Bethaa Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing Shop

Bethaa Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing Shop is on Hans Strijdom Avenue on the Foreshore in Cape Town's city centre. It offers tattoos and piercings, and the tattoo reviews are warm, with one artist, Bloodwell, named more than once. The one piercing review, however, is critical.

What reviewers liked

• Meaningful cover-up work. Anastasia had a cover-up turned into a memorial for a close friend who had recently died, and felt the artist handled the piece and the occasion with care, detail and respect.
• Openness to ideas. Alani said the artist is open to all ideas and praised his freestyle approach.
• A supportive artist. Greg described Bloodwell as supportive and skilful and said he felt at ease and enjoyed the session. Vincent, visiting from France, also thanked Bloodwell and plans to recommend him back home.

Good to know before you book

The piercing side has one negative report. Dinga had a belly piercing that began rejecting, and said the hole was too small for the jewellery. The shop said it would order smaller jewellery, but Dinga reports having to chase for updates and, months later, still hearing nothing back. If you are getting pierced here, it is sensible to confirm jewellery size before the piercing and agree how any follow-up will be handled. For tattoos, reviewers found the artist receptive to their ideas, so bring references or a rough concept and talk it through, particularly if you are planning a cover-up like Anastasia.