PHOTOS NOUVELLE RITA, LAIS PEREIRA, DANIELLE MUSTARDE
I’m at No Regrets tattoo studio in east London feeling excited and a little nervous – but not for the reason you think. This will be my third tattoo, but the first I’ve chosen “just because I like it” – deep meanings and significant life events aside. “Often the first and second tattoo someone gets, they’ll spend a lot of time on, but after that it becomes less of a big deal,” Nouvelle Rita tells me. “All tattoos end up with a special meaning eventually, even if you don’t want it to.”
Based in London but originally from Setúbal in Portugal, Rita, 30, has racked up a following of over 77,000 on Instagram – and understandably so. Her style is unlike any other tattoo artist I’ve seen. From the moment I stumbled across her, I had to have her handiwork on my body. Fast forward two years, and there I was, face-toface with my #tattoocrush.