How old do you have to be to get a tattoo?

The law

The Tattooing of Minors Act 1969 makes it an offence to tattoo a person under the age of eighteen. There is no exception for a young person who is nearly eighteen, and there is no form a parent can sign that changes it.

The offence sits with the tattooist, not the customer. Any studio willing to work around it is telling you something about how it treats every other rule it operates under.

What we ask for

We check identification for everyone who looks anywhere near the line, and we would rather ask someone in their thirties than miss someone who is seventeen.

• A passport, a driving licence, or a PASS-accredited proof of age card.
• It has to be the original, in date, and carry your photograph and date of birth.
• No ID means no tattoo that day. Your deposit moves with you to a date when you can bring it.

If you are not eighteen yet

Use the time. Sit with the idea, collect references, look properly at whose work you want on you. Very few people regret waiting and a good number regret not having.

You are welcome to come in with a parent and talk to an artist about a piece for later. We are happy to have that conversation.