Body Ritual

I went to body ritual to get my cartilage pierced. I had some pretty solid recommendations about this place, and am sad to say that I was extremely disappointed. First off, I will say that it was clean and well lit, so that’s positive. However, the girl working was EXTREMELY rude. She was very standoffish, and acted like I was an idiot. Worse yet, when I asked about what kind of metal their jewelry is and explained that I’m allergic to nickel, she acted super put out and snapped «we use surgical steel.» Upon further research, apparently surgical steel doesn’t mean that it’s a quality metal and can contain nickel. Luckily by this point I had such a bad feeling about this that I opted to not get pierced that day. I’m glad that I backed out because now I’m merely disappointed that I couldn’t get my cartilage done, not left with a red and itchy piercing. Bummed that I had to give this place such a poor review, but lesson learned, I guess. Be careful!

The woman piercing me was unsettlingly rude, and made me feel like a complete idiot. I would have walked right out, but didn’t want to potentially make her even more upset, I wouldn’t recommend this shop to anyone, my friend & I were shocked at the level of rudeness I experienced. Quite disappointed.

While traveling i found myself with a few unexpected days off, and thought to use the time and get a tattoo. I found the Body Ritual website via Google, liked what i saw, but the «contact us» tab didn’t work, and so i tried their Facebook page, and was happy to get a response within minutes (even though it was late evening.)
I then promptly heard from Meredith, who corresponded with me in depth about my idea. She then created a simply gorgeous traditional style design which i adored, and set up a time the following day.
Meredith has a background in art, and it shows in her gorgeous work. She was extremely focused and the tattoo was/​is simply flawless.
I would certainly return to have more work done by Meredith, it was an excellent experience.

This place ranks the lowest amongst my tattoo shops in terms of both tattoo quality and experience. A few years back I brought a few references in for a tattoo on a very visible spot on my body. When I came back to get the tattoo, the artist hadn’t even started with the design. He ended up pretty much copying the reference and free styling some parts which I never should have trusted him with. It’s super asymmetrical and pretty obvious where he got lazy. On top of that, I spent a good 4 hours listening to him sniff snot back into his nose as he appeared to be in the beginning stages of a cold. The guy took several cigarette breaks because he was stressed about his pregnant girlfriend back home who to top it off ended up visiting him at work and nagged him for hours while he completed my tattoo. It was incredibly awkward and annoying. And it was freezing in the room. When I’m going to endure the kind of discomfort that comes with a tattoo, I prefer my environment to be as chill as possible. NOT the case with this one. My artist was very unfriendly and unprofessional – the type that reinforces the negative tattoo artist stereotype. I haven’t been back since and I don’t think I ever will. It might look like a nice place, but a shop is only as good as its artists.

I’ve been here before to get my nose pierced, and it turned out great. So when I wanted to get my belly button pierced, I decided to go here. My piercer was not excited at all to talk to me and did not try to make me feel comfortable even though I was really nervous. When she gave me the piercing, I felt like it was really high and she said it was fine. After waiting a day, I realized it is WAY to high, after I asked for a regular belly button piercing where the ring should hang into the belly button, I left with a surface piercing half an inch above my belly button.
I’m really upset because I really liked this place but after paying $ 25 plus a tip for something I didn’t want, I won’t go back.

My opinion might be outdated/​irrelevant if Patrick no longer works here. I lost track of how many tattoos I currently have, but I’ve only been here once, with good reason.
I got a piece on my thigh in the summer of 2011 by Patrick. When I scheduled my appointment, the two people working (Patrick not present) were great. I had a piece I brought in that was very simple but required a specific color, and I was told this could be accommodated. When I showed up and met Patrick several days later, he told me that he didn’t have that color and that I would have to pick something else. Customer service was not his strong point, as he kind of rushed me into picking.
There were people coming in and out of the room I was getting tattooed in. People who were not employed there who were giving Patrick money. Super sketchy.
The whole time he was tattooing me, he was complaining about his wife and the shop owner. Mostly about money. Very off putting.
Finished product? Bad. Like, I might be able to do better. This guy said he’d been tattooing for a lot of years all over the country. It was simple line work with a tiny bit of color. There were markings outside of the lines and my skins still feels weird to this day.
When I was paying for everything, he told me not to leave a tip on my card because the store manager keeps the tips. If this is true (if I had to judge his credibility, I would venture that this is false), that’s pretty awful. Regardless, don’t have this conversation with a customer. I told him I’d go to an ATM and come back in a couple days. After inspecting the finished product, I did not return.
Two stars because I can’t speak about anyone else, and I’m not sure if he even works there anymore. Shop seemed clean and was pretty spacious.

