I had first come to Nebu a little over a month ago to look for new jewelry for one of my piercings…read more While looking through the jewelry, I noticed the 5 flash pieces for $45 (which is actually more like $120 with the $75 shop service fee) and so I inquired about the flash deal. I had mentioned wanting to get one of her tiny flash pieces on my upper chest, and pointed to the area to show what I meant. The owner, Priscilla, agreed she would be able to tattoo that area with no extra charge. She had explained that the sternum and neck area have thinner skin and take longer, which would require an extra charge, but agreed that she could do the upper chest piece along as part of the flash bundle, for no extra charge. That was the very reason I booked the appt, was to get that tiny tattoo on my upper chest (to be clear, below my collar bones and above my breast area. Nowhere near the sternum or collar bones.) I was so excited to support a woman owned/operated tattoo shop and even told my friends about the 5 tattoos for $120 deal.
Upon arrival to my appt (which I had arrived 10 min early for as I do with all appts) I was informed I had only 1 hour to pick out the flash pieces I wanted from the flash book, get them placed, and then tattooed. When booking online, it said "60 minutes +" but was not made explicit that it's actually *just* 1 hour. The "+" is misleading. The whole appt felt weirdly rushed, and it made me anxious, knowing I had to choose 5 permanent pieces so quickly, which is the last thing you want to do when getting tattooed.
I then mentioned the upper chest piece, and our previous conversation, to which she said she had "completely forgotten." I guess Priscilla changed her mind...because now she said that upper chest piece alone would be an extra $75 due to the placement. I was surprised, as we had discussed this about a month ago, but she now conveniently didn't remember..? In an effort to be understanding, I decided to get 5 flash pieces on my arms and fingers instead. I was disappointed and annoyed as the service I had booked for was now going to be $75 more than what was previously discussed ($120.) It felt like a strange cash grab. Priscilla did offer to do the upper chest flash piece, but for $75 extra, which I declined to do.
When she began tattooing one of my finger tattoos, she received a phone call that she had her receptionist answer and put on speakerphone. During the phone call, she completed my other finger tattoo, which ended up being crooked. I was surprised she answered a personal call while tattooing me, and wonder if that's why my finger tattoo was crooked, maybe she was distracted...
It's important to mention that before tattooing she had fixed the stencil on both of my finger tattoos, as they were both placed somewhat crooked. When tattooing, one of them came out perfect, the other tilting to the right. It was not my finger anatomy that caused the crooked slant of the line, it was the placement, and the 1 hour limit does not create an environment where clients can say "no, this is still crooked" because there's such a rush to get it all done. I didn't feel I could ask her to place the stencil a 3rd time. I felt rushed and uncomfortable.
Her next tattoo client was already waiting when we finished, and she quickly got up and thanked me for coming, and moved off to cleaning up her space. I understand having a full schedule and needing to be cognizant of time, but this rushing did not create a space for me to be able to say "hey, I think this is crooked, can you fix it?" Getting tattooed (I am heavily tattooed on my entire body, so I've been around many shops and professionals in my day) is already a vulnerable experience. This 1 hour time limit felt like it did not take into account the natural questions, doubts, and stencil placements/tattoo touch up that might be required during any given appt.
To top all of this off - the receptionist, who I believe is named Nico, was flat out rude. She had an attitude that was not welcoming. In fact, she seemed cold, uninterested and annoyed at my questions. Which is odd for someone who works within the tattooing industry - a place where there should be encouragement for clients to take their time in picking out something they want to be permanently tattooed on them. Questions should be encouraged too, and enough time should be allotted for that. Her rude attitude alone made me uninterested in returning to the shop.
The reason I'm giving this review 3 stars is that despite what I've explained above, Priscilla was kind and conversational, the shop was clean and nicely decorated, and the line work done on most of my tattoos were crisp. That deserves acknowledgment. However, her talent felt overshadowed by the lack of transparency with tattooing placement options and their price points, and lack of professionalism as she answered a personal call, leading to my finger tattoo coming out crooked.