Tattoo Candy Inc

I literally am writing this after just leaving the shop because I really can’t wait to tell the world about how great Tattoo Candy is! I heard of Speck through a girl I met randomly in a store after admiring her tattoo I asked who did it, she told me where she got it done at and by who, which is how I ended up seeing Speck. She was beyond professional, she responded to my initial email within a day, scheduled a consultation to meet in person and discuss what exactly I wanted done and put down a deposit (not all artists and shops do this, unfortunately so it was so wonderful that she did) and within the next week I was back in the shop for the tattoo session! Speck worked incredibly quickly and efficiently and was done in a little over an hour. The tattoo itself was rather inexpensive, but I would have gladly paid double for it! In addition to the phenomenal tattoo, the shop is adorably decorated and smells like Christmas (whatever air freshener/​candle wax was melting was amazing). Not only is her work awesome, she’s a super cool girl too! I will definitely be going back for any future ink and will recommend her to any and everyone! Thanks Tattoo Candy!!!

I was here a couple months back a HK tattoo. I walked right in and was promptly helped and waited about 15 minutes to get set up and get to work. Everyone in the shop was extremely nice. I didn’t feel out of place or unwelcome. They were funny, polite, friendly, and professional. I’d definitely stop in again. They’re also affordable which is awesome. They have a guide that they base prices off of which I found awesome! Some shops they tell you whatever price they want depending on their mood that day. That’s what really set them apart. I saw the guide behind the counter. I was like I want it this () big ok perfect it’ll be this $$ much! Awesome! Let’s get to it then! I was in and out within an hour. My artist even offered to fill in one of my other tattoos for a few more dollars since its severely faded bc of where it’s at on my wrist. I kind of wish I had, but I wasn’t feeling it that day.

I’ve now been to Tattoo Candy twice in 35 days for tattoos. I can’t speak highly enough of this shop or the people who work there. It had been quite some time since I’d had work done so I did a lot of research before choosing Tattoo Candy – and I couldn’t be happier.
Both of my new pieces were done by Ryan – and he’s fantastic. He worked closely with me on both pieces, listening carefully to what I wanted, talking about options, and taking the time to get things just right.
The shop is clean – impeccably so. (Heck – the bathroom is spotless.) The pricing here is fair and competitive.
Above all, I’ve seen how the staff interact with one another and with customers. In my experience, they’re a bunch of fun, laid back folks who care about the work they do and their customers. And they seem to care about each other. These things make for a great experience.
In the Chicago area, customers have lots of choices for tattoos. All I can say is: you can’t go wrong with Tattoo Candy (or with Ryan). I’ll certainly be back (soon).

I’ve been going to Tattoo Candy for years but my encounter with Jen was my perhaps my favorite visit. In preparation for surgery I had to remove all my piercings, well for 2 weeks I tried and failed. I finally gave up and went in, very embarrassed, to ask for help. Jen helped me right away and reassured me that I was not alone with this struggle. I’ll definitely be going back to Jen for future piercings and maybe even some ink!

It’s been a while since I went into this place. I went in looking for a simple simple simple Americana type tat. A spade with a American flag pattern on the inside of it. I can’t remember the girls name who did it but she was good friends with a girl sporting a oreo cookie or cheese burger tattoo. Some kind of food. It was on her arm. The girl I had draws up a spade to fit on my wrist and it looks good… on paper. After it was done, something wasn’t feeling to good. The inner wrist is a sensitive place. I understand. I’ve had enough shit done over my life to understand when someone is digging you out. At one point the wrist got rather numb so I kinda didn’t think much of it. To finish this off I’ll say this. 2 days later after proper care. (I’m not an idiot in regards to taking care of fresh work, especially smaller pieces) I found my wrist to be swollen causing pain up my arm. I went to a walk in clinic on Cicero Ave by Six Corners. There was puss coming out of multiple locations severe splitting of my skin with gaps and blood, missing color because of the cracked and puss ridden skin. After a dose of antibiotics from the clinic and continual after care, I now own a faded spade with obvious scar tissue and some tiny holes where hard puss/​acne had developed and was removed. Over all, you can’t judge a entire place on one extremely shitty tattooist (i use that term cause this chick was far from a artist, at least on skin) I should have walked back in there 3 days later and whipped out the nasty, drippy, grossness that was my wrist. The infection was painful as f##k. The splitting hurt like hell too. I was sooooooo tempted to throw something through the f##king front window at the time but I just figured I’m not a 21 year old moron anymore so that wouldn’t be cool. The price would have been really good had this crap not happened. 80 bucks. I do recall the chick said she wasn’t from around the area I think. Can’t remember her name as this was about a year and a half or so ago. Maybe the owner has hired a better quality staff since than. I have no clue. I won’t recommend this place because I simply don’t know. My experience wasn’t worth anything except money and pain.