I came here to get my third tattoo, after getting my first and second at Custom. I had heard good things about the piercing services at this place, so I figured their tattoo services would be of the same caliber. No.
I had an appointment, but was waiting around the lobby for about 20 – 30 minutes. The artist I had (Patrick I think.?) took his time getting my stencil ready. I was waiting around for longer than it actually took to get my piece done (about 7 minutes)!
Then the fun part begins. I got the tattoo on my rib. After getting the placement perfectly, he got to work. Everything was fine until he started being really rude and practically yelling at me to stop breathing… um what? I understand that it was a rib piece and its a «moving canvas» but how am I supposed to STOP BREATHING?! That comment just made me even more nervous and like I was miserably failing some important tattoo test.
To top things off he charged me $ 80 for a 7-​word tattoo, no more than 6 inches across. Will not be returning.

called in to check the closing time, man was very polite over the phone and in person. the Piercer was making conversation with me so i would be distracted i could tell. it was very quick septum piercing, i was asked if i had any questions, i was given a paper on how to clean my piercing. a very clean place overall and a good selection of rings and pipes.

I would never go anywhere else for a piercing. They are very clean, safe, and knowledgeable about piercings and I fully trust them. They always turn out looking great.

I have been disappointed with body ritual time and time again. Not only are they extremely overpriced, but many of their employees are rude and sometimes condescending. I went a few months ago to get a very small, foot tattoo containing only 3 words and I had a certain style of font in mind. When I told them about the tattoo, the person helping me didn’t even give me a chance to explain what I wanted it to look like or how big I wanted it. He printed out the words in a big, elaborate script font, even though that was exactly what I told him I didn’t want. He brought it over and held it up to my foot. When I saw that his idea was going to take up my entire foot, I asked if he could make it smaller and he said no. Though I was now visibly having doubts, he was still pressuring me to get the tattoo the way that he wanted it. I was going along with it until he said that it would be $ 100. As someone who has a fair number of tattoos, I knew this was way over what it should have been and what I wanted. When I explained that I wasn’t going to pay that much, he got very angry and became very condescending. I left and went to a shop down the block where I was able to get the exact font I wanted and it was only $ 50 and looks great. Tattoo artists need to be aware of the wants of their customers and treat them with respect, always.

My two friends and I did a walk in here a few days ago, around ¹¹⁄₁₂ ish in the morning. There were a few people milling around, checking things out. We got to the counter and chat about what had wanted done. I had a soild idea of mine, just need help with the font. My friend needed her’s complete drawn up, and my other friend was good to go. The guy behind the counter was ready to set us up in three rooms asap. But I informed him that t was my first tattoo, and I needed some hand holding. He laughed as was super ok with it.
As the artist drew up our tattoos, we chatted with the guy behind the counter. I mentioned I was from out of town and he recommenced some sights I should see, and some places with great Blood Mary’s. (He was right on all accounts). Finally our drawings were ready, our rooms were ready. Showtime! We split up, two of us with Jon, one with Meredith. I loved Jon, he knocked out my friend’s tattoo super quick and then i was my turn. His demeanor made me relax a bit, it was no big deal to him. He didn’t try to baby me, but he didn’t mock my fear either. He just told me to let him know if I need a break, and made me promise not to kick him. (My tattoo was on my ankle) He could tell when I was getting tense and backed off a little.
The whole thing took less than 20mins, and was great. We all left super happy, and I got to leave Milwaukee with a pretty sweet souvenir. The place was very clean, (The prettiest ladies bathroom that Ive ever seen) and Everyone here was professional but still managed to be personable. If I am ever back in the area, and wanting more ink. I would definitely stop by to see handsome Jon again.

