The Instagram Scam: Fake Tattooing, Real Damage, and Why The Fuck - Tattooing Deserves Better.

It’s time to expose what’s really going on.

Not just bad tattoos. Not just rushed work. But a full-blown scam — sold to you on Instagram as “next-level realism.”It’s flooding your feed. It looks flawless. And it’s built on filters, fakery, and a total lack of respect for the craft.

You’ve seen the posts:

• Full sleeve. Supposedly done in a single session.

• Jet black. No redness. No healing issues.

• Caption: “No stencil. No touch ups. One session. Realism.”

• Gold chains, Gucci cardigans, a big mouth and a bigger ego.

  
  

It’s not real. It’s not built to last and it’s fucking wrecking tattooing from the inside.

What Are These Tattoos, Actually?

This isn’t black and grey.This isn’t realism.This isn’t even decent blackwork.

This is what it really is:

• Done in one marathon sitting

• Using mostly black ink — little to no greywash, no tones.

• Shaded with rough, choppy blends where soft contrast should be

• Designed to look like realism, but with none of the time consuming technical layering it takes to do it properly.

These tattoos aren’t designed to last on the skin — they’re designed to look dramatic just long enough to photograph.

The Visual Scam: Filters Over Facts

Here’s how they make it look better than it actually is:

• Shoot the tattoo immediately while it’s still fresh and swollen

• Use a polarising lens to kill glare and crank the blacks

• Shoot it in a dark room with controlled lighting to hide trauma and boost shadows

• Edit the photo: remove redness, increase contrast, smooth the whole thing out

  
  

Then slap a caption on it like “healed like a dream” — even though it hasn’t healed at all. By the time it does heal, the black is probably patchy, the detail’s lost, and the tattoo looks like it’s been printed on low ink.

What you’re seeing isn’t the finished tattoo. It’s the marketing version.

The Real Scam: Clout Over Craft

Let’s call this what it is:

Tattooing being used as a shortcut to fame with a cash bonus.

It’s not about building a solid portfolio. It’s about building an audience — one viral sleeve at a time.

The work’s not clean. The depth isn’t there. The contrast won’t last.

But online? It explodes. Clients don’t know what to look for, so they see the drama, the likes and followers and assume it’s quality.

Meanwhile, real tattooers — the ones doing proper work across multiple sessions, using full tonal range, building healed structure — are getting buried under all this staged content.

This isn’t just lazy. It’s dishonest. It’s a performance dressed up as professionalism. It’s a lie, sold for likes and money.

Check the Designs — Generic Pish, Recycled for Likes

It’s not just how it’s tattooed — it’s what they’re tattooing.

These aren’t custom designs. They’re generic images. Pinterest scraps. Same lion, same gladiator, same Chicano-style face - again and again and again.

If they’re banging out your full sleeve in a single session, do you really think they’ve spent time building something unique? They’re not designing anything for you. They’re knocking something together in 20 minutes and charging you a week’s wages for it.

There’s no thought for body flow. No storytelling. No intent. Just slap on the standard elements, smash in some black, light it like a cinema set, and fire it onto Instagram before it scabs.

If it’s fast, generic, and “finished” in one go - it’s not a tattoo. It’s a cash grab.

Why More Artists Don’t Speak Up

Because it’s messy. Because it gets called “toxic” to criticise other artists. Because the industry’s been pushed into a culture where everyone supports everyone — even when some of them are blatantly taking the piss.

But here’s the truth:

Some of us don’t want to be influencers. Some of us are in this for the work, not the followers. And we’re sick of watching tattooing - real tattooing - get diluted into Instagram bait.

Maybe it’s time to stop staying quiet. Maybe it’s time to stop being polite about people who are actively making tattooing worse.

If You’re a Client — Please Read This

You don’t need to know everything about tattoos. That’s our job. But you should know this:

• Real sleeves take time. Multiple sessions. Planning. Healing in between.

• Real realism uses a full range of tones. Not just black and skin.

• Designs should be built for you. Not generic shite.

• If the photo is taken in the dark and the black looks ridiculous. Ask yourself why they're not lighting it properly? Is it aesthetic or is it because it looks pish in real life.

What We Do at Valhalla

Of course we care about growth - we’re building a following like anyone else. We take the time to shoot our work in the best light, post the nicest, clearest photos and videos we can.

But we’re not building it on hype, shortcuts, or filtered lies.

We take the time to make the best tattoos we can.

• Built in layers

• With proper tones and structure

• Over sessions spaced to let your skin recover

• Designed to suit your body, your idea, and your story

And now?

We’ve decided to start calling out the bullshit when we see it.

No pretending. No gimmicks. No looking the other way. Just proper tattoos - done right.

Final Word: Tattooing Deserves Better

Tattooing’s always been a serious craft. It should still be one.

But right now, it’s getting hijacked - by people who care more about likes and followers than healed results. By artists who value engagement over ethics. By a whole system that rewards speed and spectacle instead of substance.

Even the suppliers, the sponsors, the big business, the current industry wants the followers and the likes - the hype over talent. Ive seen terrible weak shaky lines, dog-shite shaded work posted, shared as world class work by the "industry" but I scroll past, well I seen one too many and decided to write this post.

If you’re a client — demand better. If you’re an artist - call it out.

And if you’re part of the problem — stop using tattooing as a stepping stone for your online ego... prick!

We’re not here to be influencers.But maybe it’s time we started influencing something that matters:The truth - over popularity.

No filters. No fakes. No fear of saying it how it is. Just real tattooing.

Bright Light Photo of Healed Solid Colour, Clean Lines and Smooth Blends.