I Flew To Seoul To Get An “Illegal” Tattoo Of My Cat
7th March 2019
Impossibly thin and delicate, South Korean tattoo artists have a particular knack when it comes to whimsical, fragile designs that have become famous through Instagram. Their single line needlework seem to be thinner than pencil lines, and hardly ‘bleed out’ like other tattoos. But did you know they are actually illegal?
Yes, it turns out Korea still subscribes to the law that tattoos are only allowed to be applied by a trained medical practitioner. Which obviously, none of these are.
I first saw the art of @soltattoo on Instagram via a BuzzFeed article about 3 years ago. I loved my cat, Sasha, more than life itself and I knew that when the time came, I wanted a special tattoo to remember her by.
Unfortunately that time did eventually come, when I said an excruciatingly painful goodbye to Sasha in November 2018. I had never been to Seoul before, but I immediately enquired with Sol about an appointment the following January, on what would have been my darling Sasha’s 21st birthday.
Nearly all of the Korean tattoo artists use KakaoTalk (which is a bit like WhatsApp) for communication, and I was advised to message Sol on there. He took a few days to come back to me as I didn’t realise he actually only opens slots during certain times of the year, but I appeared to get lucky and my slot was confirmed for the day I wanted.
He informed me that it would be cash only, and that I would find out the location of the studio the day before. I felt a little risky booking an entire trip based on these facts, but I did anyway!
Side note: have you ever been to Seoul in the middle of winter? Lol. Don’t. If I wasn’t so incredibly sentimental and adamant that I get my Sasha tattoo on her birthday, I would have never gone. Despite living in the UK for 23 years, I was HURTING. It was freezing, barely scraping over 0c.
So a few weeks went by and I planned my solo pilgrimage to Seoul to get a tattoo. Eventually the time came and I hopped on my 7 hour flight to Korea!
Sure enough, the day before the appointment I received instructions on where to go. I decided to take a cab because a) it was absolutely freezing and b) I didn’t want to get lost and be late. Seoul in winter is rather pretty though, if you can deal with your face going numb.
I had no idea where I was going but it was far (on the other side of the city) and so about 30 minutes away from my hotel. When I eventually got the building I was pleasantly surprised. The entire compound seemed brand new and nothing like the dodgy, underground dungeon I was for some reason expecting.
I tried to be as discreet as possible, given you are technically there illegally! Have you ever seen a British person trying to be discreet about something they’ve not even done yet? I immediately felt like I’d already broken a law. Thankfully there were no random police officers around for me to be truly awkward in front of. Once I got through security (a lovely Korean girl asking me if I was there for an appointment), I was asked to wait in the lobby. The whole place is effortlessly cool. You’d never know tattoos were illegal, as there were painfully trendy young Koreans waiting for their ink in a gorgeous waiting room that felt more like a boutique hotel lobby. It appears the space is used by many tattoo artists.
Eventually, Sol arrived. The legend himself, as painfully cool as those I’d seen downstairs. He took me to his own studio which was slick, modern and pink. He said few words as he prepared an area for me to sit down. He clearly has a passion for art, evidenced by his oil paintings and working easel in the corner. He had a small waiting area, and a desk where he sketched which was opposite the chair I’d sit in.
I’d given very specific instructions for my tattoo. I wanted Sasha in a particular pose, but with more of her infamous resting bitch face than was in that photo. So I had asked Sol to combine two pictures of her, the face from one and the body from another. When he presented me with his sketch, I melted. It was so realistic.
Getting tattoos is not new to me, so I knew we’d be sizing up next and then I’d need to get comfortable. I knew exactly where she was going, on my left arm, close to my heart so it was a matter of choosing a stencil that fit best. I wanted her small enough to look delicate, but not too large that Sol’s work isn’t evident. We settled on a size, transferred the stencil onto my skin and then I lay down. Unlike Sol’s tradition of colour tattoos, I decided to have Sasha only in black and grey. I don’t have any other colour tattoos (besides the one I’m removing), so I wanted it to match the rest on my body.
I normally don’t look when I’m getting tattooed. It has nothing to do with needles, but I like to just give the artist their space and let them do their thing. With Sol however, I was fascinated at how he does such detailed and intricate work. Between all the ink and the fluid, I don’t understand how he could see the stencil!
In just under 2 hours, we were done. My perfect Sasha was now on my skin forever. I almost cried when I looked at it, it was unmistakably Sasha. After a final wipe down and some picture taking, he sealed my new tattoo with a clear bandage that I wasn’t to remove for a few days. I was given a card with some aftercare instructions, handed him a stack of cash, thanked him one last time and then was on my way.
I returned to my hotel, ecstatic. I sent a photo to every one I could think of, and all of them couldn’t believe how realistic it was. “That’s SASHA!” Most people said.
It was the second tattoo I ever received which was sealed with a clear bandage afterwards. Given I was flying the next day, it meant I didn’t actually have to take it off until I got back to Singapore. The aftercare card was a little weird. It mentioned Vaseline, but I haven’t ever used Vaseline before to heal a tattoo as I heard it can clog your pores.
When I got back to Singapore I took a shower and carefully removed the film. There she was, still angrily looking at me. For the next few days I cared for my new piece of artwork with my usual Bepanthen nappy rash cream, applying a thin layer 2-3 times a day.
I was really worried about the tattoo ‘bleeding out’, where the lines thicken and aren’t as crisp as when you first got the tattoo done. This is typical to some extent of ALL tattoos and is somewhat unavoidable, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it healed. You MUST continue to take care of your tattoo for the weeks and months to come. No swimming or sunbathing for at least 3 weeks, and then after that you must remember sunblock to protect your tattoo!
I’m so incredibly happy with how she turned out, it is the perfect tribute to my wonderful Sasha. I haven’t addressed cost in this post, as with everything, you get what you pay for. Let me tell you though… it was not cheap. But for a very special tattoo, it’s really worth it.
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