Had a good experience here! Walked in by myself to get my nose pierced. The guy at the front was really cool and chatted about some stuff and made me feel good about being there! Once I got signed in and everything he even came to check in once I was getting it done! I really liked that he made sure I was ok!
The guy who pierced me was very fast in and out in like 5 minutes! The only thing I didn’t like was the guy who pierced me didn’t explain anything to me just gave me stuff to read. When I was walking out the original nice guy asked if I had questions and told me to come back in 6 – 8 weeks and they would help me change it for the first time!
Overall very clean and would go back again and recommend it to friends and family!

Did a walk-​in to Body Ritual on Saturday with a friend. She was getting some piercings changed and a new industrial done, I wanted a tattoo. As soon as we walked in we were greeted and made to feel welcome. The staff took a lot of time with both of us to discuss the piercings and tattoo respectively.
My friend got hers done first and had a great and quick experience with the guy who did her piercing. He was professional but personable, and chatty in a good way.
I was next with my tattoo. Although it was my second tattoo I was still nervous, but everyone there was really great about helping me relax. They didn’t make me feel bad for being nervous or think it was a joke. Their newest tattoo artist, Meredith, did my tattoo and she was genuinely wonderful! Even though it was a pretty basic/​small tattoo, Meredith didn’t make it seem any less legitimate or important than a giant custom piece. She was fast and efficient, but thorough as well. She cleaned the tattoo multiple times through out the process to make sure all the lines looked good and it was not spotty. Overall it was a great experience, and I would highly recommend anyone go here (and especially work with Meredith if you’re getting a tattoo!).

I have gotten 3 tattoos here in the last 12 years. The first two went flawlessly. Both are more than 5 years old now. I went back earlier this year to get a third. A design that I created myself, that had special and specific meaning. I sent the art ahead of time to be sure that I could get what I was shooting for and that they were willing to do a design from a customer. They said yes to it all. Let’s face it, it was 3×4″ at the most, one color — some delicate detail, but definitely not difficult.
Without boring you with all of the specific details, the tattoo looks horrible. The artist admitted that he was sick when he did it and screwed it up. The shop gave me a refund. OK, great, But, a few weeks later I inquired about the condition of it, they told me it was fine, but a doctor confirmed that I had a terrible case of cellulitis. More lack of attention from Body Ritual. I am now stuck with a half-​assed, infection scarred version of what I was hoping for and will have to find someone new to fix or remove it in the future.
The quality that was once a big part of the Body Ritual name has dropped drastically. I never could find out who the current owner was to communicate with them directly.
There are a lot of options out there. Be sure to make the right choice, dont be afraid to ask questions and demand spectacular attention to detail.
Just my two cents.

Just got my 5^th tattoo at Body Ritual. Every experience has been great. Each artist has been really nice and understanding of my need for a break, haha. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. I’ve also gotten 5 piercings here as well, and will go there for any future ones. I have nothing bad to say about them.

Had my nose piercing swapped out here and it was quick, friendly, and cheap. Can’t really complain. Even thought it was only a jewelry swap, the piercer took the time to explain the process and what to expect and gave me further tips on cleaning my jewelry. I will definitely go there again.

I can’t say enough good things about this place. Marcos is the MAN. He gave me an AWESOME tattoo. My new home for tats. Thanks Marcos!

I went here after reading and hearing great reviews, and I can honestly say I was less than impressed. It was clean, and the front of the house was friendly, I agree with those points. I went in for a nose piercing and my girl friend had never gotten a piercing before, she was getting a forward helix piercing. The piercer seemed very rushed in uninterested in our «normal» piercings. He mocked her fear and ended up piercing in an awkward position that is not healing. He never warned me when he was going to poke a hole in my face, and that was annoying.
After the piercing he did not clean the hole, left the marker around it and blood. I went right to Walgreens to clean myself. For almost double the price of other places, I would not return.
I have no experience with their tattoo work.

Awesome people. Very clean and great selection and prices. Loved the friendly and helpful staff.

A friend and I went so she could get a piercing can’t say I frequent tattoo parlors on a regular basis but this one seemed very clean. The staff was very helpful and very attentive. They had a huge selection of artwork and a broad range of gauges, bars, and rings as well as some other interesting items. Would certainly consider this place for a tattoo.