definitely did not think I was going to get a tattoo today this is a surprise to me my name
is Lucie Fink and I'm a Johns Hopkins University Pre-Med Neuroscience major turned YouTuber who
is fascinated by the world's endless career path options I'm a full-time content creator but I love
discovering other people with cool jobs learning how they got that role in the first place and
seeing if I have what it takes to work a day in their shoes my curiosity has led me to the stage
at Radio City Music Hall deep inside a cranberry bog to Ben & Jerry's headquarters and so much more
and today I'm at Ephemeral Tattoo in Williamsburg Brooklyn to try becoming
a tattoo artist apprentice let's go on the job
I recently asked myself what's a job that you could never imagine doing and that's what led me
here my name is Sarah Michelle I'm an ephemeral tattoo artist and I've been working here for
a little over a year today Lucie's going to be assisting me like an apprentice would ephemeral
tattoo is not for everybody in fact as I learned from Sarah Michelle the tattoo artist I shadowed
some people in the tattoo world might scoff at the idea of an ephemeral tattoo because it is
well ephemeral I thought it was a little silly at first most tattoo artists are very like they don't
really want to hear about it developed by chemical engineers ephemeral tattoos are administered with
100% vegan ink that fades over time between 9 to 15 months typically so yes it's a real tattoo same
machines same needles they feel exactly the same it's just that the ink is made to fade
I actually found the concept quite intriguing too as someone who has questioned getting a tattoo in
the past but doesn't feel like I would want to get something inked on my skin permanently when
I decided I wanted to try becoming a tattoo artist naturally my first thought was I need
a victim I mean a subject I made a post on my Instagram asking my followers if anyone
was interested in getting an ephemeral tattoo for free in exchange for being part of our video and
the emails started pouring in I sorted through them and that's when I found Maura my name is
Maura I'm 24 years old I'm originally from Jakarta Indonesia but I live in Greenpoint Brooklyn and
I'm getting my first tattoo today are you excited for your tattoo excited nervous a little bit but
I'm really excited okay I was planning to get my tattoo here but knowing that Jake the Cameraman
um he said that it was painful toward the top of his forearm so I'm planning to get it lower
so thank you Jake at this point I truly thought I was going to be able to give her a tattoo she
was down I was down but we sadly ran into a problem the reason why uh Lucie can't actually
tattoo a person is because for New York City health code we have to have a license if she's
going to be handling anything that's going to come across blood while at first I was bummed to hear
this by the end of the day I was beyond grateful that I didn't ink Maura because well you'll see
before our appointment Maura, Sarah Michelle, and I had short call to discuss the tattoo design
at this meeting Maura brought images that she'd saved with styles that she liked and things she
was gravitating towards then the following week we met at Ephemeral Tattoo for the big day the moment
I walked into the space I was feeling creatively inspired they had prints all over the wall showing
past tattoos they'd administered I had a chance to hear a bit about Sarah Michelle's background and
quickly learned that this career path is no joke tattoo apprenticeships typically last between one
to three years sometimes longer depending on your mentor also each state has unique requirements but
you can likely expect to fill out applications and take a few courses for pre-licensed certification
and then even after your apprenticeship and receiving a license you'll likely need to
renew it every few years according to indeed.com the average salary for a tattoo artist in the U.S
is about fifty-nine thousand dollars per year but Sarah Michelle very clearly explained that income
can range drastically from one artist to the next while an entry-level tattoo artist might bring in
something like thirty thousand dollars a year really well-known celebrity artists can easily
be making seven figures I guess it's like any other field in that way next Maura arrived and
we immediately sat down to iron out the final design details this is just the starting point
so whatever changes you want to make just feel free to let me know although Sarah Michelle did
most of the work designing the initial backbone of the tattoo I was excited to jump in with some
creative ideas that ultimately made their way into the final design see how the waves have this
dimension yeah I wonder what it would look like if the mountains kind of had that same attached to it
I like that actually once the design was finished I went into the studio with Sarah Michelle to prep
the space the cleanliness and sanitation was next level I feel like we're preparing for an operation
I mean kind of we had to wear our gloves at all times while setting up and even just one touch of
our skin or our hair and we had to change into new gloves completely I found this part very difficult
and I wound up going through multiple pairs of gloves my bad I definitely am a hair toucher if
there's anything as we're working today that you consider to be grunt work let me know I'm happy to
do it before we could start the tattoo we had to prep Maura's skin and apply a stencil of her design
she's Inked [Music]
This Is the moment of truth since I wasn't actually able to administer
the tattoo on Maura we ordered some fake skin online that I brought in with me
it doesn't really feel like skin if I'm being honest
it feels like a piece of rubber throughout my entire apprenticeship I begged to use fake skin
for a long time they would not let me up until the very end because they didn't want me practicing
bad habits because it's not the same so I will be learning a bad habit but I don't think I'm
ever going to be giving a tattoo so this is the best I'm gonna get all right little skin this
is some real surgery I first prepped the piece of fake skin and applied the stencil to it put A&D
like all over so that the ink doesn't stain the skin I am familiar with A&D okay having a baby ah yes
ink is on the way so it was then time for me to observe the artist in action
I wanted a front-row seat to see how she was handling the tattoo machine but Maura actually
asked if I could sit with her and hold her hand instead so I wound up being more of
an emotional support friend throughout the process and I'll start like with a
little tiny dot and that way you can get a feeling of it and tell me when you're ready
right you can keep going I did get to see how Sarah Michelle was working though and it was
incredible to watch how laser focused she was she drew the straightest lines and was actually
barely speaking to me at all unless she needed me to grab something for her as an assistant
honestly I'm pretty happy that I'm not the one administering this
I don't know how I would feel I want to call out how appreciative I am of Sarah Michelle
for being part of this video with me in the first place I think it can be highly frowned
upon in the tattoo community for someone to just pop in and try being a tattoo artist's
apprentice randomly these people spend years and years training often in an unpaid capacity
and it truly takes such a high level of skill so thank you Sarah Michelle [Music]
I have to wash it with soap and make sure that there aren't any light spots it looked
amazing most importantly though Maura loved it it made me so happy to see how happy she was
you're welcome I'm so glad you love it it looks so cool it looks so cool
as she went into a separate room to discuss post tattoo care with
someone from the team I took to the studio with my piece of fake skin and got started
press it lightly there you go now just carefully be careful not to poke yourself okay
so now you can try to try to do a line okay pick a line anyone start with this
top of the North Star okay oh oh it's splattering isn't it oh [Laughter]
hey a little dragony there it was hard my lines were incredibly wiggly I could not
figure out the right amount of pressure to apply and something even stranger the needle was moving
so quickly that my eye couldn't match up the tip of it properly with the skin oh my God I am not
cut out for this wow and I called myself an artist overall it could have been worse but it definitely
could have been a lot better and I was so grateful that Maura got the better version of this tattoo on
her skin even though it was ephemeral I hadn't planned on doing this when we first arrived for
this shoot but something about being in this space completely inspired me and I made an on-the-spot
decision to get an ephemeral tattoo myself I settled on a small letter M it has a lot of
meaning for me over the past year of becoming a new mom and starting up our family it stands
for Mama, Michael, and Milo it's happening tell me when okay I'm gonna put a little dot in first oh
not bad all right now I'm gonna go for a line just don't move slow deep breath whoa it's okay so yes
I went in to give a tattoo and wound up getting a tattoo it was a big day for me it's so cool
I learned so much and I'm so excited to be back at it with this series let
me know what other jobs you'd like to see me try and we'll see you next
time on the job okay you need to hold your hand too [Music]