INDIANAPOLIS — Joey Bauchle and Daniel West have a pretty good idea of how most folks find out about their tattoo shop.
“This job is all word of mouth,” West said.
Bauchle and West are the co-owners of Mehndi + Marked in Fountain Square.
“The community has been very welcoming,” West said. “We got extremely lucky with where we're at in the Fountain Square community. It is very art-centered.”
While each focuses on body art, Bauchle and West practice different mediums. While West offers more traditional permanent tattoos, Bauchle uses henna to share her designs. It’s a business model built right into the business name.
“'Mehndi' is another word for henna and 'marked' is just another way of saying tattoo,” West said.
Henna is a plant-derived dye.
“It's all-natural, but it stains the dead layers of skin,” Bauchle said. “And so that's why, as the skin sheds, it goes away.”
Bauchle says henna is used in a variety of cultures. It allows someone to essentially test drive having a tattoo.
“We have a lot of clients who will test out designs with henna and then come back and get them tattooed,” West said. “We've had a lot of clients that will come in and try out a piece, adjust it, try out a piece, adjust it, and then finalize it and get it tattooed.”
“I think it's really unique to have both,” Bauchle said. “People can try something out temporarily and then tweak it before committing.”
The pair sees henna as one way to ease the apprehension and stigma of permanent tattoos.
“A lot clients are not very comfortable getting a tattoo, but are very comfortable getting a henna,” West said. “So I think this is a good introduction to show them that this is how they can be comfortable getting a tattoo as well.”
Mehndi + Marked is located at 1339 Prospect Street in Indianapolis. Click here to learn more.
