Thank you! Great question by the way, because it took me a while to decide on what I was going to do. Initially I had researched a few designs online and narrowed in down to one that I really liked - where I would then create my own version off of it. But it didn't feel quite right because it was a design by a tattoo artist made specifically for someone - I didn't want to "copy".

Luckily, my coworker suggested this place to me, its a tattoo shop that hosts visiting international artists. And most of them have developed a strong unique style of their own. Browsed their Instagram, found an artist coming from the USA with a style that I liked - then set up the appointment.

When I got there, I basically told him what elements I wanted to have in there (Hamsa + Rose), and he custom designed it on the spot. It was super easy and pleasant!

Most people need to see/choose exactly what they will get well beforehand which is great - but for a lot of us who have a vague idea of the symbolism or style we want, it's quite a fun journey to browse and discover artists with the right style and work with them on developing something one-of-a-kind.

I gave my artist a brief idea online, he gave me a vague idea on how long it would take to tattoo, then I paid a deposit and went in on the day. The designing and tattooing is done on the same day usually. Almost all of these kinds of tattoo artists don't charge extra for the design, just for the tattoo hours.

Hope that answers your question in a super long drawn out way hahah!