making you jump out of your skin. Â Amazing experiance. Â The whole staff was so fun and chatty....!! Â I just loved it. Â Can't wait to go back and let Stolfi get totally creative on the random gaps of bare skin I have.....NOW that all my meaningful ink is in place....I need some COHESION....and some pretty filler art!! Â
My bestie was tattooed by Christine at the same time, and while I can't speak about his pain level....I can tell you that he was 150% satisfied with her work....and totally LOVES LOVES LOVES the design she drew up for him. Â The artwork is lovely. Â She spoke with him for a few moments and looked at the ink he already had....and managed to draw a design for him that was totally HIM.....!! Â
Skin Deep Rocks My World!! Â A Definite Must For Anyone Thinking About Ink...Here You Are Dealing With ARTISTS....Not Just Tattooers....!!!
I've been wanting to get a tattoo ever since I moved to Hawaii in 2006. I never ended up getting one. I took a trip to Hawaii this past week and decided now is the best time to get one. But where to go? ... I walked all over Waikiki and found a bunch of different places to go to. So I decided to yelp all of them.
I cam across Skin Deep and it seemed to good to be true. I decided to go to the shop and check it out. The girl at the front was so helpful. I can't remember he name. Being my first tattoo she explained all the different ways we could do it. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would have gone through with it. She was so excited for my first tattoo. Scotty was my artist and boy did he do a great job. A guy of few words but I felt very comfortable. It's a very sanitary shop, they're all friendly, talented, easy going, understanding, and at the end of it all, I think Skin Deep is the only place I would ever get a tattoo from.
Two weeks ago, I was itching to get my second tattoo and heard about skin deep tattoo through my friend. I had an idea of what I wanted to get but was open to any suggestions to make my ideas in my head more concrete. I walked in with a couple of my friends and was helped by the front desk lady (forgot her name) and she was so helpful!... From helping me sift and pick through fonts... From helping me pick the right location and placement of my tattoo. And though it was close to closing time, she never rushed me.
I was given to Stolfi, the tattoo artist, who then drew up a draft. He gave me the reassurance that I could tell him if I wanted to change n e thing i didn't like but he ended up drawing exactly what I wanted, down to a tee. He brought me back, placed the stencil on my arm and was nice enough to offer me time to show my friends where my tat would be. I sat back down and the tattooing process began. He was adamant that they see me open all the sterile equipment which I liked.
The tattoo didn't take long, maybe an hour or less. It came out awesome! Couldn't have gone to a better place here. I would definitely go back again if I have a hankering for a third tat.
My girlfriend and I decided to get matching tattoos while we were in Hawaii to celebrate my 30th birthday last week. Before we left, I checked on Yelp and I am so glad I did!! This place was amazing, especially Stolfi. We decided to get a hibiscus and a plumeria together...I know it's not original but we love flowers. I got mine on my ankle and my best friend got hers above her hip on her side. The detail that Stolfi put into our tattoos was amazing, especially because mine was much smaller than my friends. We could not be happier and this place was also very clean. I would highly recommend getting a tattoo at Skin Deep if you're on Oahu. You won't be disappointed. Thanks guys!
Review Source:I decided to change my theme and went for a Sailor Jerry pin up girl. LOVED my choice. Stolfi does an outstanding job with the Sailor Jerry tattoos. His pin up girls are really cool. Love the light touch which makes the healing fast and almost painless.
This was my official last tattoo!! Glad I got this.
Haven't figured out where to put the photos but I will upload my tattoo.
I came to Hawaii already knowing that I would be getting another tattoo with one of my best friends there. I was looking for somewhere super clean, kind, and caring. This place appeared to be the kind and caring type but I definitely didn't find it as clean as I'd like. That's already minus a star.
I know this is the oldest shop on the island and with that fact I would have figured that my artist would have known how to tattoo and use creativity. YEAH RIGHT. His creativity was completely non existent and when I said I didn't want anything familiar from the books . . . he drew up just something almost exactly  what I already saw in the books. What a disappointment. So yeah, unfortunately for him, it took him three tries to get me a simple flower with line designs on my ankle that I decently liked. Mistake number one of my behalf for not falling in the love with the drawing in the first place.
After a month, my tattoo still wasn't completely healed and I began to hate it.
Scar tissue had built up terribly underneath and on my tattoo. I had to go get a touch up when I got back to California. When I went to my favorite tattoo shop and artist in San Jose, I just ended up having him redo the entire tattoo. Unfortunately I need to go back again this week for further touch ups on the parts where the scar tissue was so bad he couldn't yet fix it.
To cut to the chase here, Kris at Skin Deep used one needle on my tattoo the whole time. He filled the lines of my tattoo with a single needle. The shading was practically non existent in the center of the flower.
UGH, Definitely would NOT recommend Skin Deep.
Getting a tattoo out of state was a big slap in the face and "I told you so." Definitely learned my lesson with that one. NEVER again.
Thank you Skin Deep for a terrible piece of art work though and for poor art skills.
I came here to get a tattoo to commemorate my 30th bday, but I got sunburnt the day after booking my appointment. The trip was mostly ruined, so I was back for my 31st bday to do it all over again! I'd taken a liking to the the tribal designs with the uniform downward triangles(sharks teeth), so I brought in a design that I created with 31 triangles to show Mike Brown. He told me that it wouldn't work on my thigh, which is where I wanted it. He told me to come back the next day to check out some ideas he'll come up with. One of the designs was perfect, with 31 triangles(I guess I wasn't meant to get it on my 30th) and the rest is history! The tattoo took 4 hours to complete, but well worth it. Mike is a man of few words, but his tattoo's speak for themselves! Everyone working in the shop was very friendly as well. I have to admit that the thigh was the most painful tattoo I've gotten. Damn it hurt, but I love it!
Review Source:Tattoos are addicting... there is no doubt about that. so of course, when I was in Waikiki in May '09, it was only natural to get another one.
After speaking to a friend that used to live in the area, I decided to go go Skin Deep and I am glad I did. Mike B. is great at what he does. Wonderful consultation and awesome ink skills.
Should I be in the area again and feel another itch for a tattoo, I would return to Skin Deep.
this place is aloha.
when planning my trip to oahu, i knew i wanted to get a polynesian tattoo while i was there. did some online search and discovered that this place is the oldest tattoo parlor on the island known for their great guest service and cleanliness.
hooooo cuzin, this place exceeded my expectations. went in for an initial consulting and estimate. dave and peggy are awesome to work with. they really worked closely with me on the design i was looking for.
went back once more before getting inked to finalize the design with them and they were very helpful and knowledgable. make sure you hit them up for travel advice during your vacation on the island. they know all the sweet travel spots and solid restaurants in the area.
the parlor is very clean and they're committed to using sterile equipment. i'm very please with how my first tattoo came out. took about 2.5 - 3 hours total. went by fairly quickly since we all spent the time just talking story. they really create a relaxing atmosphere.
would def go back here to get more work done.
was just in waikiki over this past week and got my first tattoo. i could not have asked for a better place to go. it turned out so incredible - more than i expected! I went there for an initial consult and estimate just to get a feel for what they could do for me. Ashley was so helpful and super patient. there were about 6 people waiting behind me and she never left me to help them (sucks for them, but definitely worth the wait). she'll make sure all your questions are answered. anna, my tattoo artist, was awesome. she worked with me until she got the sketch completely right, and then refined it even more. the people working there are really chill. as it was my first time, it was a bit nervous, but they were chatting it up and making jokes. one tried to make me laugh - EVIL considering you are getting prodded with a needle. but the relaxed atmosphere is awesome. this is definitely the place to go for  your tattoo.
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