Outer Limits Tattoo

I had been looking to get a tattoo for my mom ever since I found out she had cancer but I could never find an artist that grabbed my attention. Well a friend told me about Outerlimits tattoo in Long Beach and after scrolling through the all of their artist, I came across Jorell and WOW! This guy’s work was pure art. I soon met with Jorell and he took the time to get to know me, my mom and helped me finalize the idea of what I wanted. He did everything possible to get me in quick because of the state my mom was in. Unfortunately, my mom passed before she got to see the tattoo in her honor. The staff here is amazing, especially Brie. If you like color, art and a tattoo that you will be happy with for life, please check out Jorell and his work. You will not be disappointed.

Great shop with amazing artist! I believe the shop minimum is $ 150 an hour. But you pay for the great work you get. They are respectful and offer shields if you have to take off some clothes for the area you’re getting tattooed. Your appointment will most likely be a month after your counsulation, so that’s not an abnormally long wait. They also call you and remind of you of your appointment. Highly recommend if you are in long beach or visiting to get a tattoo here!

I picked this place because of the reviews on Unilocal and i was not disappointed! I got my piece done about a year ago by Laura and i absolutely love it. By far my favorite place to go to and i will definitely go back. They have so many great artists who really care about their work.

I was referred to this place by a couple of my heavily inked friends who’ve gotten some of their many tattoos from this shop. This being my first tattoo, I was a bit freaked out. But I met with one of the artists there (Yvonne) and she liked the artwork I’d picked, and said she could totally do it.
The only drawback is that she’s such a popular artist that there is like a 2 – 3 month waiting list. But it was worth the wait, because she did a fabulous job. On the day of the appointment, she totally took the time to discuss the placement and sizing of the tattoo, listened to my input and questions, and gave good feedback. She recommended we enlarge the image by about 10%, which turned out to be a great call. And she’s great with the needle — she’s like a tattooing machine! It took two sessions in the chair, about 8 ½ hours total, but the final product was dynamite! One of my biggest fears about getting a tattoo was not the pain, but the «this is going to be on me FOREVER, so what if it doesn’t come out right?» factor. But I couldn’t be happier with the results; Yvonne rocks.
As for the rest of the shop, it was clean, well lit, had a comfortable atmosphere, and friendly staff (although it was a bit busy and hectic at times). Anyway, I couldn’t have asked for a better «1^st tattoo» experience. If and when I ever get more ink, this shop will be my first choice.

The experience here at Outer Limits was top notch! From the moment I walked in to pitch my tattoo, to the last touch of ink, I had an absolutely positive experience. It feels like you’re around fam when you’re getting inked. Mickey T is a cutie but her skills man is what makes her top notch! She saw what I wanted to get done and she tackled it, she was eager to do the tattoo and I was excited she was excited!
Nothing but love for Outer Limits, great people, great artists, great vibes. You won’t be disappointed. I promise. Super satisfied client. I Got a blank left arm (sleeve me up!) with their name on it ;)

Thank you Tasi for my amazing cover up. You did amazing artwork and I am sooooo happy.

Went in for a tattoo with the amazing Mickey T and I was blown away. The whole shop was super cool and so welcoming. I went in with an idea, but gave Mickey ultimate control of the creative process… Man she blew it out of the water. It was a million times better than I could have ever expected. Most definitely will I fly back here from Texas for another piece of art from he again!

I’ve been tattooed at BOTH locations, but had equally great experiences at Costa Mesa as well as Long Beach.
My Artist Jhon has tattooed me a few times, and every tattoo I’ve gotten has come out ten times better than I’d expected. Though Jhon is incredible, Outer Limits has the highest standard for artist, so really, you can’t go wrong with who ever you choose to work with here. Simply put: They have the best artists I’ve ever seen, all working under the same roof.
The shop is incredibly clean, professional, and safe. But also, very relaxed and a fun atmosphere. When you are getting tattooed for hours on end, you will appreciate the laid back feel and authenticity of your artist, but will never question their seriousness and regard for detail.
Also, after getting my tattoo (and during) I asked tons of questions, and every artist I spoke to was very patient and polite. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
I’ve been to a dozen tattoo shops, and have had decent or good experiences and many. But Outer Limits is hands down the best shop I’ve ever been to, and I won’t go anywhere else.