I have had 2 tattoos done at tattoo candy. They are amazing at what they do! The first by Allie Marie, it’s beautiful and very skillfully done. She was very friendly and professional. I also highly recommend Jen Doe, she’s amazing and she takes her time to make sure her artwork is perfect. I gave her a general idea of what I wanted as a memorial for my babies, she went above and beyond. It is the absolute perfect way to honor my children. I have received so many compliments on both of my tattoos from tattoo candy. The atmosphere is perfect, the artists are amazing and the owner is very professional. I will gladly drive the 700 miles for any future work.

I can’t say enough about this place. It’s clean. It’s professional. It’s laid back. I see Speck, as do most of my friends, because she is the jam. She’s patient when I’m being neurotic and gives me her honest opinion. She’s also crazy talented and a gorgeous artist. She works fast and is very precise AND tells the best ghost stories ever. Bonus.

I got my tattoo done here and hated it. Speck was really great about it and fixed it up for me. She’s really great.

Speck saved my tattoo and restored my confidence in my arm and tattoo that she worked on. She made me feel like a person and not just a canvas!

My teenaged daughter bugged me for four years to get her nose pierced and I finally relented. We live right down the street from this place, and the reviews were good so we stopped in. Upfront: Cash only, $ 40 for regular nose-​piercing, parent must be present with ID, teenager needs ID (state or student), sign paperwork, and parent needs to witness the procedure. Now for the fun stuff: Our guy was Topher, and I have to say his demeanor was SO CALM, that I think it really put us both at ease. He was very knowledgeable, careful, methodical, talked my daughter through it. It all went so smoothly, I was really impressed. In fact, I sort of wanted to get pierced myself after that, but I refrained. Anyway, I recommend Tattoo Candy. Topher did a great job.

I highly recommend going to Tattoo Candy for any tattoo work you want to get done. Great, clean, beautifully decorated, full of talent tattoo shop. Speck did my tattoos, as well as and a few of my friends’. She is straight-​up, will give you her opinion and it is spot-​on with the work she puts on your body. I told her what I wanted, and she had no problem sketching out design, tweaking it with my feedback as well as some of her own, until we were both happy with it. She knows her craft and is definitely my favorite artist in the city. It’s insane how versatile she can be with the different styles of artwork I’ve seen on her clients. The shop is very inviting and everybody who works there is extremely nice and welcoming. It’s also in a great location close to transit!

I have gone here twice now for tattoos. Let me start out by saying that I live in Denver. I make sure to come here when I’m visiting Chicago. The first time I got tattooed by Allie and she did an AMAZING job with bring my idea to life and then giving me such a great tattoo that I will appreciate forever.
The second time I got tattooed by Speck! She did such an amazing job with my ice cream cone and I love love love it! I am so happy that I finally got tattooed by Speck because she does fantastic work. I can’t wait until I am in Chicago again so I can get another one from her. :)
The shop is great, clean, and everyone there is so helpful with any questions or anything else you might need.

Margaret greeted me warmly. She talked with me in depth regarding the style of tattoo I wanted. Margaret carefully and meticulously sketched a design and worked with me to tweak it to my needs. She took her time to complete my tattoos and the end results were gorgeous

This was my first visit to the shop. It is a nice chill place with very warm décor. I have been to other places that just seemed stark. It is a very clean place as well. I saw Jen to get a nostril piercing today. Let me tell you. I felt almost nothing! I actually had to ask her if she was done! Excellent work. I would recommend to anyone. It looks great!
Jen also provided me with all the information I could need for aftercare. She is very pleasant and knowledgeable. I plan on coming back to get some tattoo work done. Check this place out and if you are considering a piercing go see Jen!

