Enigma Studios

I’m pretty impressed with the service here! My friend went in to get her nose pierced & James took the time to thoroughly explain to her the healing process/​after care procedures. Although my friend brought three of us in with her, James didn’t seem to mind. He was really friendly & accommodating.
In contrast to my piercing experience in Charlottesville, James demonstrated great care.
In addition, I had wanted to switch my conch jewelry for a while & found a simple seamless ring that I liked at Enigma. James was also nice enough to do a fitting for the jewelry to ensure that I liked it– which was cool of him.
I honestly would make the hour drive to get my next piercing at Enigma. My friends and I left the studio pleasantly surprised with our experience. Highly recommend this place if you’re in RVA!

SO FRIENDLY! I went with two other friends and this was our first time getting a tattoo so we were very nervous. Enigma was the third location we checked out and by far the most welcoming. We had Beth, who was very straightforward and laid back (as was all of the staff). Most of the other places we visited seemed a little intimidating for beginners but Enigma felt very comfortable. Definitely a great first tattoo experience.

I walked in early on a Sunday and was politely greeted by the associates at the desk. I hadn’t bothered to make an appointment since what I wanted was rather simple. I was immediately referred to Jeff for my 3 stars :) Jeff gave me very much appreciated brutal honesty regarding my design and area that I wanted my stars. Even though the vision of my tattoo when I walked in was a bit different than what I walked out with, my best advice would be LISTEN to the experts. It might not be what you want to hear but it’s what they do for a living and the design will be with you for a lifetime.
Jeff was super passionate about his work even though all I wanted was a few stars. I don’t think that you can get much better customer service than that! The studio was clean and decorated nicely. I will definitely refer Jeff and go back specifically for him in the future. I had stopped at another tattoo shop before Enigma and had a very different experience. If you walk in with your vision and the artist provides you no feedback, then it’s definitely a bad sign. Jeff is clearly experienced and a talented yet to be discovered tattoo artist in Richmond.

Got my nose pierced here today by James. He was awesome! He walked me through the steps and didn’t seem irritated at all when I decided I wanted the dot for the piercing moved. The staff were super friendly and knowledgable. I didn’t even make an appointment and only had to wait about 15min to be seen. They’re well priced too! Overall, it was a really great experience and I wouldn’t have wanted to get my first piercing done anywhere else. They also send you how with a very informative brochure and give you contact info for any follow up questions.

walked in late, about an hour until closing with no appointment. Was seen fairly quickly & my tattoo was done in under 10 minutes. The girl was nice, can’t remember her name though. Didn’t make me feel like a shitty customer for walking in so late. $ 80 plus tip. Love the way it turned out. Tattoo artist was mindful of my birthmark on my arm, told her I didn’t want the lettering to touch it & she did a good job.

Didn’t even bother to make an appointment with the amateur artist who acted like this tattooing hand was a gift from the gods. The portfolios weren’t that impressive either. I’m not about huge egos and this place is filled with them. There was far too much attitude and negativity for me to be comfortable getting work here, much less recommending to anyone else.

This place is awesome! I’ve been wanting to get my nose pierced for quite some time now and I was actually originally at Lucky 13 Tattoos. However, when they (Lucky 13) told me that I would have to wear their standard nose stud for at least two months I left because they didn’t allow for any other choices. As I left disappointed, I noticed Enigma Tattoo across the street.
On a whim I walked in and two gentlemen gave me a warm hello. They told me I had numerous choices for a starter nose piercing and I immediately was pleased by their selection. I only had to wait 15 mins so they could sterilize it (which of course is worth the wait!). As I sat there I looked around and everything looked so clean and elegantly displayed. It has an old world quality that is so fitting of downtown Richmond.
Ryan or Huey, as he is so affectionately known, was my piercer. He was friendly, extremely professional, and patient with my barrage of inane questions. He even let me check the placement of the piercing twice with such patience and not a hint of irritation. He explained everything to me step by step. His clean procedure is worthy of a hospital, I would know because I’m a nurse. He is extremely talented and with one fluid motion I had the perfect nose piercing.
But just because he was done doesn’t mean that the service was done! He gave me a card that allowed me access with any additional questions that I might have and I have already emailed him once today with a quick response back! I would highly recommend this establishment because they really seem to care about their customers and they have very high standards. Their follow-​up care brochure is also helpful and Huey takes the time to thoroughly go over everything with you! I highly recommend you come here if you want all around great service and results!

I drove thirty minutes to this place because it came recommended from one of my friends. I wanted a simple eleven word quote put on my arm. The artist I spoke with took the quote and walked away made no attempt to include me in the design process. Comes back with it written out in these huge swirl letters and curved written in an arch, I wanted the quote on the inside of my upper arm, so the arch I didn’t care for or the super curly lettering. He just takes it and walks again. Ok. Comes back it’s not looking as bad. He says it’ll cost $ 150. $ 150 for eleven words only two words where five letters all others were shorter. I thought that was ridiculous when the friend of mine that recommended this place had gotten an entire Bible verse for $ 200 down his side. My friend also said for every tattoo he had gotten there (three at this point) they had given him a military discount. When I asked about that the artist looked at me and said «This isn’t Vietnam and you weren’t drafted. You signed a piece of paper.» That was enough for me. I will not be going back to this place and will certainly be sure to discourage as many people as I can from going.