I found Ivana online and had e-​mailed her several times to get an appointment. It wasn’t until the 3^rd or 4^th e-​mail where I changed my design to give her total freedom on my piece is when she responded with interest. I would describe her as an introvert who is immensely passionate and prideful of her work!
Ivana is extremely talented, funny, and professional. She has over 15 years of experience and has extensive knowledge on placement and proportions. Her style is unique and can’t be found anywhere else in the world!
All the staff at this shop are very friendly and helpful. They are funny and entertaining, especially MVT (Michelle Truong). There were times when Ivana started hitting sensitive areas and Michelle came over to watch/​learn and chat. This helped distract me from a lot of the pain.
For those who are interested in Ivana, she is very busy and receives tons of e-​mail requests every day. I think she mentioned that she spends a good portion of her day reading e-​mails. Getting Ivana as your artist is like winning the lottery. If you get a response and she’s interested, RUN WITH IT AND DON’T LOOK BACK!
Thank you Ivana and I’ll be seeing you in a few weeks to complete my piece!

Cool old school shop clean and professional .
Got some work done by Laura who was super cool… and hott, added bonus, not to mention an awesome artist.

This was my first time getting a tattoo at Outer Limits. I went to Laura who is amazing at what she does. I came in for my consultation with a few different pictures and an idea in mind. When I came back and she showed me what she had drawn up I was definitely not disappointed. Her line work is INSANE. When I get another tattoo I will for sure come back to her!
I highly recommend getting your tattoo done by her!

I wish I could reply to some of these 1 – 2 star reviews because they are absolutely ridiculous reasons.
This place is awesome! Yes, prices are a bit steep, but you get what you pay for. Everyone here does an amazing job and they’re very professional and polite.

Brandon Flores is THE best for all your gaming tattoos! Hands down the best experience I could’ve asked for, for my first tattoo.
I first emailed him when he opened up his books for June and July. I told him what I wanted and he gave me exactly what I was imagining! He’s super chill and answered all my annoying newbie questions.
His work is clean, colorful and super badass. My Haunter tattoo couldn’t have come out any better. I will definitely be going back to him in the future

Came here on my birthday, 37 minutes before the shop was closing. Called multiple times before coming, but no one picked up, so we decided to just head over. When I walked in, asked for a simple tattoo of 6 numbers, I was turned away because the shop closed at 9 and no one wanted to stay past closing. Too bad for the three artists sitting around refusing to work a second past 9… I tip very well! I will never come back here, nor would I recommend this shop to anyone.

Been to this shop many times over the last 2 or so years, almost 40 hours of work between my left arm and leg. Been going to Kari exclusively so far but everyone in the shop are amazing artists in their own right. Everyone is very welcoming. Very clean environment. There’s also a nice parking lot nearby, $ 5 all day.
Kari is great to talk to, even during tattooing, very honest. I’ve had a couple instances when my skin had an unusual reaction (nothing to do with her, my skin just reacted weird). She could’ve kept going, make the money. But she stopped. Recommend I heal first. I have a lot of trust in the shop overall. Kari already knows I’ll be back. Her work is amazing. Highly recommend this place. \m/

