Salem Ayala Luna Tattoos

My Pokémon get-what-you-get machine is back up and running! Come by the shop to try your luck and get a fun improv tattoo

Little deal on pet portraits to go with my Cody fundraiser, but this applies to any pet portraits tattoos scheduled between now the end of March.
$120 per hour instead of my usual $150 per hour on all pet portraits. I love getting to tattoo you all’s pets so it’s a win win 🙂‍↕️
Cats and exotics welcome too! I only have examples of dog portraits but I’m happy to tattoo all furry, slimy, scaley, feathery, exoskeletony babies within this deal

**I’m fully booked for Cody’s fundraiser but my coworker Brian still has openings! Text him at 630-903-9284 to book**

First fundraiser flash day of 2026 is announced! This time for my beloved Cody who’s facing almost $10k in vet bills. The fundraiser event will be February 20th 2026 and will have multiple artists tattooing. Check out the fundraiser tab for more info designs

We raised $4,871 total for charities in 2025 through fundraiser flash days! I’m so happy to be able to do something like this through my art and I’m so thankful for every single person who came out to get tattooed ♡

It’s 2026 and I’ll have some small policy changes in the new year

☆Sundays will now be offline days, I will not be checking messages or social media on Sundays

☆hourly pricing is raising from $120 per hour to $150 per hour

☆I will be limiting tattoos appointments that are on the collarbones or neck-

☆changes to fundraiser flash days (more info to come)

★check my Instagram. Post linked below for more info

December’s fundraiser for The LIAM Foundation is fully booked! Thank you so much to everyone who expressed interest

If you happen to have 1 or 2 floor tickets to Bring Me the Horizon at Allstate Arena May 15th 2026 you’re willing to part with, I’d love to trade! I haven’t seen BMTH live since 2013 (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

-You will get the equal monitory value for your tickets in tattoo work. I’ll match the current going rate of the tickets even if it’s higher than what you paid! (ex. $600 of tickets = $600 of tattoos)

-floor/pit tickets only. Allstate Arena show only.

-email me or DM on Instagram if you’re interested in a trade!

SalemALTattoos@gmail.com or-

I’ll be guest spotting at Alchemy Tattoo & Gallery in Lombard IL April 2026! If you’d like to book with me at Alchemy I’ll be there April 7th, 9th, 10th, & 11th and you can click the booking link below to snag a guest spot date╰٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶♡

If you follow me on social media you might recognize my dog Cody. He’s the closest thing to my heart and I’m 100% an annoying dog dad about him. Recently Cody has been in and out of the emergency vet and requires specialist treatment to further determine if a mass in his throat is cancerous or not. The vet bills have surpassed $1k so far before even seeing the specialist but I will do whatever it takes to keep him alive and well. I am planning a fundraiser to help cover the cost of his care, but in the meantime I wanted to set out a digital tip jar for anyone who’s able and willing to help my little dude♡ booking tattoos is also a huge help since the more I work, the more money I have for vet bills. More updates to come

December’s fundraiser is up in the Fundraiser tab! This month I’m raising money for The LIAM Foundation, check out the Fundraiser tab for more info. November’s fundraiser receipts are also up now in the fundraiser tab

I had so much fun at Anime Magic Ink’d! It was a blast getting to meet everyone and do so many fun tattoos. Thank you to everyone who came out and got tattooed or said hi! I’ll be at Villain Arts in March and I’m already excited for the next convention☆

‧☆I have gift certificates available! ☆
Send this to someone who should get you a tattoo gift certificate for the holidays ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ,<)~✩‧₊
Available as physical certificates or digital copies sent via email
Email me at salemaltattoos@gmail.com, pop by the shop in person at South Elgin Tattoo Company 339 N McLean Blvd South Elgin IL 1-9pm Tues-Sat, or DM me on Instagram @salemaltattoos to purchase a gift certificate

The shop I work at, South Elgin Tattoo Company in South Elgin IL, is hiring! If you are a professional tattoo artist with a strong portfolio, shop experience, strong work ethic, and friendly attitude then text the shop owner Brian at 630-903-9284 to discuss further.

