Simona Noir, the owner of two tattoo studios in Liverpool, hopes to bring a new, serene experience to the industry.
Tattoo studios have a distinct feeling, be it a grungey, rock and roll flair, a colourful poppy aesthetic or something edgier. Port Noir flips the stereotype on its head by offering customers a serene, spiritual experience that connects the public with art and creativity.
Port Noir, the sister site to Bold Street's Noir Tattoo, opened on the Royal Albert Dock just a few months ago on March 8. Simona saw the success of the first venue and decided it was the right time to expand the business after working tirelessly there for years.
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The now 28-year-old moved to Liverpool from Lithuania at 18 due to her deep fascination with the city's music and culture. Upon arrival, she tested the waters with performing and theatre but found her heart swayed toward tattooing. Simona was thrown directly in at the deep end after her first boss told her to practise directly on their skin - the first time she ever held a tattoo gun.
Simona honed her skills and landed in the Bold Street venue as a professional. As the Tatto Noir team shifted around and those leading the shop moved on, Simona eventually took the reins of herself and has managed the business for five years now. The job is no easy undertaking with Simona admitting she's never had a day off.
She told the ECHO: "It just takes absolutely all of your time but the thing is, tattooing isn't just a job. You don't clock out at five, you're always getting messages or emails and replying to someone. It sounds like quite a romantic job because it's so creative but you do have to dedicate your entire self to it and it does require all of you."
Simona sought out a new space to help balance the workload two businesses come with. The Royal Albert Dock venue acts as a place she can "relax" while working given she specialises in larger pieces which can take up the majority of her day. The studio was specifically created to offer calm and peaceful energy away from the typical craziness a standard studio can hold., ditching the dark graffiti aesthetics for bright, spacious lounges perfect for meditating.
She added: "Getting a tattoo is a very intimate thing especially when it's so big. It is almost like a life-changing event. It's a completely different person looking back at you - I think it is a bit of a spiritual experience. It's like a rite of passage in a sense because you are recreating yourself, you are creating what you actually want to feel like and what you want to be.
"I've been to studios where you walk in and it just feels intimidating. People won't look at you or they'll stare you down. It's not nice. I'm so lucky to work with the guys I do and pull off what we wanted to do with this new site. It's a beautiful spot that just spoke to me and not somewhere you'd find a tattoo studio.
"I'm just trying to offer something that's a bit more chilled out. It's not just your average tattoo studio because we're getting people to do massage as well. So on the days when I'm not in, there will be a lot of holistic practices. We didn't want to go the typical route you see with studios which is why we're more like a spiritual place to transform yourself and not the standard, dark venue you see."
To join the Noir team, you have to be a passionate creative first and foremost. She added: "It's not about teaching somebody how to draw and then how to tattoo. I like when a person has a background in art because I think it's absolutely key to actually crack [tattooing]. I do find great peace in what I do and I'm happy to share that with new artists to help give back to customers and make them feel good about themselves."
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