I've gotten two piercings at Steady, a small hoop in my cartilage and a stud in my tragus- lol, in my what?! Both times, the piercers treated me with mad respect and I'm pretty sure they had some decent credentials, I was too chatty/nervous to grill them about it. Heh. Whenever my sensitive skin has had guff with the new holes, I've gone in and they've fixed my issues for free. And the stuff wasn't that expensive to being with. Thanks, Steady. You're Saint Sabrina's for the 99 percent.
(Also, high and low fives to Steady for its prime location. Soon-to-be needled scaredy cats can stop at Sally's for a few drinks beforehand and then kick it back downstairs to Dairy Queen afterward for a little cool-down consolation prize. Sweet.)
This is a difficult review to write, its hard to separate out my tattoo (which I love) and the experience I had with this place (which sucked!). Ill give it a try...
I purchased a $100 gift card for this shop at a benefit. I chose one of the simpler tattoos on my list of ones to get since I didn't know the artists or shop well. (my regular artist is in Seattle) I called and asked to make an appointment, but was told I would have to come in and leave the gift card as a deposit. A bit annoying since it is about 20 minutes from me, but I wasn't too bothered by that. I went in and made my appointment for 2 weeks later.
A few days before my appointment, I received a voicemail saying that they needed to reschedule. I wasn't thrilled by this, but Im flexible and I know things come up. What really annoyed me is that I left 2 messages (once outside of regular hours and once during) trying to reschedule and was never given a call back. I finally got ahold of someone and made an appointment for another few weeks away.
Fast forward to 2 days before my new appointment, I called and left a message saying that I would like to change the time of the appointment due to a job interview that needed to reschedule. Again, I never received a call back, so I called and left yet another message the morning of my appointment reiterating that needed to reschedule and asking again for a call back. I never got one. A few days later, I call again and finally get ahold of someone. I explained that I needed to reschedule my appointment from earlier....
The guy on the phone ~ Â "Oh, did anyone call you?"
Me ~ "Um, no"
Him ~ "Well we had to take $50 off your deposit since we didn't have notice"
Me ~ "I tried multiple times to call and give notice"
Him ~ ....silence...
Awesome. I almost didn't go just because I was so annoyed with this place by this point, but that would just mean I was out a tattoo I really wanted. So I went in, got my simple little tattoo (15 minutes, tops), paid an extra $30 making it a $130 tattoo at this point, and left.
I was never offered an apology for the initial reschedule, never once called back after leaving messages, and never given even a simple compromise for my reschedule, even though I tried multiple times to reach someone. I love my tattoo, Jessie did a great job even though it is little and simple, but I will not be back. I know the customer service is a product of the shop and not her, but ultimately I am her customer and she could have asked about the lack of communication.
And now I am still searching for a local artist.....
This was my first adventure into piercing and I feel great about my decision. I did make the mistake of psyching myself out beforehand by watching some of the results on Youtube. All it did was make me more nervous than I really needed to be.
Alex, our piercer, was great in explaining the procedure, demonstrating the sterilization, and engaging you during the whole process to take your mind off the inevitable. He was quick with the piercing. Before I realized, both nipples were done and I was listening to instructions with care package in hand.
It has been a week and everything is healing better than expected. Great Job!!
Settle in dear readers, it's gonna be a long review. This is for a tattoo experience, never been pierced here.
My first tattoo (NOT done here) was a spur of the moment (regrettable) decision. I knew what I thought I wanted and as soon as it was done, I came home and cried. It seemed like a good idea until it was on me. Forever. After that experience I knew that any other permanent alterations would involve months of pondering before taking the plunge. I've always been a fan of simple, black work (calligraphy, outlines, etc.) and decided that my next tattoo would be my mom's family motto in some kind of cursive script. Normally I would never get something tattooed that wasn't in a language I spoke fluently, but I really love the motto and between my basic understanding of the language and consulting with multiple French speakers, I felt 1,000% percent confident in the spelling/grammar.
I chose Steady because the name kept coming up when I would see work I liked and ask (mostly strangers) where they'd gone. My decision was cemented after looking at online reviews and the portfolios on their website.
So. This time last year I had some extra cash and decide to go over to Steady to see what kind of fonts they had (I hadn't found anything that seemed "right" on my own). The shop was clean and welcoming and I was immediately greeted by a woman that worked there. She gave me a book to flip through and when all that cursive started to look the same, she offered to print some of the finalists out on  paper so I could narrow it down from there. Very helpful. I ended up deciding on a beaaautiful cursive script and she asked if I wanted to make an appointment. Having been so impressed with all the help, I said yes and asked when they could get me in. Lo and behold, they had an opening right away. Should I have waited? Maybe. But there was no time like the present.
