3 Lions Tattoo adds a colorful presence to the Sahara
The first tattoo establishment at the Sahara in its almost 57 years of business is proving that what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas – your permanent body art goes where you go.
3 Lions Tattoo, which has made a name for itself in the Las Vegas tattoo industry with its successful first location inside the Riviera Hotel & Casino, utilizes some of the best tattoo artists from around the country, who specialize in various forms of art design and can customize special tattoos at the guest’s request. As with the first venue, the new location, which opened October 1 at the Sahara, focuses on giving customers a good experience at off-the-Strip prices.
“Instead of a rock star tattoo shop, I’ve made 3 Lions like a spa, inviting and friendly but not overdone,” explains 3 Lions Tattoo owner Nick Elliot, who is from England, hence the business’ name “You can come into our shop and personally meet with an artist --everything is done on a personal level, as opposed to a factory. All my artists can do custom tattoos – some can even do portraits of people, which most can’t. The artist will draw a tattoo from your imagination, from a picture, or he will custom draw it. He will also give you a price that you can agree on. Plus, we not only care about the tattoo but also its aftermath.”
For the latter, Elliot, who spent 15 years working for Hawaiian Tropic, has also introduced his own lotion called Panama Jack that ensures the long-lasting color quality of a tattoo.
“Everyone in the industry uses petroleum-based products to maintain a tattoo,“ he notes. “There were no natural products out there until Panama Jack. I got a tattoo myself a few years ago and was told to use one of those products. It blew my mind when I saw what petroleum does – it lays on the fifth layer of skin and when it comes out, it brings the ink out with it. Sunblocks are even worse –they go into the ink and fade the tattoo. Panama Jack is an all-natural sunblock that reflects the UVA and UVB rays off so that the tattoo stays new.”
Elliot says that 40-50 percent of his clientele are women and 25 percent of his patrons are people who have never had a tattoo before. He notes that the average age of his customers is 35 and that he even had a 65-year-old grandmother come in for her very first tattoo a few months ago.
“We will actually talk a person out of something if it’s not right,” Elliot states. “A tattoo is permanent and someone may need to really think about it.”
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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