By: Mollee Francisco 

The barber pole may remain outside 416 Chestnut Street, but inside Rog Forner’s old shop, the styling chair has now been replaced with a tattoo chair. Ink has come to Chaska.

Armando Ruiz is the owner of Blue Magic Tattoo. He opened nearly a month ago and has since been drawing in a number of curious passerbys. In his first three weeks, Ruiz had already done 15 tattoos.

That’s encouraging to the Chaska resident who said the hardest part of opening the shop was deciding to start his own business.

“I’ve been thinking about it for four or five years,” he said.

For the past 13 years, Ruiz has been doing tattoos at home. But seeing an opening in the market for him to open a tattoo shop, he decided to take the plunge.

“It seems people have been happy with my work so far,” he said.

Addiction

Ruiz understands the allure of tattoos. He got his first one, a cross on his chest, in Guadalajara, Mexico, at age 18. He has since got several more on his back, legs, and upper arms – including four he did himself.

“It’s an addiction,” he said.

Ruiz said that religious symbols are the most popular designs he does, though his walls are filled with a variety of images. He estimates that he has done between 5,000-6,000 tattoos in his lifetime.

“I love all of them,” he said. “I have no favorites. All of them mean something to the person.”

For those interested in getting a tattoo, Ruiz said it is important to “think it twice.”

“It’s not going to be for a month or two months,” he said. “This is for the rest of your life.”

Ruiz encourages people to come in as many times as necessary until they know what they want. And once a design is chosen, placement is important, especially if pain is a concern. Ruiz said the most painful areas to get a tattoo are the inside of the arm and the side of the torso. The best place for the least amount of pain is the upper arm/shoulder area, Ruiz said.

When asked which sex is worse at handling pain, Ruiz grinned and sheepishly answered, “Men are worse.”

Process

The process of getting a tattoo begins with creating the design on stencil paper, Ruiz said. The design is then transferred to the skin. Using a new needle, the outline of the design is done. According to Ruiz, that is the most painful part.

“I had one person pass out,” he recalled. “I had to get the alcohol bottle and put it under their nose. That freaked me out.”

When the outline is finished, any detail work, including color is done. Then a patch is placed on the area to soak up any blood.

Ruiz said it is important to keep the area moist for at least the first week. Avoiding sun is important for three weeks following the procedure.

Making sure a tattoo artist has a clean work place and uses new needles each time is imperative, Ruiz added.

Expansion

Only a month into his experience, Ruiz already has plans for what’s next.

“I’m adding piercings in two weeks,” he said.

Ruiz is planning to hire someone to do body piercings in addition to his tattoos.

“Right now it seems incomplete without that,” he said.

Blue Magic Tattoo

Owner Armando Ruiz

416 Chestnut St.

Tue.-Thurs.: 6-10 p.m., Fri.-Sun.: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

For more information, call (952) 448-4616

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