I’m a tattoo artist – three trendy tatts I can’t stand & it’s bad news if you’ve got any sort of star inking

TATTOO artist and mum-of-two Alice Nicholls is covered head to toe in tatts and has spent 15 years making art on other people’s bodies. 

The Essex-based mum, 39, owns her own tattoo studio and claims she’s judged by other parents for her heavily inked skin.

People think she’s intimidating but they couldn’t be more wrong. 

“I think my inks are a work of art, but trolls can be so horrible,” she explains. “Some mums think I’m intimidating because of my appearance but I promise I’m the nicest person.

“My tattoos are the first thing people notice about me and strangers assume I’m stupid but I don’t care. I have a Master’s Degree in fine art and I’m beginning my PhD.”

These days one in three of us have a tattoo and we’re not all youngsters. 

Thousands of tattoo addicts go ‘under the needle’ at Alice’s shop every year, and her regulars are the biggest surprise of all. 

“I’ve tattooed bits of the Bible on a female priest and nearly all of my regulars are posh ladies over the age of 60,” she reveals. “These ladies ask for their first tattoo in a discreet place like their hip or side, then they get addicted and end up completely covered.” 

Alice claims older women feel the need to be naughty and unleash their wild side. A tattoo can feel empowering and once they’ve got one, they need 100.

“My favourite client is a university lecturer in her late 60s. She looks very prim and proper with her clothes on but when she rolls up her sleeves her arms are covered in beautiful vines and blooming flowers.

“Her first tattoo covered her skin cancer scars and over the years she’s come back for more and more.”

While older ladies sit in the hot seat for pretty floral designs, Alice says the trendiest tatts are stars, lion heads and infinity symbols - and she can’t stand them. 

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“They look nice but literally everyone has them and I don’t want to look like everybody else,” she states.

According to Alice, having a trendy tattoo says a lot about you.

“I call these people Pinterest Pickers,” she explains. “We get tattoos to tell a personal story but these are the most generic inks. They lack imagination and I’d love to help people create something truly unique.”

If you want a failsafe tattoo that’ll stand the test of time, Alice advises sailor designs like swallows and roses. 

Alice is hard pushed to think of a design she hasn’t inked on someone’s skin, but she has her limits and once banned a very odd request. 

“I once had a young lad ask for the words ‘chicken chow mein’ tattooed across his chest,” she recalls. “It was his first ever tattoo and I had to refuse - he would have regretted it. 

“The weirdest tattoo I did was a cartoon gherkin so big it took up the whole of the man’s thigh. It cost him hundreds of pounds, but he was thrilled with it.

“Everyone’s tattoos have a tale to tell, so don’t judge a book by its cover.”