I went here after my wife bought me vouchers to have a tattoo finished, that had been started…read moreelsewhere about 5 years ago. Chessie was a little reluctant at first to take on somebody else's work, but went ahead. She did a fantastic job, the colours and detail are amazing. The studio itself is spotless and fantastically decorated in a cool retro look. The artwork on display is all for sale and amazing. I'm planning on getting a lot more work done here.

Sadly the last review rings so true... the worse part is that mine wasnt a small one but a bloody…read moremassive tattoo which has been left looking scruffy 'wishy washy' and muddy looking... (colouring in outside of the lines, no shading just paint by numbers.... badly!) luckily I think I can save it and am having to go to another tattooist now to correct the work I've had done. Good tattooist? maybe 20 years ago... complacent, bored and no pride in his work these days... Very sad but very true... Southend has some amazing talent on the tattoo circuit these days, go to someone who respects you the same way you respect them. (although in my personal opinion this kind of customer service is hard to come by in Southend... go to London to someone with 5 star ratings and great reviews... you get what you pay for and remember a tattoo isnt the same as having your hair cut! What you get you have for the rest of your life) Good luck with your search!

My Wife just had her wrist tattooed at Shamanic today by someone who apparently had 27 years…read moreexperience, but the tattoo turned out quite sloppy and amateurish. She requested two flowers surrounded by a dotted spindly pattern behind them, and the flowers were atrociously mis-shapen, and uneven/mis-shaded, which has left us quite upset because it's going to be there forever on an ever-visible place. The tattoo was also quickly drawn free-hand and performed without a stencil, so maybe this guy has become cocky after so long in the business and lost his attention to detail and due diligence. It was also his last appointment of the day and he seemed keen on leaving as soon as possible, so that may have had something to do with it. A link to a photo of the tattoo: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/baggytheo/P1270990.jpg This work has been a real shame, as Shamanic has done some amazing tattoos for people in the past, including another of my wife's tattoos done there by a different artist that turned out flawlessly. We came with our confidence high because of past experience, and were severely disappointed with the sloppy work this time around. You would expect someone with a professional outlook in this line of work to take care in remembering that this stuff is permanent for the person you're doing it to, and that every job needs patience, care, and attention to detail. If you do visit, make sure your artist uses a stencil. We're going to try to get back in soon to see if another of their artists can salvage the work in any way, but a vast improvement seems unlikely.