When you're looking through galleries, trying to find inspiration for women's tattoo ideas, it's very easy to make mistakes. I'm here to offer some simple, practical advice which I wish I'd known about years ago before getting my first tattoo done.

1. Check translations - and then check them again.

A very common mistake is to get a tattoo with a typo and spelling mistake in the foreign text. A friend of mine went one further - when she was looking through a booklet containing women's tattoo ideas, she wanted something delicate to celebrate the birth of her daughter the year before. Unfortunately, her Asian symbol tattoo ended up having a totally different meaning to the one listed. She had to get more work done on it afterwards once the mistake was (rather embarrassingly!) pointed out in a bar.

Basically, don't just trust that the artwork from a studio book or a friend is correct. Verify the translation with other sources - you could even ask a professional to review it via a translation agency for a few dollars. I think the reassurance is worth it!

2. Accept only high-quality print-outs when browsing women's tattoo ideas.

There are a lot of online galleries whose quality level isn't as high as you'd like. Not all online galleries are created equal. A big tip-off is the quality of the website design - if you see blurry images, with bad color toning or unprofessional-looking models, go elsewhere. There are a range of very good, reliable websites which offer extremely high resolution, quality women's tattoo ideas. Your tattoo artist will appreciate the extra effort when you produce a decent printout at the studio, and it means you're more likely to get exactly what you want.

3. Never visit a tattoo studio whilst drunk or mentally impaired!

You may think it's obvious that it's a bad idea to get a tattoo inked whilst drunk or on drugs, but you'll be amazed at the number of people who try it. It's one thing to have a swig of whiskey to steel the nerves before you go in, it's quite another to slur words or get confused about what you're doing. I'll even go one further - don't even look at women's tattoo ideas in that state - the design will be with you for many years to come, and you want to make sure it's the right one.

The same goes for getting your tattoo inked whilst angry or upset with someone - it may seem like a good idea to get "I hate Dave"-type tattoo when you just broke up with an ex, but I'd suggest leaving things to simmer down emotionally before you look at any designs.

Finally, if your tattoo artist realises that you're not in a fit state to consent, yet is comfortable to ink you up anyway - start looking elsewhere immediately. Professional tattoo artists are proud of their work, and don't want to get sued or their license revoked. They're just ensuring you'll be 100% happy with your tattoo!