**This is a full time tattoo artist position, we do not have any apprentice opportunities at this time**

My books are full for the November fundraiser but my coworker Dom will be tapping in to tattoo for the fundraiser as well! Contact Dom directly to book with them through DM via the link below

Big updates to my available flash designs! Check out the “Available” tab to see more polished updated flash listings with a new pricing system

November’s fundraiser is up in the Fundraiser tab! This month I’m raising money for Community Crisis Center, check out the Fundraiser tab for more info. October’s fundraiser receipts are also up now in the fundraiser tab

Exciting news, I’ll have a table tattooing at Anime Magic Ink’d this November 21-23!
I’ll be booking tattoos ahead of time as well as taking walk-ups as time allows. If you’d like to book a tattoo for the convention shoot me a message or fill out the link in my bio! And if you’re at the convention come say hi, I’ll also have prints and other things available to buy + free stickers ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

October’s fundraiser is up in the Fundraiser tab! This month I’m raising money for K.A.R.E for Wildlife, check out the Fundraiser tab for more info.

My site name and usernames have changed! Everything is in the process of being updated to Salem Ayala-Luna Tattoos (@salemaltattoos). As of posting this my site, Instagram, and just about everything else has been switched over. It’s just Facebook that I’m waiting on the approval for. So if you’re looking for Salem Tattooist (@salemtattooist), it’s still me! Just an updated name

Not entirely tattoo related but my poetry is being published for the first time ever in Fiilthy Glo Zine’s 4th issue: Liminal! I don’t post my poetry on any of my social media because it’s a very personal hobby that I’ve done most of my life… so now’s your chance to psychoanalyze your tattoo artist 😉

Preorder your copy below and also check out all the other cool artists within!

Septembers fundraiser for Elgin Math & Science Academy blew it out of the park with $916 raised! This event was so popular my coworker Grey joined in as an artist, many thanks to Grey for quite literally doubling the amount of tattoos possible and thank you to EMSA for promoting the hell out of the event and all the teachers and parents that got tattooed! As always, I’m just the vessel that does the tattoos, it’s the people that show up to get tattooed that make these fundraisers possible

It’s not even October yet and my October schedule is getting booked fast! More Halloween flash designs soon to come. Designs also available as listed for November due to popular demand

My appointment slots for the EMSA fundraiser flash day are full, a great problem to have! Luckily my coworker Grey is tapping in to also tattoo during this month’s fundraiser event so we can fit more people in. Grey’s books are open for the 9/28 EMSA fundraiser flash day and you can contact her directly @_evilgrey on Instagram to book with her. Walk-ins welcome, but I encourage you to make an appointment if you don’t want to wait a bit the day of 

After a brief pause post-surgery, we’re back with the monthly fundraiser flash days! Check out the Fundraisers tab above for more info on this month’s flash day

Now accepting payment through Afterpay and Klarna! Y’all asked so I looked into it and I can now accept both via digital tap to pay cards. As long as you have your Afterpay or Klarna accounts set up as tap to pay on your phone, you can pay for your tattoo at the end of your appointment with either.

**it is possible for Afterpay or Klara to reject a purchase, if this happens you will have to pay via cash, card, Zelle, Venmo, or Cashapp so please make sure your payment method is secure when booking*

As of posting this I’m (almost) 3 weeks post-op and healing well! I got my drains out and have 1 more week until I’m cleared to be back to work. I’ve been scribbling away on my iPad while in bed healing and have a bunch of new flash designs added to the Available tab and I’m booking for end of August + September! Click on the bottom below to book

Last minute vendor pop up event! I frequent the Scott Smith All Animal Expo as customer, now you can find me as a vendor on July 27th at the Lakemoor event! I’ll have handmade oddities, sew on patches, and prints for sale, along with consulting for tattoos. I’ll be there 10am-3pm at the Countryside Banquets & Conference Center, Lakemoor IL

It’s July 15th and I got top surgery yesterday! It went absolutely perfect and I got my first look this morning and it looks even better than I expected 🙂 I’m sosososososososo incredibly grateful for everyone who has supported me. When I started these fundraising efforts I never thought 3 months later l’d be home resting after surgery, only $7k out of 15k on Care Credit, my bills for the month already paid, appointments already scheduled for when I’m back, and results on day 1 that already exceeded my expectations. I’m speechless with how unreal it feels and I don’t know what to say other than thank you all for making this possible♡

We had my July fundraiser for @hibrfalastin a little early this month due to my surgery but it was still a great turnout!

As always, I am merely the vessel that holds the tattoo machine, these fundraisers wouldn’t be possible without you all bringing the skin!

If you missed this flash day but are still interested in supporting Hibr, check out the “Artist Listing” option through the link in @hibrfalastin ‘s bio. They have tattoo artists all over the world doing fundraiser events and you can find an artist closest to you through that link.

If you are a tattoo artist and want to participate, check out the “Tattooer Submission Form” link in @hibrfalastin ‘s bio to set up your own fundraiser day and get more info.

