Nastia Zlotin

I went to see Nastia about a tattoo a few years ago. Looking back, there were so many red flags right from the start. Right after we met she was examining the area to be tattooed, a coworker walked past, and she told them I had pale skin and "would make a great canvas". The studio had a really menacing vibe - her co-workers completely ignored me and felt honestly quite menacing, the decor and vibe were very heavy metal, masculine, and intimidating - she was the only woman working in the shop, and it all felt very aggressive and uncomfortable. The sketching out process was positive, she put some time and thought into the idea I had, but things started going south when I came to get the outline done. At the start of the session she announced she was very tired because she'd left the design to the last minute na dhad stayed up reallly late the night before to do it. I felt bad she was tired but there was no question of rescheduling, she launched straight into it. Her tattooing technique itself was good, she was light-handed so it wasn't particularly uncomfortable. Occasionally she'd announce a break and immediately vanish off to another part of the studio to hang out with her husband and co-workers, leaving me to sort myself out. I have had many tattoos and actually appreciate having some time to myself during the breaks to recover, but there was no human-level communication at all, I was made to feel like an alien. She was evidently extremely tired towards the end, which I (also tired, getting tattooed is grueling) felt awful about and somehow responsible for, and the session ran super long but again there was no question of adjourning to another day to ensure it was done well. She pulled it off and the end result of the outline looked good however. The real issues took place the day I came to get the shading done. Bear in mind I had come to see Nastia because I loved the bright feminine jewel tones in her work. On arrival to the shading appt, she was masked and sniffling and announced she had a cold, and she hadn't had the time to do a mock-up of the design with the colours. So she quickly explained what she planned to do, which included doing part of the tattoo, the animal's head, all in black with red eyes. I was really shocked by this as it didn't match any of her portfolio and it was the opposite of what I wanted - vivid uplifting colours. I expressed this and asked her to please use more bright colours in that area, and she seemed annoyed but agreed. This session was really gruelling. She was clearly very tired and unwell and not happy to be working, and she also made no effort to communicate to me that I wasn't the issue - the discussion about the colours hung between us and she seemed resentful, which her dashing away as soon as she announced a break with no eye contact and no communication did nothing to dispel. She left the head area till last - I couldn't see what she was tattooing due to the placement. She called a break while working on that area, and I was able to look down, to see.... she had done the heads in black, with red eyes. I was honestly so shocked, it never occurred to me that she would disregard my wishes so blatantly. I felt really out of place and powerless but still made a comment about it, as politely as possible - she ended the session at that point and I paid her and went home. Long story short, she refused to take any responsibility for what she'd done. Having assessed the damage, I realised I was going to need laser removal to fix the problem, so I asked her if I could have some money back. She eventually said yes, but she refused point blank to Paypal the money back to me (she had requested I use paypal for the deposit, so she does use it), and insisted absolutely that I come to the studio in person. I was terrified of going back after the cold way I was treated and the way she completely steam-rollered my wishes for my own body, so I suggested my partner go there instead. She refused and said I had to come in person. I remembered her male aggro co-workers strutting aggressively around the place, completely ignoring me, while she treated me like a wordless canvas with a wallet in tow, and realised I was absolutely terrified to go back. I eventually figured I'd post about it on a body mod group that I was part of, to at least try to warn people away so they wouldn't have to be in the same disastrous situation I was in. She became aware of the post and selectively quoted her emails to me to make it seem like I was trying to bring her down (for what purpose? I just wanted a beautiful tattoo like the ones she was posting on her instagram, all she had to do was do her usual style, with the beautiful colours, and I would have been so happy and grateful). She also sent her stans to harrass me and several of them left aggressive posts on my Facebook page. I received messages telling me I deserved to die for what I'd done. Just as well I didn't go back to the studio, who knows what they would have done to me in person? I wound up spending more on laser removal than I'd originally spent on the tattoo itself, and eventually got a cover up by an artist who correctly pointed out various technical issues with the tattoo design. So many red flags - but I was just super grateful to be spending time with this amazing famous artist whose work I found so beautiful. Shame, shame, what a shame.