First off, I’m writing this review from the point-​of-​view of someone who just had their first tattoo done. I can’t rate Outer Limits based on how they compare to other shops but I can rate them based on my experience with business, people and other artists.
I originally went onto Unilocal and searched for a tattoo shop that was close to my work and that had decent reviews. Outer Limits met both of those requirements. My first visit was to bring in the art work I wanted on my wrist and to see if some scars had healed enough to be tattooed over. The girl at the front desk was cool and gave me a rough idea of what the tattoo would cost in labor but said she wanted to schedule a consultation with Yvonne since she was the B&W artist. I set up the consultation and went back to work.
My second visit was for the consult with Yvonne. Yvonne looked at the art, my wrist and the scars and said we were good to go then gave me a quote. But it wasn’t all business, we talked for several minutes about the scars and why I wanted the tattoo. I really appreciated that Yvonne wasn’t just about getting the work. She seemed to enjoy connecting with another human being. After the consult I put a $ 100 deposit down and made an appointment to come back in a few days for actual work.
Today was my third visit and the day I got my tattoo. Originally Yvonne had quoted me that the tattoo would take between 1 and 1.5 hours. It ended up taking a little over two hours. The awesome thing was that I didn’t even know it had been two hours. Yvonne and I were talking the whole time about ourselves and personal experiences. She is a genuinely sweet and caring person and I can’t be more happy that, by chance, I walked into the tattoo shop where she worked and she was the artist for my first tattoo.
She’s down to earth, open and honest. This is definitely not my first tattoo and I look forward to seeing Yvonne for my subsequent work.

Writing a review on Unilocal about my tattoo artist seems so silly. It would be like writing a review about Picasso or Van Gogh. It’s just so ridiculous. I do it because I feel people come to Unilocal to complain more than praise and sometimes the negativity needs to be negated.
About a year ago, I started getting serious about wanting to get a full sleeve tattoo. I saved money and scoured Pintrist, like any proper basic white girl would. I decided that being a crazy cat lady, I would get a portrait of my cat and then just go from there kind of deal. I found Ivana on Instagram and fell in love with her work. It’s a combination of soft watercolor, hard graphic design, and colors that just blow your mind. It’s a beautiful and perfect mess of color and design. I sent a babbling and unclear email to her about what I wanted. I didn’t hear anything back for a few weeks so I sent another email. I finally did receive a response saying she didn’t have anything available but to email her in 2 months. I waited and exactly 2 months later, I emailed her another vague request about a cat. She emailed me back a few days later stating very clearly to be more specific and to give KEY WORDS. I realized that this women is probably getting a million emails and Instagram\facebook messages a day with the most random requests. So I made it very clear what I wanted, and then I waited. Finally, a few weeks later I received an email with a date, time, and price. I found the golden ticket!
The day of me appointment, I showed up super nervous because the longest I had ever sat for a tattoo was an hour and a half, and Ivana required a 5 hour minimum. She also required complete artistic freedom so I hoped she would go crazy and maybe spend 7 hours on my piece. I came prepared with snacks, water, a fully charged Iphone, Ipod, and Kindle.
Ivana is quiet and sort of soft spoken. English isn’t her first language and sometimes i had to repeat myself when I would babble and mutter. Her touch is so light. Her machine makes almost no noise. She is sort of intimidating, but in a very respectful way. Throughout the whole 7 hours, I never looked at my kindle, put my ear buds in, and I glanced at my phone twice. The music she played was banging and really kept me going. The conversation we had was casual but not trite. She made sure I was comfortable with breaks but also made sure she herself took breaks so that she was always fresh and alert.
The initial experience and end result was so awesome that in four days I have my 4^th appointment. 10 weeks and 16 hours later, my arm is a masterpiece in progress. She has taken complete creative control and ive never seen a sketch beforehand but it’s been so worth it. Through our time together I have got to know Ivana a little more and I truly feel grateful for the experience. Through tattoos, fashion, art, photography, and books, Ivana has been put on this planet to make it more beautiful. Not only am I getting some world class ink, im getting a shot of awesome inspiration every single session. I leave with new ideas and a positive outlook on life after a sitting with her. She is like therapy, but with a needle and colorful ink.
Ivana is very hard to book. She is «Highly Decorated» and «Coveted», and I’m not just saying that because I’m a crazy fan. She wins awards at almost every convention she goes to around the world. Her waitlist is crazy long. She is also very expensive. So far, you could buy a decent used car with what I have spent. When we are done, you could probably buy a brand new car with the cash I’ve dropped. It’s worth it though. I absolutely adore my tattoo. She did sort of ruin my outlook on tattoos though. I have quite a few but now I regret not spending a little more time in thought over them. I’ve taken up so much valuable space on my body with cheap tattoos that now I have no room for the quality that I will only settle for now.
Like I stated in the beginning, writing a review about an artist is just so fucking futile and useless. I saw the recent reviews about Ivana and personally felt the need to give a retort. So what, she didn’t want to do your tattoo? Aren’t you glad you didn’t pay a super-​premium to an artist to do something they weren’t feeling? As a consumer in today’s market, I feel like people think that they should get whatever they want because they have money and they are paying for it. This is not Burger King. You cannot have it your way. This is art. This is a private person’s artistic expression. This whole experience is just not yours but someone else’s as well. If you can’t understand that, good. That’s more hours Ivana is available for me and the rest of the people that have respect for the process.
If she is to be docked any stars. It should be for the fact she made me like Kanye West. After listening to her play Yeezus during my first session, I had to download it. I’m ashamed to admit it but it’s pretty fucking rad and its now in my regular rotation.