I highly recommend Tattoo Candy. Within a months time, I had my first 2 tattoos done here by Speck. I came in with inspiration pictures and she created beautiful pieces of artwork that I get compliments on every single day. With my first tattoo, she was so awesome explaining every step of the process and talked to me the whole time making me feel so much more relaxed. The second time I came in with my BFF and we both got tatted by Speck and left very happy with our new tats. The shop has a very friendly vibe, the artists are extremely talented and the shop is super clean. I’m extremely happy with my tattoos and high recommend Speck.

I got my first tattoo from Tattoo Candy today and I couldn’t have had a better experience. The shop is clean, friendly, and easy to find. If you check out the artists’ work you’ll see that there’s a lot of talent at Tattoo Candy.
Speck was my artist and she did more than draw up a beautiful piece for me. She gave me a great pep-​talk, thoroughly walked me through aftercare, and generally made the experience awesome.
I’m a pretty indecisive person, but I’m head over heels in love with the work I had done. I wanted a tattoo that wasn’t just something from a binder of flash or a carbon copy of some image from the Internet. My expectations were exceeded. I’d definitely go back for more tattoos or recommend this shop to friends.

I got my very first tattoo from Jake in November and honestly I am not happy with it. I understand that it was all line work, but it just looks so poorly done. The lines are inconsistent, already blown out, and shakey. Even when he was doing the tattoo, it looked like the lines were too thick, but it was my first tattoo so I wasn’t sure if that was how it was supposed to look. I wish that he had told me he couldn’t handle the tattoo and gave it to another artist. I’m not sure what the issue was because his other work looks so much better… Did he just not feel like trying with mine? I added a picture as well.

One name…
SPECK!!! This girl is the jam!!! her an idea and her ideas will blow yours out of the water!!! She’s done a big piece on my arm and I will be back for more!!!

GO HERE.
I got a tattoo from Jake a few weeks ago. He was AMAAAZING. First of all, I got a Star Wars tattoo, and when I was telling one of the women at the desk what I wanted, she said, «Hold on, let me go get Jake, he’s our Star Wars guy.» They have a Star Wars Guy, guys.
Second, they quoted me at less than half of what Revolution had quoted me for the same design. It wound up being a little more in the end because I wanted it a little bigger than we’d originally talked about, but it was like a $ 50 add-​on to accommodate for that. No big deal.
Third, it has healed BEAUTIFULLY. It looks fantastic. I’ll have to see how it looks in a few months, but as far as I know right now, I don’t think I’ll need any touch-​ups.
Fourth, I have never been in a tattoo shop before in which there’s so much beautiful original artwork. Or, in other words, I’ve never been in a tattoo shop before in which I looked at the artwork on the walls and actually got inspired. Jake’s stuff is beautiful (I think I miiiiight have to have him do a No Face tattoo for me someday), but Speck’s is what really caught my eye — I have to have her do some work for me. I’m already plotting it out in my head.
Fifth, I originally came here because I had had less than stellar experiences with other shops, where tattoo artists were pushy, stubborn, or closet bigots (the things you find out when you friend your artist on Facebook…). A friend of mine had had similar experiences and was referred to Tattoo Candy because their staff is friendly, inclusive, and chill. They employ SO many women! (That’s always a good sign to me.)
It was really a dream experience — Tattoo Candy 4everrrrrrrrrr. Seriously, go here, go here, go here.
UPDATE 12/​15/​2015: I have had consistently amazing experiences here. I did wind up getting a tattoo from Speck and it is just gorgeous, definitely my favorite art so far. I loved her so much I interviewed her for the publication where I work. Go here, go here, go here.

I’ve gotten two tattoos from Allie Marie, one of being a Friday the 13^th flash sheet tattoo! Allie does amazing work for a very fair price and she is an amazing, sweet lady. The shop has a great environment and everyone there is welcoming and not intimidating like some shops.
Keep in mind the wait for Friday the 13^th tattoos was 7+ hours! If you’re going for the event, be warned you will wait a while.
Communication with them in incredibly easy and they’re all attentive and polite. Nothing but great things for Tattoo Candy!