A Canada-based tattoo artist is getting grilled for her design pricing. The whole fiasco is now trending as ‘tattoo gate’ on TikTok.
It all started when @running_mom_of_boys had a bad experience with a Canada-based tattoo artist named Lindsay Joseph. @running_mom_of_boys had been following Joseph for some time on Instagram and were really fond of her work. However, she had no idea that she would end up not getting a tattoo and still losing almost $2700.
After booking a 45-minute consultation session with Joseph, @running_mom_of_boys paid a hefty amount of $1600 and a deposit of $1000 for an initial design. Joseph’s initial sketch was nowhere near what was discussed in the consultation session. Upon asking for a revised sketch, the tattoo artist asked for an additional $2000.
After some more miscommunication, @running_mom_of_boys asked for a refund of her security deposit but did not receive any. She then took to TikTok and shared her side of the story. In all her videos, @running_mom_of_boys did not name the tattoo artist. However, upon hearing the story netizens started commenting and naming the artist.
Another creator also shared her experience with Joseph and said that she ended up losing $4000. Many people are also commenting on the sloppy design sketch by saying that most tattoo artists do design sketches either for free or for a little fee. Moreover, Joseph’s design has been getting extra fire, because of the apparent lack of effort and time spent on it.
More about the tattoo gate drama on TikTok
Some tattoo artists are also coming out to support the hefty fees being charged for initial designs. The argument is that what other people might think of as a 10-minute sketch actually requires hours of research and brainstorming.
While this might be true, it does not seem fair to have no tattoo after being out of almost $2700.