Cost of living crisis: 'Tattoos are a luxury, not a necessity'

Natasha Rogan picked a flower design for her tattoo

A flower, an animal, a meaningful phrase - whatever it may be, getting a tattoo on your body is a lifelong investment.

But some people are putting off getting inked because they can't afford it in the cost of living crisis.

You won't be able to move for music festivals this summer, but last weekend there was a tattoo festival in London.

Tattoo lovers were able to check out artists but the big draw was that people were able to get inked for free.

Natasha Rogan says as an international student she's been impacted by the cost of living crisis.

"Every single expenditure that I make is very calculated," the 22-year-old says.

Natasha, who's studying for a master's degree in London, was able to get tattooed on the day and her mum in India helped her choose the flower design.

Phoebe Carraro was also in the queue at the festival with her boyfriend.

"It's amazing artwork and you've got to pay people what they deserve," the 24-year-old says.

"But being a young person I don't really have the funds to rent pay bills and then do fun things for myself."

People queued all day to get tattoos at the festival in Shoreditch

The festival was run by the app Tattoodo, and they told BBC Asian Network they're trying to convince more tattoo artists to offer payment plans so people can spread the cost of getting inked.

Asqa wasn't at the festival, but she's been working as a tattoo artist in London and Manchester for 20 years.

She says people are "more mindful of the cost of tattooing now than they ever were".

"The cost of supplies has increased massively, for professional tattooists," she says.

"So that has impacted the cost of tattoos but I would say even if the price of the tattoo hadn't increased, just having the spare money to spend on a tattoo would have been affected by the cost of living anyway.

"Because the tattoo is a luxury, it's not a necessity. So people are more mindful."

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