Tattoo Paradise

I dont know about their tattoos but they definitely over charge 225 for a 2 inch tattoo yeah ok the placement is what makes it expensive sure I went to three places didn't even come close to that price

Came here as a walk in and everyone was so awesome. Matt took care of my tattoo and was so friendly and funny. Definitely a plus. Was worth every penny! Thanks again and hope to see you again when I’m in DC!

Best tattoo shop/ tattooers in the DC area. Check out Nikki, she's amazing!

I absolutely loved it!!! I went there this past weekend with a friend to have a few piercings done. Erika was just simply the best and made me feel very comfortable and relax. She really educated me on the aftercare of my piercings and gave me her card to call anytime. Overall the experience was great and I would recommend this shop to anyone who is interested.

The Summary: I just came out of a minor, painful surgery to remove the extremely negligent piercing done here. I've had many piercings and can say with confidence that this one was done absolutely wrong. Please don't patronize this establishment.

The Long Version: I went to Tattoo Paradise with friends to get my third cartilage piercing. The front desk staff were curt and not incredibly comforting; it is the kind of body art place that chooses to intimidate rather than welcome. So I am no stranger to piercings, my other piercings have cost ~$50 with nonstandard jewelry, but I was told $80 here. Expensive. Above the unsmiling staff was written, "The bitterness of poor quality outlasts the sweetness of low price." Screw it, I think. I'm paying a premium for cold, hard people who know what they're doing. The woman piercing me makes no attempt to carry the small talk I start (unusual and unprofessional, most piercers know that small talk helps the customer relax before pain).

After the piercing, she explicitly tells me NOT to spin the jewelry because it doesn't need it, and a saline soak without touching it will be just fine. The post is also very small and my skin is squeezing against it (she should definitely have been able to see this--I assumed she had and that this was normal, so said nothing). This is at odds with my previous piercings, where I have been advised to spin the piercing and clean it with a q-tip after saline soaks, and where the piercer has explicitly told me that the post is left longer to give the skin room to swell. But I follow her instructions--I soak morning and night, gently wipe it off, and leave it be. After all, she's the piercer, right? I tell myself she probably knows better.

Nope.

Fast forward to today, it is two weeks since I got my piercing. I wake up and my ear is feeling a strange kind of pain. I wash my hands and touch the back of my piercing--only there IS NO BACK OF MY PIERCING. In the healing process, my skin had nowhere to go from the tiny post and swallowed up the back. I go to my doctor with this emergency: it takes three doctors and a minor surgery to remove this post from my ear, which had healed over it and was screwed on so tightly that they almost had to cut through my ear to get it off. When they finally remove it and I see the earring back.... Y'all it was so small the back she used was smaller than the gem itself. The gem itself was 2mm. Of COURSE that back was going to get swallowed up. I honestly am kicking myself for not keeping the jewelry to show you, and for taking it to them to show them.

All in all, I paid $80 + doctor's fees to have a surgery that ended in no piercing.

****Most importantly: in checking reviews, I found that I am NOT the first person who went to Tattoo Paradise to have this happen. Not only that, but the way the owners of this place respond to reviewers is incredibly unacceptable--it is absolutely understandable to refrain from admitting liability, but to mock your reviewers, double down, and blame them? That's not civilized behavior. I am genuinely frightened that they will bully me after I leave this review, but that's how bullies thrive and I have to post this as I am genuinely concerned for other customers' wellbeings. It is part of the reason it is so long and detailed.

Epic amazing staff, awesome communication, and dope artist! Couldn't have been happier. I had a simple 3 word writing for my wrist, and these humans where immaculate! I literally came in with my wife, and we where in and out, and the work was incredible!

I've come here several times for piercings (Erika) and tattoos (Nikki "Balls" Lugo and D. Wayne.) All three artists have been extremely professional, kind, and friendly, and the people working the front desk have always been very helpful and cheerful as well. My experiences here have been very pleasant. In the past at other shops, I find that they often have bad vibes and a negative attitude so this was a great experience! The prices are definitely on the high side which I think is because of (a) the popular location in a high demand urban area and (b) high quality and professionalism. This place gets a 5/5 stars from me :)

I got a double helix piercing from Brian and was really happy with it. He took his time and it looked great. I left to go abroad after a few weeks and it still wasn't healing and got very infected and swollen. I went to a different piercer abroad who told me that the bar/ post he put in after he pierced my ear was the one that they usually use for healed piercings and wasn't long enough. Because of that mistake, my ear started to heal over the backing. I LITERALY HAD TO HAVE IT CUT OUT OF MY EAR. Lots of pain and money later, I do not recommend this place to anyone.

I picked this shop long ago based on good word-of-mouth, and I've never looked back. All five of my tattoos have been done there. They're friendly, knowledgeable, considerate, and extremely skilled. What more can you ask? Oh yes - very reasonable prices.

I got a tattoo from here 3 weeks ago. Had an awkward run around where I called and was told to email them but they didn't respond and I had to call them back about a week later just to be told that the email was deleted (they did apologize!). It made things more rushed but they actually gave me a solution that wasn't "oop so sorry, we can't do your tattoo anymore" nor "oop we'll call you back in a bit to let you know what we can do *never calls me back*" so I really really appreciate that. They are a bit pricey but honestly that's to be expected of a shop in the middle of a tourist metropolis. I was charged $500 for an 8x5 full color custom tattoo, but don't take this as gospel as pricing can be vastly different depending on different elements of your tattoo. Plus, the artist who did my tattoo, Billy Bennett, killed it and the tattoo is healing beautifully so, you're paying for guaranteed quality, experience, and skill. This was my first tattoo and they didn't patronize me or make me feel unwelcome so that's also nice. They were all super friendly as well. Billy wasn't much of a talker but neither am I and I think he picked up on that so I appreciate that. Only other gripe I have is I wish we would've took our time and sat down and talked more about the tattoo the day before because we kind of had to rush through size and placement on the day of getting the tattoo. That part was more uncomfortable than getting the tattoo, itself lol. That wasn't totally their fault, btw, but I also wasn't sure how that was supposed to work out (again, it's my first tattoo). So, come prepared with as many questions as possible, that's my advice.