tl;dr
This place was fantastic! Extremely satisfied with the quality of my new tattoo.
Some reviewers have valid concerns, but most of them could be easily solved by being proactive and patient. Parking is definitely a challenge unless you want to pay a lot.
I called early in the day to see if they had any time available that afternoon. The girl on the phone was very cheerful and said that they could probably get me in later that evening. (No guarantees since walk-​ins are first come first serve).
I got there shortly after the time she had recommended and was greeted within a minute or two. A note on some of the other reviews: it’s not immediately obvious who you should approach upon walking in. Many of the employees are often walking around and talking amongst themselves. I was noticed relatively quickly, but I can see where some reviewers got frustrated and left. Just ask somebody in the back area and I’m sure they’ll be happy to help.
Tasi was finishing up another tattoo when I came in, but once she had cleaned up and come back from her break, she introduced herself and asked about the concept I was interested in. She was attentive and asked questions to be sure she knew what I wanted. I emailed her several pictures and asked her to come up with a sketch that combined most of the elements. There were a couple things I said I definitely wanted, and several others that I was okay with leaving out if they didn’t fit.
At this point she went to the drawing board and began sketching and pulling up other resources that she needed to finish the artwork. A couple other reviewers noted that they were not invited back to see the art in progress, neither was I. However, I knew that I would get to see the final work and give feedback. I didn’t want to hover and make Tasi feel rushed, so I waited until she was done. When she showed me what she had come up with, I was very impressed. My advice? Let the artists be artists. You can always give feedback, and ask them to rework things, but hovering during the whole process probably won’t give you the result you’re looking for.
Once the sketch was done and the stencil made, Tasi got to work. All told, I think it took right around 2 hours of actual tattooing. (Grand total, I was in Outer Limits for about 4 hours). You definitely get what you pay for, and the talent here is top notch. I will be coming back here for my next tattoo.

I emailed Ivanna because I want a watercolor tattoo and I was told that’s her specialty. I described to her what I wanted and where I wanted it. She replied with a pass. She said she didn’t want to do my tattoo but maybe something else. She didn’t even indulge me with an explanation to why she didn’t want to do it. Seriously?! I’m gonna get a tattoo of what I want not of something she wants. I’m paying for her service. That’s was very unprofessional on her part. I’m very disappointed with the manner she dealt regarding my inquiry.
I’m very upset that now I have to look for another artist when it took me so long to find someone with her profession.

Nothing but good reviews for Outer Limits. I’ve had three tattoos done with them and they all look fantastic. I got two of them done at the old location in Anaheim. One was done by Yvonne, who works at the Long Beach location now, and the other was done by Chris I think. I forget his name, it was a few years ago. Anyway they were both fantastic, professional, and the work came out great.
I recently came in for a third tattoo. Nothing big, just roman numerals on my inner ankle. I came in ready to get a tattoo that day, and I was able to get taken a few hours later. Perfect! Zac did my tattoo and it was simple and easy. It was pretty small and just black so it only took about ten minutes.
The shop’s hourly rate is $ 150 which is a little pricey, but I’ve always believed that with tattoos you get what you pay for. If you’re getting something on your body for the rest of your life, you might as well pay more for something that is done well instead of having your friend’s uncle’s buddy do it for 50 bucks.
Get your tattoo done here. Clean shop with friendly and professional artists.