I visited Smokin' Aces last year to get a very special memorial tattoo as a 50th birthday gift to myself. I chose Melanie based on recommendations from friends and the work for them that I saw with my very own eyes, as opposed to merely looking at potentially doctored photos on social media. Smokin' Aces & Melanie turned out to be the perfect combination for me! Since this was going to be a permanent memorial in a prominent place, I was being VERY picky--and emotional! Melanie was very understanding and supportive and patient with me. She also gave several recommendations with respect to the natural aging of the tattoo, which I hadn't considered. I am a registered nurse, so I am incredibly critical of cleanliness and aseptic technique. Melanie impressed me with both. I looked around the shop as she worked and I noticed it wasn't just her...the entire place was immaculate. I loved the outcome of my tattoo and a year later, it is still as beautiful with no feathering or bleeding or fading of the ink. My experience with Melanie and Smokin' Aces could not have been better, and I'm already planning for them to do my next tattoo--onceI figure out what I want! On a separate note...I absolutely love that Smokin Aces employs not just Melanie, but several female tattoo artists, all of whom are exceptionally talented! I spoke with two other female artists that day while they worked and saw for myself the quality of their artistry as it was in progress. This profession is not an easy one for women to thrive in or for women to get respect--and the women at Smokin' Aces more than deserve it! read more

Smokin' Aces Tattoo Company - Untouched Photo from day of completion, 6/4/2022 - Tattoo Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

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I would recommend yo go to caitlin at the Normal/ campus Location for your tattoo needs! She is the best Artist I've encountered so far. She really cares about her clients. Takes her time and wont let you make a bad decision you'll regret. We need people that have a real passion and not just in it for the money or just to say their a tattoo artist. Caitlin will be the first person I go to for questions and future tattoos. read more

Smokin' Aces Tattoo Company - My daughters actual footprint and name. Spot on !!!! - Tattoo Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Ive reached out to two different artist after inquiring them on their website and them telling me to reach out to them on Instagram and I heard from one until after I sent what I want and the other read my message and never responded. Not interested in doing a tattoo for someone who heard great things then just say so. Ignoring someone is pretty rude. read more

I should've picked a better artist because he didn't center my tattoo, design of my head of Sauron was just uneven with the horns pretty much. Was a great clean environment and the people were nice enough. Was just somewhere to get a tattoo. If your close it's convenient. They do do card pay and not cash like more tattoo parlors do. It's more reasonable than getting a charge at an ATM. I think some care more about the money than the art. I might go back to get touch ups but that's about it. read more

Smokin' Aces Tattoo Company - Head of sauron I got this summer. - Tattoo Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

I went to get a piercing from Jasmine and she was amazing! She was helpful and super nice as she helped me pick out jewelry and get set up. You could tell she takes great pride in her work but also being incredibly sterile. She did the piercing quickly and you could tell she knew what she was doing. I highly recommend her and will be back to her for all my piercings! read more

My friend and I called about their walk-in availability and were told they were open and free to do our small tattoos with just lines. The girl tattoo artist was super condescending when she told us that she actually didn't have the time. We immediately left and went to a better establishment with more respectful staff. read more

I am a survivor of horrific abuse from this company and I refuse to stay silent. I got my nipples pierced by Caitlyn. The place is insanely overpriced for starters. I had done so much research prior and was committed to my aftercare. Little did I know that all would be in vain because Caitlyn gave me slanted nipple piercings that bled into my areola. I am still dealing with the effects of all this months and months later, and have since had to remove my piercings, pay for doctors appts, medications, etc. The best part? The company did absolutely nothing to reimburse me. SAVE YOURSELF LADIES read more

This place was awesome Andre did my tattoo on my back it was fast and very professional! I definitely will be coming back for any future tattoos! They did a good job at explaining the aftercare and the facility was very clean! They helped me so much in the whole process and now I wish I would have gotten my other tats done with them. But they will have more business for me!! Thanks y'all!! read more

Smokin' Aces Tattoo Company - My memorial tattoo - Tattoo Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

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The place was super clean and had a great atmosphere. The pricing is also very reasonable, I don't think you'll find a much better deal anywhere else. For example I paid $150 total for both of mine together. I went in like a week prior and was able to get an appointment time. My artist was Calvin Riggs and he was amazing. He combined the two reference photos I gave him and made my tattoo exactly what I wanted! He was super sweet and definitely made my first time getting a tattoo a good one. He made sure that I was as comfortable as I could be. I would definitely return and get another from him. read more

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I go to Caitlyn & couldn't be happier! I got both my tattoos back in August. They have healed beautifully! She takes her time, very talented, listens to what you want & then puts her own flare on it! I have been to a few artists in the area, but I enjoyed her most! I have felt like in the past limited to what I can do with my idea of a tattoo & she made me feel very free in my ideas. It was a breath of fresh air! Highly recommend this studio & Caitlyn! Here's a pic of her work she did! I'm actually about to get another tattoo soon, eventually I'm sure she'll tattoo a whole sleeve on me :D read more

Smokin' Aces Tattoo Company - Dove tattoo - Tattoo Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

I came in hoping to get new jewelry for my tongue piercing and when I asked the person in charge of doing piercings, she went of on a rant about how she would not touch my piercing with a 10ft pole. How it was bad for oral health and it was a dangerous piercing and a dentist worst nightmare. The worst part was she was yelling it loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear, so I left extremely embarrassed and upset. read more

