Body Art Insights
Your NYC go to for expert tattoo, piercing, and tooth gem advice, plus behind-the-scenes studio stories.
If you're searching for a queer tattoo artist, you probably already know the feeling you're after. You want to walk into a place where you can be yourself and nobody talks you out of the design you want. Where you don't…
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What’s the fastest way to heal a tattoo? Honestly, just taking care of it. There’s no real shortcut, but if you follow these directions, your tattoo will heal up as fast as it possibly can. As a shop owner I get this…
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At least once a week, someone walks into Cherry Bomb, hangs out by the counter for a second, and shyly asks if there's a woman who can do their piercing. Or if any of our piercers are queer. The answer is always the sam…
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If you’re looking for the cheapest piercing in New York City, I get it, everything is expensive, but this is one of those things where cheaper usually just means you’re going to deal with problems later.
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Friday the 13th is coming up, and this time we got a little out of control. We usually make 50 designs for our Friday the 13th flash event. This time we somehow ended up making 100. The designs have already dropped, so …
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If you’ve been seeing people talk about Alysa Liu’s smiley piercing, that’s because her look, and especially her piercing, got a ton of attention during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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Join Cherry Bomb Studio, a queer owned tattoo & piercing shop, next Friday the 13th through Valentine’s Day weekend for $50 flash deals + little treats throughout the day. We are dropping 50 exclusive $50 tattoo designs…
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If you've never done a Friday the 13th tattoo event in NYC, here's the deal: Cherry Bomb's version is fast, high-energy, and totally no-frills. And honestly? That's what makes it great.
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We quietly added genital piercings to the menu at Cherry Bomb last week…and five people booked immediately.
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Friday the 13th tattoos are a staple of tattoo culture, and as it so happens, NYC is one of the best places to experience it. Shops across the city celebrate with flash tattoo deals, small black and grey designs at disc…
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By the time someone comes into Cherry Bomb, they’ve often already tried another shop that made them feel smaller than they walked in. Although the reasons vary, the result was the same. Their experience wasn’t centered …
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The mainstream beauty industry has spent decades teaching queer and trans people to doubt themselves by telling us we are too masc, too femme, too much of this, not enough of that, wrong body, face, everything, and, fin…
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Our bodies and our identities rarely work in perfect harmony. For those navigating gender, sexuality, and self expression, the body can feel foreign, something assigned, not chosen, and every selfie is a reminder of the…
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For much of tattoo history, the art form was defined through the male gaze. Women and femmes appeared in the imagery but rarely behind the machine. Their stories were about being looked at, not looking back.
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You’re lying on black leather, willingly allowing a needle to pierce your skin, completely vulnerable in a stranger's hands, questioning every moment that brought you here. The artist leans close, breath warm on your ne…
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Okay, let's talk about one of the most misunderstood things in the piercing world: rejection. I swear, every week someone comes in convinced their piercing is rejecting when it's just doing normal healing stuff. But the…
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If you've ever Googled "piercing bump cure," you've probably seen tea tree oil recommended in forums or TikToks. It sounds natural, so it must be safe... right? Not quite.
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From flash fads to copycat chaos, here's what the algorithm is doing to our skin and our sanity.
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Walking into a tattoo studio can feel intimidating, especially when everyone else seems to know exactly what they're doing. Here's the thing though, even the most seasoned tattoo collectors felt nervous their first time…
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Imagine this: You and your best friend decide to get matching tattoos. Tiny, cute, identical tattoos that perfectly capture your friendship. Easy, right? But when you get to the tattoo studio, you notice something weird…
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Saturday morning, you scroll past a flash sheet on our feed and the itch hits. Do you grab your jacket and head straight over, or do you pull up the booking page and pick a date? Here’s the plain truth.
Read more →No two tattoos cost the same, but this should clear up the big numbers before you walk in.
Read more →A herpes diagnosis is nothing to be ashamed of and shouldn’t prevent you from getting body modifications. However, extra care and precautions are needed in order to guarantee proper healing.
Read more →Why We Say “No” to Piercing Guns and Their Quiet Cousins, the Hand-Squeeze Device.
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I’ve been tattooing in NYC for years now and one thing that keeps coming up is how hard it can be to find LGBTQ+ inclusive, queer and trans-friendly tattoo shops in NYC where folks actually feel comfortable. NYC is supp…
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