Hello, friends, and welcome to another video.
This week, I'm letting you, my subscribers, choose my tattoo.
So a few months ago, when we hit 4 million subscribers on this channel, I let you guys choose my hair color.
And during that video, we threw out the idea of getting a tattoo if we got to 5 million subscribers.
"Well, if I hit 5 million subs maybe I'll let them pick my tattoo next!"
And lo and behold, that day has come. Now, I've always been open to the idea of getting a tattoo,
but I just hadn't found something that meant enough to me to actually get it, and though I may have said it
jokingly a few months ago, I've actually thought about getting a channel-related tattoo for a while.
Now, I don't usually talk a lot about my *feelings* about the channel, or even about the channel in general in like a
meta way, but YouTube and making content for all of you really means a lot to me; to us
and even though there are challenges along the way, and long weeks and nights, it's truly changed my life for the better.
And so, when I think of an accomplishment or life event that would be important enough to me to have on my
body for keepsies, this channel is far and away the number one choice. I mean, Tyler's good, too, but I've
heard some stuff about significant other tattoo jinxes, so we're not gonna go there right now.
So I thought, if I was gonna get a channel-related tattoo, why not have you guys choose it?
Or at least, help me choose it.
Because obviously, you guys are a huge part of this channel, and we wouldn't be where we are today
without all of you out there, watchin'.
Okay! So this is what we did.
A couple of weeks ago, we asked you guys to email in ideas of tattoos that you would like me to get, and we
received quite a few submissions, in a lot of different styles. Some more simple, some more photorealistic,
some more illustrated, and a lot of them were original submissions, so thank you to everyone who drew
something for me. Some of my favorite one-off drawings were: this raven wearing platform crocs,
this bat wearing some of our questionable clothing items,
and this alien (which I think is me) carrying Crusty along with a Sephora bag.
Speaking of Crusty, we did also see a lot of submissions that were of Crusty's face and body, but after going
through all of your submissions, we narrowed it down to four options that reflected the most popular ideas that
you guys had, as well as the ones I liked the most as tattoos. From there, we chose examples that were
in the style that I preferred, which ended up being smaller, graphic, black ink, simple designs.
And finally, we put those options in a poll at the end of our latest video for you all to vote on.
So our first finalist was a black bat silhouette, which I think represents me in my true form as a giant winged marsupial.
And I think that out of all of your suggestions, bats were by far the most popular submission.
The second option that we put on the poll was an outline of a moon, which represents to me all of the all-nighters
pulled in the last 18 months. I wouldn't say I do my best work at night, but I would say I do most of my work at night.
The third finalist was an alien head outline, kind of like emoji style, which has actually been on my YouTube
banner since the beginning of our channel. There were a decent amount of full-body aliens and UFOs as well, but
I think that the simple head outline was my favorite choice.
And finally, our fourth option on the poll was this cat and bats inside of a circle, which represents another large
section of the submissions that I would call the fusion category. A lot of you guys sent us different motifs and
animals mixed together, like alien-bats, cat-bats, moon-bats, cats-and-moons, cat-bats-being-abducted-by-aliens, et cetera.
But when I saw this particular submission, it really stood out to me. Just a simple black silhouette of a cat
watching two bats fly off into the night. So those were our four options.
Honorable mentions go to the Franken-phora lipstick, Hello Friends, and Crusty, of course.
Maybe next time.
So I put those options on the poll, and gave you guys a few days to vote. I said early on that I was gonna reserve
the decision of where the tattoo should go for myself, and I ended up deciding on my left side ribcage,
which I think is a pretty cool spot, but it's also gonna be hidden by my shirt or bra almost all of the time.
So with that, we were ready to head off to the tattoo parlor.
S: All right! So we are heading to Skin Deep Tattoo and Piercing in scenic Glendale, California, [T: Ohh, yeah!]
S: and I... am going to get a tattoo.
T: Yes.
T: This is actually happening!
S: Is this real life? I feel like "David After Dentist," but it's just Safiya before tattoo.
As for who was gonna do it, we met up with tattoo artist and YouTuber Kimmy Tan, who does a lot of tattoos
in different styles, including ones that are similar to the submissions we chose.
