Ink Therapy: After Reopening, Monmouth Tattoo Shops Get Personal

HOWELL, NJ – As thousands of personal care establishments across the state faced months-long shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, faithful customers of hair salons, nail studios and spas were suddenly left to their own devices. But as Gov. Murphy slowly began to ease restrictions and open certain industries in April, May and June, eager customers ran to their much-loved happy places:

For some customers, it was a shopping spree at the local mall. For others, it was a full blowout from a luxury hair salon.

For others, it was a tattoo.

“For some people, it’s almost like therapy,” said Mike Curtin, the manager and head piercer of South Side Tattoo in Howell. “I have several clients that are in some form of recovery, and they move to body art as a way of getting a fix. Like, ‘I need that something that I used to do whatever for, let me go get a tattoo instead.’”

Curtin told Patch that many of his recurring clients are eager to get back into the tattoo booth, especially those who have gone months without their fix of new ink. However, per health regulations, the longstanding tradition of bringing friends or family along for the journey will no longer be a part of the tattooing process for a while, as clients are required to show up alone to prevent the transmission of the disease. To the shop manager, the experience will undoubtedly be different, if not more personal than before the industry shutdown.

“[Before], you have clients come in with a number of friends because they all want to be a part of that experience, especially for a first tattoo or first piercing,” said Curtin. “Now it’s just clients and artists. You really get to sit down with your artist and have that more intimate experience."

Fellow Monmouth County tattoo artist and studio owner "Tattoo Tony" Rodriguez agrees that limited capacity restrictions are beneficial for both safety and personal reasons. Since the reopening of his shop, Under My Skin Tattoo Studio in Atlantic Highlands, clients have expressed a quarantine craving for new ink. Getting tattooed alone, rather than surrounded by large groups of friends, has provided a very different experience for clients.

“In June, everybody that comes in and gets tattooed is like, ‘we miss the therapy of getting a tattoo,’” said Rodriguez, who has been tattooing generations of clients for nearly 35 years. “Our client’s safety and our artists’ safety are really more important than anything, and I like the way that it’s just the artist and the client because, when you get tattooed, it’s like a therapy session. We sit down and we talk. When you get your hair cut, you tell your barber whatever is going on in your life at the time. A tattoo shop is the same way.”

Alongside the increasingly intimate nature of tattooing after reopening, several store owners and artists told Patch that most of the statewide reopening protocols for tattoo parlors were already practiced in New Jersey shops. In fact, before the statewide shutdown of tattoo and piercing studios in March, South Side Tattoo had already reduced its client intake and began requiring masks for employees. Read more: Gov. Phil Murphy: NJ Barbers, Salons, Spas Must Close

“We saw this coming,” said Curtin. “I saw everything coming during the onset. So we reduced our hours and we were wearing masks before the state mandated anything. Much of the protocol involving sanitation we’ve been doing right along.”

According to Curtin, all tattoo artists must renew a special license proving their knowledge of disease transmission, giving the industry a special advantage, with many shops already having at least a portion of the knowledge and equipment required for reopening. In fact, the owner of South Side Tattoo, Troy Chartier, was part of a coalition of artists in the early 2000’s that taught health inspectors how to properly inspect studios.

However, as prepared as they may be, according to Curtin, the fact that other industries were permitted to reopen before the tattoo and piercing industry was “concerning”.

“Certain businesses were allowed to open earlier, but they don’t have the training that we have,” said Curtin. “With that training and the way that shapes our industry, it was kind of concerning getting the feeling that we were being ignored."

Rodriguez echoed Curtin's statements, citing the industry's meticulous cleaning protocol even before the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our protocol for cleanliness is above and beyond most regular businesses,” said Rodriguez. “We deal with chemicals like MadaCide where we clean in between each appointment. Everything gets disinfected properly. We’re considered to be in that pool of hair salons and barber shops, but we’re really not. We’re way above and beyond the hair salons and barber shops.”

Rodriguez goes as far to say that his shop operates much like a doctor’s office with the level of sanitation and meticulous cleaning necessary to operate the Memorial Parkway location. Under My Skin currently touts air filters throughout the studio, two sanitation stations by the front door and signage installed to promote social distancing. Face masks are strictly enforced.

For Rodriguez, his biggest fears in the weeks to come is the looming threat of another shutdown. According to the industry vet, if a second wave of the pandemic were to shutter studios again, devastating effects would be felt across the industry.

Curtin stressed that the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will continue to affect the tattoo industry in gargantuan ways. To the manager, clients simply won’t be using discretionary spending like they used to.

“For many people, getting pierced or tattooed, that’s discretionary spending,” said Curtin. "Within the next year, we’re not really sure what that’s going to look like. We still have to pay rent on the establishment … We don't have a very good retirement plan for tattooers. Having to dip so far into [savings], there was a financial concern."

“If you have to decide whether or not you’re going to pay your bills or get a new piece of body art, you need to pay your bills first.”

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