I put an Rx lidocaine patch on for my first tattoo, its on my ribcage ...the tiny part of the tattooed space that the lidocaine patch didn't cover was SO fucking painful, but except for that it hardly hurt at all. my second tattoo was totally spontaneous -- I randomly decided to go in for some really minimalist finger tattoos that I figured couldn't cost more than a few $tens but the artist working refused to tattoo anywhere on my hands based on the fact that I was 20 years old and unemployed. xP I was still determined to leave w/ new ink so I spent all the money I had on another thing I'd been wanting for quite some time -- upper bicep armbands. no lidocaine obviously and most of it still hardly hurt much, except for the very underside of my arm where a nerve was being hit and so it felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing and digging w/ a burning hot knife in my armpit. hah. but really not that bad overall.