The best tattoo parlors in Marais

Tattooing, an age-old practice, has long been the prerogative of convicts, dock workers, the underworld and sailors. Although it has become democratized, now affecting all profiles and concerning one in five French people, including 16% women compared to 10% men, it still remains taboo due to its definitive and transgressive nature.

Don't get a tattoo if you want. You have to accept spending hours under the clock for what is more of a rite of passage than a fashion. It takes courage to endure inking.

According to psychoanalysis, the tattoo is a message addressed to others, a way of entering into communication when words are lacking. Drawing under the skin as a form of speech.

This transgression can shock “some people speak of embarrassment and look away as if it were an indiscretion” reports Marie Cipriani-Crauste in “Tattoo in all its states” (L'Harmattan). It is also a way of personalizing one's envelope and redefining its contours, as if the original body was not sufficiently embodied.

We mark ourselves for life, to enter a community and a story. We reconcile with ourselves “the image that our mirror reflects corresponds to what we are deep inside,” notes the psychosociologist.

If it is therefore much more than a fashion phenomenon, tattooing is still subject to trends. The ornamental style with a lot of geometric patterns inspired by mandalas is popular and has dethroned the Polynesian or biomechanical genre.

The oldschool is timeless, the client favors small designs to the detriment of large black and white pieces. However, fans will tell you: a real tattooed person, a tough one, is a tattooed person who proudly displays a good surface of inked skin. He will have valiantly overcome the ordeal and looks out into the street.

Don't we also say that we approach a tattooed woman less easily, for fear of getting a setback? Because if she did it, it’s because she has…

In this former wholesale leather shop, tattoo artist Alessio Pariggiano transformed the premises into a boudoir-style shop. He has been working there for eleven years. Working alongside him are Fanny and Hélène, tattoo artists, and Mathilde, nail artist.

Alessio's passion for drawing dates back to his Neapolitan childhood. After art studies, he trained with professional tattoo artists. Drawing on his experience, he opened his own brand in Paris in 2013.

In his living room, great emphasis is placed on listening and providing advice. People come to see him there as much for his expertise as for the warm atmosphere that emanates from it. Renowned in the field of cover art (covering old tattoos), but also for his art of handling color, he offers a wide range of inspiration extending from art nouveau to old school, neo-Japanese or ornamental tattooing, which he combines to create completely original pieces.

Ethics is also its trademark. You don't place a tattoo anywhere, you don't tattoo a novice on the face or hands, a matter of ethics. Because a tattoo is for life.

Having the taste to transmit, he surrounds himself, trains and constitutes his team according to his values. Fanny and Hélène are the last two tattoo artists trained by him. To Fanny the register of fine lines and plants. To Hélène, artist engraver, an engraving style with naturalist inspirations.

No doubt, in this salon, you will find your style and the kindness necessary to entrust your skin to inking. Count 5000 euros for a whole back and a year of work, a one-day session, 700 euros. Vegan inks.

▼ Alessio Pariggiano
22 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth, 75003 Paris
Monday to Saturday 11 am to 19 pm
Close on Sunday
Tel: +01 40 27 05 58

In this English green and gold seventies-style salon, opened in 2020, you can get tattoos without an appointment for small rooms. This is the strong point of this show orchestrated by Benoît who also manages the two other shows of the same brand.

Nine tattoo artists work in the three Marais salons, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m. Fashion is for fine lines, phrases on the body, and conviviality. Gone are the days of star tattoo artists who ruled the roost. Here, the customer is king.

Practitioners are asked for a small Eiffel Tower, a poem or simply “la vie en rose” very popular with tourists. Sweetblanky specializes in manga art, Nothedrifter in realism, Greek statues and stained glass. Linebyman in the fine line register and Distau.ttt in the floral design.

We will not do Polynesian tattoos or biomechanics here, styles that are now declassified. Price varies depending on project, size, colors and details. Allow 100 euros for the needle exit (the base). Vegan inks.

▼ Walkin Tattoo
77 Street Archives, 75003 Paris
Monday to Saturday 10 am to 18 pm
Tel: +01 47 07 40 84

We set foot in a designer concept store that smells of coffee and new clothes from French designers. Upstairs, on a platform and in the basement, tattoo artists are busy. With the arrival of social networks, tattooing is booming.

The appointment book fills up quickly and you must book a month in advance. Artists are following the trend that recommends minimalist figures and offering framed drawings that customers then choose to display on them.

Jolly Boy, a young tattoo artist, is distinguished by a traditional style and fine lines. Artenesis is the expert in ornamental Afro-Egyptian. As for Steadyse, her style is minimalist and colorful.

All of them, from art schools or other backgrounds, trained for several years in different salons before landing here.

Over the last decade, the technique has evolved significantly as have the European standards governing the manufacture of inks. Result: the tattoo lasts better and longer. Here, we pay per work, depending on the artist.

▼ SAFE Urban Concept
11 Rue Commines, 75003 Paris
From Tuesday to Saturday 10AM - 20PM
Sunday from 13 p.m. to 19 p.m.
Closed on Mondays
Tel: +01 42 71 42 90

Steadyse Tattoo

Text: Valérie Rodrigue

12.04.24