Young people seeking prominent tattoos on their face, neck and hands, which could potentially cut short their career before its even started, are being turned away by some ACT tattooists.
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An estimated 12 per cent of Australians have a tattoo and the industry in general has seen rapid growth in recent times, expanding by about five per cent a year since 2009.
Tattoo Power manager Jen Cashmore said artists were always pretty busy with a steady flow of customers, but recently more people had been coming in for hand and neck tattoos.
"They're a lot of a younger generation ... we generally don't tattoo someone's hand and neck unless they're heavily tattooed already, but it seems to be a trend in the young ones to get hands done," she said.
She said staff received requests ranging from a love heart on their finger, up to one person who requested a cross on her cheek underneath her eye.
"Generally people start off getting tattoos that are hidden under a shirt then they progress to sleeves or full leg pieces, but of late over the past six to 12 months, there's been an increase in younger generations coming in and wanting visible tattoos," Mrs Cashmore said.
She said some tattooists in her studio refused outright to ink anyone on their fingers, face and neck, but others didn't mind.
"It's a matter of personal preference, but when it comes to the tattooist it's a matter of whether they're willing to do it or not. And some of them at our business are," she said.
Private image consultant Carol Mitchell said some bosses would refuse to hire staff with obvious tattoos and by getting one at such a young age, teens were limiting your career choices from the outset.
"People do judge people with tattoos, it's as simple as that," she said. "You never know what type of job you're going to go for and it's certainly not a professional look at all."
She said if people are desperate to get a tattoo, they should choose somewhere less obvious like their chest or back.
Freestyle Tattoo Studio owner Renee Cameron said her business often refused to give customers neck or hand tattoos.
"We'd prefer not to do it, everywhere you go later on, the rules will be they won't let you in and while you're young you like it but you'll get older," she said.
"It's not like I don't want to help the customer or turn down money but for their welfare ... it's better that way."
Ms Cameron said she'd seen a definite increase in customers over the past five years, with a mix of professional people looking for discreet ink and mature people wanting designs touched up .
