29/10/2026
And so it begins… 🤦🏼♀️
A bit of a rant incoming👇🏽👇🏽
Tattoo courses are SO dangerous, and I genuinely don’t think enough people realise just how serious this is.
We’re talking about people with very little practical knowledge being taught to provide a permanent service that involves breaking the skin, bloodborne pathogens, cross contamination and REAL health and safety risks. Tattooing is a form of controlled skin trauma. It’s not something you can learn properly in a week.
Paying for a one week course, then opening a studio or setting up in a beauty salon and telling clients you’re “fully licensed, trained and certified” is an absolute joke. 🤦🏼♀️
Having a certificate doesn’t automatically make you competent. Being shown how to pull a few simple lines and sitting through a PowerPoint presentation does not mean you have the knowledge, experience or skill required to tattoo another human being safely.
Tattooing is a craft. It takes time, dedication, practice, knowledge of skin, needle depth, technique, hygiene, cross contamination prevention and so much more than people realise.
There’s a reason genuine apprenticeships are so difficult to get. They involve learning from experienced artists, developing your skills, understanding the industry and building the foundations you need BEFORE you’re ready to work on clients. Traditional apprenticeships often take a year or longer, and there’s a reason for that.
I’m not taking anything away from people who want to become tattoo artists or who are naturally creative. Everyone has to start somewhere, and we all had to learn.
But please, learn the RIGHT way. 🙏🏼
There’s a reason so many experienced tattoo artists are against these quick-fix courses. It isn’t about gatekeeping or stopping people from pursuing a career. It’s about understanding that tattooing comes with real responsibilities that cannot be adequately covered in a week.
A certificate is not a substitute for competence, experience or proper training. And the people paying for your services deserve nothing less.
A Kempston tattoo business owner has been ordered to pay more than £7,300 for illegal tattoo trading and selling fraudulent training courses.
Leah Carey, of Only Studio in The Old Ford, West End Road, Kempston, appeared before Luton Magistrates Court on 15 September.
Carey, of The Boulevard, Alconbury Weald in Huntingdon, pleaded guilty to two offences under Section 2(1) of the Fraud Act 2006 and one offence under Section 16(1)(b) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, following a joint investigation by the Council’s Trading Standards and Environmental Health teams.
The investigation was opened following complaints about a tattoo training course advertised in 2025 as “accredited” and that attendees would be “fully qualified” to run their own tattoo business.
The court heard there was no evidence to support these claims. There is no training course recognised by a national training regulator to become a tattooist. Anyone seeking registration must gain suitable practical experience under a registered and experienced tattooist, complete an apprenticeship, and/or undertake training courses on infection prevention and control.
Only Studio had recently registered its tattoo business with the Council when these fraudulent training courses complaints were received, leading to an investigation. Complaints received by the Council at this time included reports that the business had previously undertaken tattooing before obtaining the required registration, resulting in further evidence being presented to Magistrates.
The court heard that tattooing activities took place illegally without the required tattoo trading registration. Tattooists must register with their local authority before operating to ensure important infection control checks are carried out, they understand health risks if hygiene and safety standards are not followed, and to ensure infection prevention and control measures are in place.
Magistrates ordered Carey to pay £4,200 in compensation to two attendees who signed up for the tattoo training course. She was also ordered to pay £3,182, including a fine of £1,344, a surcharge cost of £538, and £1,300 in costs to the Council.