S: So, we're here with Kimmy at Skin Deep Tattoo, and it's all happening so fast.
K: Yes, it is! S: Like, my voice just cracked!
S: Did you hear that? [Both laugh]
K: You're that excited; that's good! That's how you're supposed to feel before a tattoo! You're supposed to be
K: excited, and ready, and... you know, mostly excited, with this face, right now.
Ah, yes. So I think we're gonna have to tell you the results of the poll now, because unlike in the hair dyeing
video, I don't think we can make it a surprise. So without further ado, in fourth place, with nine percent of the vote,
was the alien head. I guess no one likes my channel banner. That's fine.
In third place, with twelve percent of the vote, was the bat, which surprised me, because you guys sent in so
many freaking bats. Maybe it's just a loud marsupial minority.
Our runner-up, with 28 percent of the vote, was the moon. I guess there's only a moderate love for the
creator of our planet's tides.
And in first place, with a whopping 49 percent of the vote, was our fusion cat, bats, and moon tableau,
which makes sense because it's kind of combining some of the previous options together, but even though
I would have been happy with any of the choices, I was really excited that this design won, because each
element of it sort of spoke to me from the first time I saw it. The little story of it in my head is that the cat is
our cat Crusty watching Tyler and me (the bats) run around and be idiots while editing our videos in the
middle of the night, hence the moon.
S: So, you've been notified as to what the winner of the poll was; as to what these guys decided that my tattoo
S: should be, [K: Yes, yes.] um, and you've been like, doing some doodles?
S: or, kind of like, iterating off of it? K: I have been!
So, as we had mentioned in the last video, the illustrations for the options on the poll
weren't a hundred percent set, since we wanted to leave a little room for Kimmy and I to tinker with it.
K: I got one with a little striped tail, got some that is... in a moon shape, cause I think if you're gonna be getting it
K: on your ribs, I think it would go better with like the flow of your ribs rather than just a circle that might warp
K: when you move your hands a little big?
S: I love this one as well. I like what you did with the moon in like the crescent and then sort of filled in the
S: rest of the circle with like, little dots? What do you think? Nice armpit shots.
T: Oh, yeah. S: Most of this video's gonna be filled with armpit shots.
We deliberated for a while as to what the details should be like, specifically about the outer circle/moon thing.
S: Would it be weird to have the branch coming from nowhere?
K: It's only weird if you think it's weird! You know what I mean? There really are no rules to tattoos other than
K: don't get your boyfriend's name, y'know what I mean? [S laughs]
K: So... S: [to Tyler] You're out!
But in the end, we decided on the crescent moon with dots completing the circle, a little bit of a skinnier tail for
the cat, and more of a spindly-looking branch.
S: Almost like the Seussian arm? A Grinch arm. T: Oh, interesting... okay. K: Ohhhh!
K: Now that you mention it, when he's all like heeeyuhh-huh it does kinda look like... [All laugh]
So with our design set, Kimmy sketched out the final draft and printed it into a stencil. Now, I had looked at
like a tattoo pain map before doing this, so I knew going into it that the ribcage was not exactly the most
comfortable place to get done. It seems to be in the "bring something to bite on" region.
K: 'Kay, let's put it this way, have you ever been scratched by your cat?
S: Yes. K: It's pretty much like that.
S: Let's hope Crusty has been vicious enough to me, that I know what this will be like.
T: That was your training!
So with some of our pain questions answered, we went on to placing the stencil on my skin, so Kimmy had a
template to work off of.
K: Good thing about the ribcage: I don't really have to shave it.
S: Well, you might have to shave mine. Just kidding.
K: No, you're actually pretty good! You have a very un-hairy ribcage - what does that mean?
[K laughs] S: That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!
T: We've come to the right place
So after placing the stencil, I really liked how it all looked.
K: I think it's awesome! T: So this is it, right? Okay, we're good. Thank you, Kimmy.
T: We'll see you guys, um... cool. S: Alright, thank you for my tattoo. Thank you.
But we realized that the exact spot that we had chosen would cause the tattoo to warp a lot with my normal arm
movements, so we decided to print another stencil and place it a little further back, which would still stretch, but
hopefully not as much.