She grabbed the guy that was going to do my tattoo and he came out to make sure the font I wanted would work in the location I wanted (inner bicep). He wasn't particularly outgoing but as long as you tattoo well, I don't need smiles and hugs. He printed out the phrase and although the accents weren't on the print out, we both agreed that he'd just draw those in for the stencil (he had my original print out for reference). At this point my adrenaline was starting to kick in. I wasn't nearly as nervous about the pain as I was about having a fairly large and visible tattoo.
Went back to his space and put the stencil on. He asked me how I liked the placement and had me hold my arm out in front of a mirror. Looked perfect. I laid back down and he started the tattoo. After about two minutes he stopped and was like, Â "Ok, I'm just gonna have you check these accents real quick". Glad he said something. Turns out that one of the accents had been drawn on backwards. I was like, "Oh actually, this one needs to be facing the other way" so he wiped it off and fixed it. "Good thing I asked (chuckles). Normally I make sure we check that stuff before starting and it slipped my mind this time". Now, there's definitely some personal responsibility involved here. I SHOULD have gotten a lot closer to that mirror and made sure the accents were right...but I was seriously nervous and when he said "make sure you like the placement" that's exactly what I did. Only checked the placement. Any seasoned tattoo....collector? is scoffing at this I'm sure. But c'mon. He should have brought it up with the placement thing.
After dodging that bullet, the rest of the tattoo was fine. He seemed a bit checked out...maybe because his colleague had come in to ask if he wanted Chipotle and his response was, "Yea I'm starving. I'll be right there". You're hungry? Go eat before you start tattooing me. It seemed like he'd agreed to take the tattoo because it was "easy" and "quick" and some extra money before taking his dinner break or whatever. It looked awesome right after it was done...or at least it did from far away. I was bandaged up and sent on my merry way.
It wasn't until I took the bandage off and let it fully heal that I saw how bad it was. And no I didn't take care of it poorly. Four of the six words look fine. The other two are noticeably thicker (not like the ink spread...but like he'd chosen to make the letters thicker and then changed his mind). The letter "e" is tattooed in four different ways. This is on my freakin' arm. Â At least it's black ink and I'm super pale...will make the removal process that much easier.
I have quite a few tattoos from Poohki and I receive complements on them all the time. They look great, the colors are gorgeous and the artistry is really beyond compare. Â I don't have tattoos from other artists here but I trust this shop and recommend them to anyone without reservation.
This shop is clean, professional, and friendly. The artists here will not give you any guff for not having enough tattoos or big enough tattoos or anything like that. You can go in feeling sure that you will get a great tattoo from a talented artist who puts your desires first and isn't going to try and intimidate you with any hipper than thou crap.
I live in Southern California now and have been searching for an artist/shop that I trust and enjoy just half as much as I trust Poohki and the rest of the talented gang at Steady tattoo.
I got my first tattoo here and I love the piece! Exactly what I wanted, quality work.
I, too, went to Trevor, as he was highly recommended by a friend. He was pretty cool and professional, though I would say that neither he nor the rest of the staff was especially accommodating. There were times during the 2-hour tattooing session that random staff and their friends would stop into the stall and would have mundane conversations or shit talk another tattoo shop in Minneapolis.
Aside from these mere annoyances, Travis did a stellar job and I love my tattoo. Would likely consider going back for the right piece.
Trevor, my man! Â
I was extremely nervous about finding a new parlor in Minneapolis as I have witnessed some ink horrors. Â I had all of my previous work happily done by The Reverend Dark at Inkporium (he has since found greener pastures in San Fran, I hear) in Lansing, MI. Â The other issue is that I had spent many years finding the perfect design for my namesake to be permanently etched into my flesh. Â
A co-worker recommended this place to me based up past experience so we checked out the place to make an appointment. Â I was asked if I wanted a certain artist, but being ignorant, I claimed not to be preferential. Â
I handed Trevor, who was working the counter, my design that was basically midnight purple. Â We got into specifics of size, placement, and detail and negotiated the price.
I came back the next week and before getting down to the stabbing business Trevor inquired about my music request. Â What? Â I get options for soothing my nerves?
You really have Ludacris? Â
Which album are you in the mood for?
Wow.
About an hour later, with only a twinge of uncomfortability, my tattoo was complete and photographs for posterity were flashed. Â I was surprised that he had taken it upon himself to deviate from the dark purple, but in retrospect the bright blues, yellows, and pinks gave it a vibrant quality. Â He's the artist. Â That's why I confine myself to stick-figures.
Check out the finished product above.
I recommend Steady Tattooing and would be ecstatic to go again. Â I need to find a cool design. Â Got any suggestions?
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