A friend and I just got our first tattoos at the advanced age of, well, never mind about that. (Let's just say white-haired and senior.) Small Town Ink was welcoming, professional, and very inviting. Jeanette L. did our tattoos and she was AWESOME. She was quick, reassuring about our nervousness, good-humored, and talented. It was a great experience and now my friend and I are trying to get an idea for our next tattoos! I highly recommend this place to anyone looking to get a tattoo. John and Jeanette both make it a great place. Good music, too, and purple sofas! read more

This is in regards to their piercer KATIE and not the tattoo artist. PIERCER: KATIE from Small Ink Tattoo -Pierced through my upper nose cartilage instead of my septum which resulted in rejection and infection. Have to wait until it heals to repierce. I even told her during the clamping that it was going through my cartilage and not the fleshy lower part of the septum and she just dismissed it and kept going. It was scary. -Does not use titanium (gnarly way to find out you have a nickle allergy) -Did not reference photos during piercing -Marked my lip piercing based on her suggestions (this was my fault to assume she knew better as the professional) Ended up with an off center labret with an exit hole literally through my lip (not through the bottom or the lip line). Her response was to gaslight me about the misplacement saying it was "technically" going through the marked spot while ignoring that it was literally exiting through my lip. -She uses infinity hoops that need to clamp shut which is dangerous and painful for healing piercings. -She suggested I use normal listerine to wash lip wound, uneducated that the alcohol in the mouth wash is terrible for healing wounds. -She was distracted and ungrounded the entire session, the vibe felt unsteady, seemed like she needed to eat maybe? -After she pierced me there was so much blood that it stained my dress. (Proficient piercers will either not produce a lot of blood or will make sure to catch any that escapes.) -Once I tried to respectfully and kindly communicate to her that I was having multiple issues she got argumentative and I had to remind her twice to calm down and to be kind and professional. She didn't even allow me to finish my sentence without her interrupting in defense, then said that I was on a "timer" and I had to explain everything that was going on while she was interrupting me and not letting me talk. -She lied and said I was the only client she ever had issues with when the only review of her on yelp is literally her batching the piercings of another girl. -Considering her unprofessional, overly defensive and scripted responses to any attempt at post-peircing consultation, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a common occurrence for her. -She refused any refund or replacements and now I have to pay twice for jewelery and pay another reputable peircer to repierce my labret and septum, along with waiting for everything to heal. Huge waste of money and time and honestly, it was a very hurtful and draining experience. ***Do not ever go to a piercer that doesn't use titanium or look at reference photos. These are two huge red flags that I wish I would have known. -Even if it was a terrible job and there was not quality jewelry being used, I would be happy and patient in working with her to fix the issues but she was aggresive and not able to communicatein a healthy way. Most of the post-pericing consultation was me trying to calm her down and reminding her to be kind and professional, it felt like she had had this conversation many times before and was overly defensive bc of it. It was exhausting and expensive. read more

Very clean. Safe. Great customer service. Gave even better ideas than I had for a tattoo. Jeanette did a great job on my niece and my tattoos. I would go back. read more

I went to small town ink for a second helix and my third lobe piercings. My piercer was Katie. My helix was first, she put in a hoop, which I thought strange bc my first helix piercing at a different location they told me you should start out with a flat stud, which after research I found true. I assumed she knew better than I, as she is the professional. Next were my third lobe piercings, and as she inserted the jewelry, I knew the piercing would not heal. She fumbled around the piercings, causing more damage than necessary. She inserted studs with heads far too small, and the swelling of my ears overtook them. I have numerous other piercings and know proper care for them. Having my hunches, I did the correct aftercare for the piercings, and lining up with my hunch, they never healed. Not my lobes, nor my helix. Again I cannot emphasize enough that I have numerous other piercings and have never once had the issues I've had with these ones. One lobe had so much scar tissue I've had to go to dermatologists to help. I can no longer pierce any section of my lobe because of the trauma to the tissue during the piercing. The best I can say is that the employees were kind and helpful, and prices are decent. This is probably a great place for tattoos, but for ear piercings I would recommend somewhere else. read more

I met John last week when I was getting donations for the Weed High School senior trip fundraiser. He was so nice and didn't think twice about donating. He put together a beautiful certificate for a $100.00 tattoo for our raffle. My daughter actually won that prize and I can't wait to see the tattoo she gets. What a generous guy who clearly supports his community. Thanks John. Valerie read more

I got a tattoo from Boomer, and he did an amazing job! He had a very light hand, and was super patient and nice. The shop overall was clean and neat, and had a really nice environment. Would totally recommend! read more

John and Tara are some of the best people in Shasta, very upstanding and very courteous. Good people! John is an amazing tattoo artist and can draw just about anything in the clients mind. He is currently working on my stomach tattoo and ill post pictures as soon as its finished. He is reasonably priced, very motivated, focused and dedicated to his art form. I would take a bullet for that guy. Tara makes for an amazing secretary, she takes care of all the technicalities and paperwork so you don't have to. The studio is small which I think is amazing because every tattoo is private and catered to you the client not the occasional passer-by. read more

I had John do a cover up tattoo from a design I showed him. He did a job that was even better than I expected. John had been highly recommend by some friends and co-workers. I am glad I took their recommenations. Highly skilled professional artist. Thank you John, I too can now highly recommend you. I'm sure everyone else in the shop is awesome also, I just haven't experienced anything from them. read more

I got my first tattoo here on my eighteenth birthday by John, he did a great job on my tattoo. His hand was very light and made great conversation while doing it. I would definitely recommend him to others, and I'm in the process of getting another one from him soon! 10/10 read more

Small Town Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Weed, California

I got my first tattoo here. John was very down to earth and he created a symbol for me which combined elements of two images i gave him. He is such a professional and creative but easy going and grounding to be around. I would go back to Small Town Ink for my second tattoo. He is very client-center. He wasn't pushy at all. He took his time and made sure that it was what i wanted for location and size. He kept saying, "Make sure you like it, it's going to be on you forever." I'm very happy with his work. read more

Me and my boyfriend planned a trip up to Shasta for a weekend of hiking and decided we wanted some new pieces for our birthdays! I started to research and came across John at Small Town Ink. We were very impressed with photos we seen of his work so I decided to give him a call. We were so grateful that he could fit us in this weekend and stayed late for us on a friday! We get to the shop and it was super comfortable and clean! The best tattoo experience we've had from start to finish. John is an amazing artist that really cares about the client! We will be making the 3 hour drive to get future work done with him for sure! read more