S: Oh yeah, that's cool. I think it's a little less flexible back there, though obviously still a little flexible.
S: But like, I can go backwards and forwards without it compromising the integrity of the design.
T: There you go. S: All right, well... let's go for it! I guess!
So with that, Kimmy brought out the tattoo bed, and it was time to get... a-goin.
S: Can my Birkenstocks come on the table?
S: Tell me where you want me.
We had to tape my shirt back so it wouldn't get in the way.
S: Are you gonna do that thing where you like, count to five but then you go on three?
K: [laughs] No, it's not like a piercing, I don't have to do that.
K: Alright, I'm gonna start off with like a really small line first so just... just so you can get what it feels like and
K: everything before I actually start.
And then... it was time.
K: Here we go!
[Tattoo gun buzzing]
S: Okay. Oh yeah, it feels like a cat scratch. Okay. K: Right?
S: It feels like you're just like giving me like a flu shot.
My first impression was that the pain wasn't quite "bring something to bite on" level.
S: I might eat my words. It doesn't hurt that bad? But it also doesn't feel like awesome.
S: I kinda feel like I'm riding like a soothing train? You know cause there's like some vibrations?
So Kimmy started off by doing the outlines of everything.
S: Alright tell me like... what shape are you doing right now? Cause I can't see a thing.
K: Right now I'm doing his tail. S: The butt!
T: Crusty's butt is being permanently added to your body right now. [K laughs] S: Wow.
S: That cat really... he came... a long way.
I actually very quickly ate my words, because the tattoo got more painful as we got to different areas.
[Tattoo gun buzzing] [S makes surprised "ooh" sounds in pain]
K: Now I'm doing the branches. S: I feel the branches, yeah.
Ribs in general are supposed to be a more painful area, because you're closer to the bone, versus like fleshier
parts of the body. That said, Kimmy did tell us that butt tattoos are apparently very painful, so... I guess that's
not a hard and fast rule.
T: You need something to bite on? S: No, I'm just flexing my Birkenstocks. That's my...
S: how I deal with the pain.
Besides Birk flexing, I did develop a couple of other coping techniques, like making insane faces...
T: You okay? S: [strained] I'm fine... Tyler!!!
And grabbing on to Tyler as he was trying to film.
S: Actually, poking you in the thigh helps me. T: Yeah? S: Yeah. [Laughs]
T: Do you want me to hold your hand? Or do you just prefer trying to scratch me.
S: I... prefer trying to scratch you infinitely. Oh, yeah. This helps. T: Yeah?
S: Does this hurt you? T: No.
S: Oh, then it doesn't help me. [Both laugh]
I don't think I did any actual damage to Tyler's arm, but I feel like a little pinching was only fair.
T: I think I've become a scratching post. K: A human scratching post.
T: This is like the chain of pain. [S laughs]
So once Kimmy was done with the outline, all that was left was to fill it in.
S: Alright, and you said the filling in is not so bad.
K: Me personally, I don't think the filling in is that bad, but like I said everyone's different, so... I guess we'll just have to see.
S: This is a weird angle for me, man. Where's my hair even coming from?
So Kimmy began shading, starting with the two bats.
S: Tyler, which bat do you think you are and which bat's me?
T: I think the bigger bat's you, cause I think the little one's chasing you around.
S: Then I'm probably the little one, if the little one's chasing the bigger one around and annoying it.
T: Okay, that's more accurate.
But after a little bit of the shading, I actually found that for me, it hurt more than the outlining.
S: You can't film! You can't film anymore! [Fakes an off-the-deep-end scream]
S: I can't wait to review this footage and see all the crazy faces I'm making.
K: If it makes you feel any better, because you chose such a badass placement, like for your first tattoo,
K: your next one is not gonna hurt as much. S: My next one?!? I'm kidding.
K: Like my first tattoo was on my wrist, and Saf is just like balls to the wall, goin straight for the ribs.
I don't think I'm going to be getting a second tattoo anytime soon, unless maybe I can take Tyler down with me.
K: Would you guys ever get matching tattoos? T: Of Saf's face?
S: Uhm... K: Uh- of Saf's face?!?
