Here at Lighthouse Tattoo, we pride ourselves on being able to provide our customers the widest range of services around. From piercings to tattoos, we strive to give our customers the best quality of work they can get. With that comes a lot of stuff we just won’t do.

We do not offer anything to our customers that will harm them directly or indirectly. That means different things in our different areas of expertise. Here is a run-down of the most common services we refuse and why we refuse them.

PIERCING STUFF WE WON’T DO:

Snake eyes tongue piercing
-Because: It’s horrible for your oral health. It can be argued that any and all oral piercings are bad for your mouth, but some are definitely worse than others. From the added risk of breaking teeth while chewing to the fusion of the two independent muscles in your tongue, this one may be cute…but it’s a bad idea.
Dahlia piercing
- Because: They will not stay in for any real length of time. They have such a small amount of skin (that is constantly expanding and contracting) between the jewelry and your teeth that any chewing endeavor with these bad boys could end VERY badly. (That means it could be bloody and painful, if you caught that.)
Pierce you when you are about to go to the beach
- Because: Sun damage and bacteria from the ocean complicate the healing of any piercing. This is the same reason that we have you avoid tanning or sunbathing for a protracted length of time after attaining a piercing.
Put a dermal in the divet of your clavicle
Because: Dermals need a static, flat surface on which to rest so that they can anchor parallel to your skin. Putting one in a place that moves as much as the dip of a clavicle, a finger, or on the back of a neck puts the piercing at greater risk of rejection than dermals already face. Since these are our most expensive piercings, we want to do anything we can to ensure their longevity and ease of healing.
Smiley piercing
-Because: They cause serious damage to your gums and they will work their way out of your mouth after a few weeks. The skin pierced to give this piercing is so thin and mobile that the heavy jewelry tears itself out of the skin before it has time to properly heal.
Sexually explicit piercings on minor clients
-Because: …….ew?
Earlobe piercings on children under six years
-Because: Though safer and less traumatizing than getting pierced with a gun, ear piercings done in a tattoo shop take longer to do. This means that any child under a certain age runs a higher risk of not being able to sit for the piercing without crying or having a meltdown. We want children who come to our shop to feel safe and comfortable, not traumatized. (We don’t offer piercing for infants because we need our clients to be able to care for the piercings mostly without parental assistance!)
Let a parent send a minor with a written note of permission to attain a piercing
-Other than the fact that notes of this nature are often forged, parents or legal guardians need to be present when their child is pierced. This is required by the health department and it keeps our piercers and clients safe from potential misunderstandings about conduct or aftercare of the piercing.

TATTOO STUFF WE WON’T DO:

Hand, neck, or face tattoos on young or otherwise inexperienced clients
-Because: In this part of the country, very visible tattoos can be the difference between having gainful employment and not. We will not do any of these tattoos unless the person is already heavily tattooed (they know what it’s like to be tattooed visibly and how poorly people can treat them because of it) , independently wealthy (if you’re a wealthy business owner, you aren’t worried about getting hired any time soon), or a convicted felon (most jobs that will hire a person with a record don’t care about visible tattoos).
Hate speech/slurs
-Because: A lot of artists will do these tattoos as kind of a “stupid brand” on a person, to let people know they’re an asshole before they have to bother speaking to them. We do not do these for a couple of reasons, the first being that people bring their buddies to their tattoo shop to get work done and we don’t want to be the shop that will put a swastika on anyone who asks. The second (and arguably most important) reason is that people change. When you’re forty, you might not feel the same way about these things as you do when you’re twenty. We don’t want to make a permanent, regrettable mark on someone that will make everyone they meet on their journey through life treat them poorly. Some people consider these a way to make money as future cover-ups, but we’d rather just not do them.
Exact renditions of poorly done drawings
-Because:If a person sees a portrait done by a skilled tattoo artist, the immediate response is awe. If the work is completely accurate and representative of the photo reference, it is a testament to the artist’s skill and hard work. If that same artist does an exact rendering of a portrait drawn by a thirteen-year-old and uses the same level of skill to execute it, the best that piece will ever look is like it was done by a child. Instead of awe, any audience who isn’t the wearer will see that tattoo and think “wow…that artist has no idea how to do a portrait.”
Significant others’ names who are not married
-Because: These are our number one subject matter for cover-ups. At least three times a week, we do large-scale work over names of ex girlfriends, best friends, and even fiances. That’s not to say that we don’t also do plenty of ex spouse cover-ups but the way we see it, if you’re getting a divorce, you’ve got much bigger things to worry about than covering up a tattoo.
“Tiny tattoos” with a significant amount of detail
-Because: Instagram and Pinterest are often where people find images of these tattoos. That’s a fine way to get an idea for a tattoo, but when looking for work you wish to replicate exactly, keep in mind that Instagram and Pinterest are big, fat liars. The same way that they’ll show you an image of Kylie Jenner in corset and Spanx where they STILL photoshop her waist smaller, these sources will show you photos of fresh tattoos that will look atrocious when they’re healed. A good rule of thumb is that if you want a photorealistic tattoo of a single object or image, it probably needs to be at least the size of the palm of your hand.
Reworks of homemade or prison tattoos
-Because: We want to give you the best version of any tattoo you get. Having to go back over the work of inexperienced “artists” is a great way to ensure that at least 50% of your tattoo’s potential to be great is already gone. If you want something done right, get it done professionally the first time.
Exact replications of large-scale work
-Because: It just looks lazy on our part. If you bring us an idea for a half sleeve and we do the exact same half sleeve as the girl in your reference photo has, we’ve taken the easy way out and everyone is going to know it. We give you a tattoo that is as unique as you are, every time.

If you’re new to the Nashville area or are just looking for a fresh scene, check us out at Lighthouse Tattoo. We think our discretion sets us apart from a lot of the others around, and we think you’ll feel the same way.