August’s fundraiser info will be posted at the normal date of the first of the month. So keep your eyes peeled in a couple weeks for more info!

I have one more fundraiser events related to coming up and it’s a flash fundraiser for Palestine in collaboration with @hibrfalastin .
Hibr is an international tattoo fundraiser that’s Palestinian created and ran. Hibr helps organize tattoo events worldwide where 100% of the proceeds go towards Palestinians impacted by the ongoing genocide. Hibr partners with small local organizations and community members in Gaza providing life saving initiatives such as food, water, medical care, and more.

You can see a list of all the artists doing tattoo events with Hibr this summer through their Artist Listings link in their bio, along with donation receipts, more options to donate, and a tattooer submission form if you are a tattoo artist interested in participating with your own flash event, all in @hibrfalastin ‘s bio

All my fundraiser events related to my top surgery have come to an end and we have raised a total of $977 for my surgery! This has come from

-$350 in raffle entries

-$430 from my fundraiser flash tattoo day on 6/8
-$197 through my donation box I had up at Elgin Pride and EGV Pride.
☆I’m very privileged to be in a position where I can set up fundraiser for myself and have a community that supports me and I’m so so so grateful for it!
☆As of this post I have 11 more days till surgery and I have officially paid all surgical and hospital fees. My total amount needed for the surgeon fees, hospital fees, anesthesiology fees, and pre/post op care was about $15k. With everyone’s support, wether that was through the raffle, flash event, donation box, GoFundMe, friends, family, and along with my own saving I only had to put $7,100 on CareCredit which is MUCH more doable!
☆I will keep my GoFundMe linked in my link tree as an option for anyone to support as selfishly, having less medical debt is always cool. But if you’re able and would like to support other organizations that provide grants to transgender individuals and help towards gender related care, here are some to check out:
-Point of Pride
-Trans-Farm-Ation Fund
-Name Change Mobilization
-Brave Space Alliance
-Black Trans Men Inc
-Dem Bois Inc
-For the Gworls
-Gender Bands
☆If you are in need of resources or support with gender related care, I have a resource library tab here on my website that’s continually added to and adjusted as I come across more resources.

My raffle event has come to an end and a winner has been picked! Winner has already been contacted and you. can see me pick the winner through the “winner reveal” button below.

Ending pride month with my fundraiser event for @ramshackle_farm ‘s Trans-Farm-Ation fund and we raised $390 (no processing fees this time)!

I’m so happy that l’ve created a space where I can both do tattoos and help out my community at the same time. As a queer trans person this especially hits during pride month, especially with the current political climate and especially because I’m exactly two weeks out from top surgery as of posting this. I say it every month but this truly wouldn’t be possible without all of you who support my work at get tattooed. I may be running the events, but you all are bringing the skin

I had my last vendor event of the season at Elk Grove Pride and I had a great time! This is my second year at EGV Pride and I always love getting to be a part of the community(^-^) I’ll probably be doing more vendor events in the fall. For now I have what’s left of my prints, oddity displays, and patches available at the shop to purchase!

My top surgery fundraiser and Elgin pride were last weekend and there was such a great turnout at both!
☆My top surgery fundraiser went amazing! We raised $430 just that day for my surgery and I’m so grateful for everyone who showed up and everyone who’s supported me and continues to support me.
☆if you weren’t able to come to the top surgery fundraiser but would still like to get a fundraiser tattoo and contribute to transition costs, I have one more fundraiser day at the end of the month! This one isn’t for myself but for the Trans-Farm-Ation Fund which is an organization who provides grants to trans individuals in McHenry county to cover transition related expenses. I have a whole post in this fundraiser and there’s also a section where you can book your own appointment for the flash day through the link in my Contact tab

I had so much fun vending at Elgin Pride! My handmade patches were a surprising hit, I’ll definitely make some more of them! And it was so fun getting to talk to everyone and see both old and new faces!

I’ll be vending at one more Pride event on June 28th at Elk Grove Pride, catch me there with more oddities, prints, patches, and raffle entries!

I’ll have a vendor table at Elgin Pride this Saturday! This Saturday June 7th 11am-5pm you can find me in downtown Elgin at my table selling handmade oddities and patches, prints, tattoo gift certificates, and raffle tickets for my $250 tattoo gift certificate raffle. I’ll even have a a few little freebies so make sure to stop by and say hi!