S: Yeah, just of my face. I get my face, and you get my face. [All laugh]
As we got closer to the finish line, I think I did actually need something to bite on,
so Kimmy gave me some gum to chew.
S: I have so much gum in my mouth. That was like the biggest piece of gum of my life.
T: That's a- that's a pain... alleve-er . (CCer's note: Reliever? Alleviator? Tyler whatchu mean?)
And to give Tyler's arm a break, I started focusing my attention on visual stimuli around the room to distract myself.
S: I'm just looking at this girl over here's Birkenstocks. There's literally a girl getting tattooed right there
S: wearing Birkenstocks. I relate.
For additional context, I wear Birkenstocks quite often, and I've tried to contact them a few times, but they've
thoroughly ghosted me.
S: I was just thinking... about how much I talk about Birkenstocks in videos, and how they just like don't
S: wanna talk to me ever.
T: The company. (CCer's note: Right, Tyler. Shoes don't talk.)
T: Good thing we're not tattooing a Birkenstock onto you right now.
S: That's true.
And apparently, while getting a tattoo, I'm salty about it.
S: Dear Birkenstock, this could've been us S+K: but you playin'!
But before the tea could really be spilt, although I'm not really sure I had any more tea to spill,
Kimmy announced that we were finally done.
K: I think we're done! S: [Gasps ecstatically] We're done?!?
K: I think so. Yup! S: Ohmygod... amazing!
S: Can I stand up? K: You can!
S: I guess the question is not may I stand up, it's like... am I physically able to stand up. [Laughs]
K: Woo! Breathe. You're probably a little lightheaded. [Fake French accent] In through ze nose, out through ze mouth.
S: I have so much gum in my mouth. This is [uncomfortably sticky breath out] gonna fall out.
S: Okay, so I think it's time for us to take a look. Or at least me; everyone else has seen it. T: Yes.
So after about an hour of tattooing, and a quick rush of blood to the head, it was time... for the reveal.
T: You like it?
S: Oh my god!!! It looks really good!
S: Oh yeah... Oh that's cool!
I think that Kimmy did a really great job , and our final placement of the tattoo a little set back seemed right.
K: And when you move your arm around... so much, it doesn't warp like we did it the first time?
S: No, yeah. [K: Yeah.] This is definitely the right spot.
S: I like that when I go like this it gets taller but it doesn't stretch sideways; [T: Oh, yeah.] y'know what I'm saying?
S: Ooh, that hurt... a lot... [K laughs]
S: But it looks good! You did such a good job!
K: High five! [And the sound effect of such] S: Thank you so much!
K: Of course, dude! It was so much fun. S: It's amazing.
K: You were so great; she did not move at all, she was great for her first time, like seriously.
K: Can I give you a hug? [S: Yes!] You were so great ugh congratulations on your first tattoo!
So Kimmy wrapped me up and gave us some aftercare instructions, and with that,
I took my tattoo, and headed home.
So that's my tattoo, chosen by you. It's been a couple of days since we got it, so it's still in it's crusting phase
right now, and it'll be totally healed in about a month.
Overall, I really love this tattoo, and because it's so simple, I feel like I could easily add to it
if I ever wanted to, though I'm not really in any hurry to do that. What matters most to me about this tattoo is
what it symbolizes. So even though the title of this video kind of sounds like a shocking stunt, I'm really happy
that you all were involved. So thank you again to everyone who sent in submissions, even if your design
wasn't featured, there were so many great ones that I might not have wanted as a tattoo, but like I do honestly
want framed in my house. Also, if you happen to be someone who doesn't like tattoos or doesn't like this
tattoo, well it's on the side of my boob so you'll probably never have to see it again. Unless maybe we make
another Fashion Nova video. Or something.
Thank you guys so much for watching! If you liked that video, make sure to mash that like button, and if you
wanna see more videos like this, make sure to sha-mash that subscribe button!
Once again, a big thank you to Kimmy for helping us get this tattoo. Be sure to check out her channel and her
Instagram linked below. A big shout-out to Christy for watching! Thanks for watching, Christy,
and I will see you guys, a-next time.
( Subtitles By ･｡ peachy tae ･｡ )