Artists are a bit lazy and not that talented. Just got a small tattoo of the South Carolina flag palm tree on my leg and my tattoo artist was Tommy. He overcharged me and made the tattoo larger than what I wanted.... Had to get several of my other tattoos touched up and fixed because they were containing bad line work and wrong colors... Now I'm getting one removed. Save your money and go somewhere else. read more

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The tattoos that I have gotten from here are really good, the apprentice did amazing, I really recommend Shelby and Andre! But the piercer is really bad. When she pierced my nose she failed to mention that it was a threaded piercing and never taught me how to get it out and change it. My friend also got her nipples pierced here and when she was done we noticed she pierced one nipple CROOKED. She then had to get it taken out and re pierced. I do not recommend the piercer at all. She also spoke to me like I was stupid when figuring out what I wanted for my nose. I have gotten my nose pierced 4 times, I know exactly what I want but she wasn't listening. read more

If I could give -0 stars I would. I've heard a LOT about this place from a friend who gave a shitty review from an infected piercing he had gotten after a lady pierced him with the wrong bar and quit three days later so he was left with an infected industrial bar and bullshit. This happened over a year or two ago and with a change of staff I thought things would be different so I recommended that my friend and I go. Caitlin had a very bad attitude from the moment we called to set up the appointment to when we came in, it was a mix between passive aggressive and demeaning. Whenever my friend would ask a question about the procedure she would have a smug look on her face and give an eye roll before answering. This was a toxic environment to get pierced in; normally when you're a newbie it's best to ask questions and even question a piercer if you're uncomfortable but instead she just got defensive and made the situation worse. I will no longer be a customer given that they won't give my friend any justice and have treated her so wrong . I'm just surprised that they're in business and had enough money to open up another location because most of the workers besides the men are straight up bitches. You don't get to talk to people like that read more

I don't recommend Smokin' Aces. They are over priced and make everything way more confusing then it should be. My friend paid $50 for a simple nose piercing when I got mine for $35. read more

Awful, we went in and the girl had a nasty attitude because my family came with me. She scheduled me for the next day at 2pm. Went in at 2pm today, the guy told me that they didn't have a piercing person today, so we left and are taking our business anywhere else. read more

I came in after my husband made an appointment for me and she wouldn't give me a tattoo after one glass of wine! I'm 40 years old with multiple tattoos. She was so rude!! I will never recommend this place ever!!!!! read more

First tattoo. Done by Nick. Very open and patient and professional during the visit. Have since had 2 others. Nick's work is very original and artistic. Highly recommended read more

I went to get two tattoos done and Calvin was great at getting exactly what I wanted before we even started. He was super nice and understood that I was hesitant initially going into it. The one I got on my ankle looks amazing and the one on my back turned out really nice. He got them both done in about an hour so it didn't take forever (granted, they were smaller tattoos, but still). I will recommend this place for tattoos and piercings to anyone looking for a place. read more

I will never recommend this shop to anyone for the following reasons: 1. Completely unprofessional. My son had an appointment with Dre at 12pm. We showed up and the store wasn't even open yet, even though the hours say they open at 11 am. Dre was paged and finally arrived, but was in a very bad mood. It was apparent he didn't want to be there. 2. When Dre was told what my son wanted, he was immediately frustrated. He left the shop and told the non-tattooing piercer there to resize the design for him. The tattoo was a simple design with some lettering on the outside. An hour and a half later, and after insisting that any detail had to be removed, he was finally ready to start setting up. He didn't have any other clients before that, but I guess it takes that long to set up for an appointment. 3. My son was quoted $125 for the tattoo the day before, but Dre said the design was going to cost $250. I refused to pay that amount and he settled on $150. My son went back and I left the shop. Around 30 minutes later, he came out and was done! I knew Dre did a lazy, half arsed job just based on time alone. My son then told me that he removed even more detail from the tattoo and filled in those spots with black. I'm furious. Any tattoo artist worth their weight in salt could have done the tattoo we wanted, the size we wanted and with the detail we wanted. Dre was lazy, rude, cursed constantly, dropping "F" bombs, and just didn't want to do that tattoo so he threw something on my son's back that will last forever and looks like crap. Dre has complete gall to charge $300 an hour for his work. If you aren't at all interested in applying ink to your canvas, don't pick up the gun. Dre is irresponsible and his lack of professionalism and artistic quality ruins people for the rest of their lives. read more

got my nipples pierced today by Zuni and I love it so much! he was very fast and made it the least painful he could due to me hearing stories about how painful it was, and I don't regret it one bit! it was cheap for how good it was, and i barely felt it at all, it was perfect. I would definitely recommend it them to anyone looking to get a piercing (and a tattoo due to my friends opinions); my friend who came with today is actually going to get hers done next weekend by him, due to his great work! definitely 5 star worthy! read more

Got the simple tattoo done here about six weeks ago. Got a scatcher named Dre. Stopped by to show how horrible it was. He said Dre wasn't there, but he'd touch it up for me. I told the dude I didn't want him to do it because I don't trust the guy. So he tells me if I had another artist touch it up the will have to charge me again. Extremely rude and didn't give a shit about the botched job the non talented idiot did. Plus the place is not hygiene. Never go here, you will regret it a lot. read more