Seriously… Dirty and extremely rude staff. Place was dead but I wouldn’t come here again if they were giving their stuff away. This place really needs a visit from the health department! Stay clear !

I love this place! I went here to initially get a piercing, but then decided to get a tattoo. I was met with a traveling artist named Scott Sketo who was the coolest guy ever and captured my vision for my tattoo entirely. Coming from NOVA, I was totally scared to know the price because of such great line work and coloring, but was surprised to find out it was half the price of a comparable tattoo I got back home.
Loving this place so much, I went in again a few months later – they moved their store to the room next door and it was much cozier and the tattooing stations were more exposed – kinda what I’m used to, as opposed to going into a room to get a tattoo. Anyway, Dustin Davis tattooed me most recently and he’s basically the hipster of tattoos; his motto is «if you’re not doing it fast enough, you’re not doing it» about tattooing. Yes, that may sound pretty scary but he works extremely efficiently; I was in be shop for less than an hour and a half from the time he started drawing to the time he finished tattooing! He’s a super cool guy with a great style and I’ll definitely be coming back.

So I went into Enigma studios with a group of my friends in hopes of getting my belly button pierced. The man at the counter told me that my belly button wasn’t fit for a top piercing and that I’d have to have a lower piercing belly button. The guy was rushing me to make the decision and jokingly said «it takes a group of people for one naval piercing?». Long story short, I went to the Lucky 13 parlor a block down, they did the upper belly piercing for me & didn’t even hesitate when I was conscious about my belly button.

Dirty, dirty, dirty… And this place cuts your skin weather you are getting a tattoo or a piercing. The staff is extremely rude. From what I can tell, they don’t get a lot of practice, because I have seen some scribbly tattoos come from Enigma, and some piercings that are CLEARLY off center, or asymmetrical. Go to red-​dragon.

Really friendly and accommodating. Went there for the first time for my 6^th tattoo and they worked with the design I brought in. Was in and out quite quickly. Had Beth as my artist and am very pleased with my tattoo.
Accepts credit for jewelry, but need cash for tattoos. ATM is close by, though, so it’s not a problem.

I’ve come here for three tattoos so far and each time I’ve gotten great customer service. Mainly I deal with Scott since I think he’s the best that I’ve dealt with but generally everyone is always really nice when I come in. I don’t think the place deserves half the bad reviews it’s gotten and I have great ink to prove it.
Give it a chance for sure!

I got my third tattoo here, which is much larger than the first two, and it turned out fabulous. I’m always getting compliments on it, and I just love it in general.
I had originally tried going to River City Tattoo, but they were booked for at least 2 hours, so they sent me over to Enigma; I think they said something like Enigma is part of RCT, I’m not sure.
I had to park a little bit away, on the street, which made me a little uneasy, but I guess that’s the city for you. I popped into their place, and was happy with the way things looked. It wasn’t dirty, and it hard vast hard wood flooring, The lobby was quite large.
I’m ashamed to say that I don’t remember the name of my tattooist, but he was quite friendly, and extremely patient. I showed him the picture of what I wanted, and he was able to work with it. He tweaked it around a bit, brought parts of it out, and we were able to get it on the part of my body where I wanted it. Again, it looks fantastic.
While I was waiting, he was tweaking the picture, I was highly amused and passed the time, listening to this one moronic would-​be customer who came in. I felt extremely sorry for the staff, because she couldn’t understand the simplest of things. A female staffer, who was a piercer, was dealing with her first. The piercer kept explaining different earrings, and the differences in prices. What’s so hard to understand that gold costs more? But I’ll move on, because that doesn’t really have to do with my own experience there [I learned after I used the bathroom that they sent her to Lucky 13 across the street. Those poor people!]
After the design of my tattoo was done, the tattooist led me back to his room, and got to work. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised at how long it took to complete, but one doesn’t rush art. Or pain. Thankfully it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought. I’ve heard stories from friends about how one of their friends chewed through his lip, leaving it bloody and raw from trying not to scream. I’m happy to admit that I sat still throughout the whole thing, and didn’t cry out, and my lips were completely undamaged.
The price was also more than I expected, but it’s quite fine. It turned out beautifully and the guy was very nice.
All in all, I would recommend this place to others.

took three trips to get my tattoo right… Color was horrible

Really disappointed by the new piercer– buying a simple nose ring that I wanted bent for my nose was an ordeal. I would definitely not be pierced here, nor will I purchase jewelry again.

I had my wrist tattooed here 10 years ago. The ink has already bled a bit of one side of the piece (which is small); however, the ink distribution was never very exact (i.e. some spots on the same lines have always been more grey, others more black). I forgot the person’s name who worked on me, but the artist was female. In Richmond, Absolute Art and Red Dragon are really your best bets for quality work.