Ninth Wave Studio — Local services in Asbury Park

I've gone back and forth for the last few days on whether or not to write a review, but I've finally decided to just do it so that other people could have a heads up. Let me begin by saying the studio space itself was very clean, and the other artists in the building were very nice and welcoming.

I contacted the shop about a week in advance to set up a time for me and two of my friends to get matching tattoos I had drawn for us. The people I talked to on the phone both times I contacted the shop were very nice and helpful, but it was difficult to get in contact with the actual artist that they assigned for us, Jenn. I was told she would reach out to talk with me, but I ended up messaging her on Instagram because she never initiated any contact even though I had asked for details on price/start time so we could plan our trip in advance. When I spoke with Jenn she seemed dismissive, and I took it as a part of her personality but when we met her in the shop she was just as aloof. She didn't have any interest in talking to us, and when we told her the placement for each of our tattoos she kept insisting that we had to make the tattoos bigger even though they were just simple outlines. This made me and my friends uncomfortable because she gave the impression that we didn't have a say in the size since when I specifically stated I wanted it smaller she said she wouldn't be able to fit in the details. The details she was talking about were teeth of a chainsaw, and hilt of a dagger. Since this was two of our first tattoos we just gave in to her and let her do whatever she wanted.

While doing the actual tattoos she had no interest in talking to us, gave no words of comfort or advice on what the experience would be like, and overall seemed like she did not want to be working with us. It was very uncomfortable, and gave a sour note to the experience of getting our first ink. When my third friend got hers done she fought back about the size of the piece, and Jenn did eventually agree to make it smaller but threatened that she would have to fill in the details with black or else it would look bad. Turns out she didn't have to do that because she just used a smaller needle and the design was great with the thinner line which is what we all originally wanted. She also didn't listen when we told her how we wanted them placed, and even when showing her exactly where to put them she still put both mine and my friend's pieces over an inch off from where we had intended, which is a lot considering the tattoo size of about 2.5x2.5

I want to say that she did a good job on the tattoos, but I also think that literally anybody else could have done the tattoo, and the experience would have been 100% better if they were more personable.

After the tattoos were finished she give us no aftercare sheets, no verbal instructions on care besides what we specifically asked about, then charged us $125 each for what in total took less than 2 hours. When I first called the shop I was told the minimum was $100, and when I spoke with Jenn ahead of time she said it would be up to $150 depending on size. I feel this was very unfair to us in the end, considering I drew the linework for her and she didn't add anything else to the design, which is what I expected when she stated the higher price. I feel that she pushed us into a larger size to charge the higher amount.

Overall, we were very dissatisfied with Jenn. If you go to her with a design she likes she would be fine to work with, but she was so dismissive of us and I'm sure she was uninterested in the design. I think it's fine to have a style you want to work with, but if I had known that our visit would have turned out like this then I would have asked for somebody else or called a different shop.

Update: 6 months later and I've returned to say this was an even worse experience than I thought. All three of the tattoos my friends and I got are horribly blown out and have a raised texture. I've had two tattoos since this and both artists commented we were done dirty. So...

I came in to this shop to get my tattoo fixed. I am too disappointed. The design is not polished and ink is fading. I had to comeback twice expecting that my tattoo will be done. I was asked to come back the third time but I cancelled the appointment. You have to wait for a long time, about an hour, as the guy takes his break. He will only work on you for less than an hour and then he will asked you to comeback again. Unprofessional. Work not too detail. He makes you move around your chair, twist your arm instead of him making the adjustment as he the one is...

The whole office was clean, welcoming and very pleasant to be at. Dominic at the front was great to talk to while waiting and setting up the appointment was very easy to do. Kevin did an outstanding job on my tattoo, he did a hanmerhead shark with shading and a shadow. He was through, efficient and personable. I would highly recommend this tattoo shop. I drove all the way from Delaware and was still blown away. Worth the drive, great stuff, even better tattoos. Thank you Kevin and Dom and thank...