Info for the raffle I’m hosting to raise money for my top surgery!
What you get:
-$250 gift certificate to get tattooed by me
-a pre-tattoo appointment package including a pack of udon + Hello Panda snacks so you know you have a meal before your appointment + snacks for during the tattoo, along with some squeezy star stress balls for if the pain starts bothering you
(If you have food allergies or dietary restrictions and you win the raffle, please let me know and I’m happy to change to food options to accommodate)
-a post-tattoo aftercare package including Dial unscented liquid hand soap and Tattoo Lovers Care aftercare balm (my go to suggestion for aftercare products)
-2x prints of my own original artwork
-stickers and a sew on patch made by me
-a 10% off refer-a-friend coupon (not for use with the $250 gift certificate)
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The rules:
-you may purchase entries now through June 30th
-winner will be drawn and contacted July 1st
-$5 for one entry or $10 for 3 entries
-you can purchase as many entries as you’d like
-purchases can be through cash, Zelle, Venmo, Cashapp, or tap-to-pay card
-the gift certificate can be used to get a tattoo valued up to $250 by me, or to take $250 off of a higher priced tattoo

I have my surgery date set! July 14th I will be getting surgery. This wouldn’t be possible without all the support I’ve received from family, friends, clients, and everyone who supports my tattooing and I cannot thank you all enough!

The majority of the surgery will be paid with Care Credit so all fundraising events in June will continue as planned. But I have raised enough to pay the needed deposits out of pocket which makes me comfortable enough to book the surgery and deal with the loans. As little medical debt as possible would be cool (‘:

I will be out of the shop healing from surgery from July 14th till August 11th and when I get back I will be limited to smaller pieces for the first couple weeks. So get your larger pieces booked now between June and mid July before I go on medical leave! And I do still have time for appointments during my top surgery fundraiser flash day!

May’s fundraiser for Next Generation Playground raised $200! Another month of fundraising in the books. Thank you to everyone who showed up and got tattooed!

I’m having an additional flash day in June, this time raising money for my own top surgery!

I have a lot of events coming up in June! Check out the images for extended info on each

May fundraiser time! This month I’m doing a fundraiser for Next Generation Playground. @playnextgen is a local nonprofit working on creating an inclusive sensory friendly playground aimed at neurodivergent children, but also intends to create a community where families can connect and access support and resources.
Sunday May 25th I will have a fundraiser flash day where 100% of the profits go towards Next Generation Playground. You can schedule an appointment to guarantee a time or stop by as a walk in and pick a design from the flash sheets on the spot. walk ins are dependent on how busy I get so I do recommend appointments!
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I’m back from my guest spot at Electric Quill Tattoo in Springfield IL and I had a lot of fun! Thank you to everyone who stopped by and got tattooed while I was in the area. Stay tuned for future guest spots!

Fundraiser flash days will now be held on the last Sunday of each month instead of the last Tuesday! Keep up with this update tab, my Instagram, or my Facebook for more info month to month.

April’s fundraiser for @fsaelgin raised $200! The kaomojis were such a fun addition to the flash ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
Thank you to everyone who got tattooed this time around!

Feels weird being on the other end of a fundraiser but I’ve made a gofundme to help out with the costs of getting top surgery 🥲 if you want to see my long winded sappy speech about how much it means to me check out the description in the gofundme. The condensed version is that I have a good option for getting top surgery now, but the main hurdle is $10-18k out of pocket. I will also be out of work a month post-op so that’ll be a few extra dollars needed too. I don’t have insurance, it isn’t an option right now, and Medicaid is in legal limbo and unlikely to cover it in the near future. So to be fully transparent, this is the game plan:
-I’m going to work on saving/raising money the next few months and see where I’m at in July. I have a few fundraising ideas specific to June so this is why July will be a checkpoint.
-I was quoted $10-18k in total out of pocket for surgery costs, with it likely being closer to the $10k end. If by some crazy divine intervention I raise MORE than I need, any costs past what I need for surgery, post op care, and bills/food while I’m on bed rest will be donated to other trans healthcare related nonprofits/fundraisers
SAVING/FUNDRAISING:
-Saving as much as I can between bills and food and other necessities
-I’m going to set up a flash tattoo fundraiser in June
-some more tattoo related ideas I’m still working out
-applying for any trans surgery related grants I’m applicable for
-working on more oddity displays and art pieces to sell
-selling/donating plasma (hey, it’s something)
-gofundme to raise as much as possible
-depending on how much I’m able to scrape together by the end of the year, Care Credit and that kind of thing to cover whatever’s left
I know times are ROUGH for everyone so anything at all, donations or even just sharing my info around or getting tattooed (me doing more tattoos = me making more money) is deeply appreciated 🥹

Update to the Fundraiser Flash days, starting this month they will be held on Sundays instead of Tuesdays. This will give more people the chance to come to the flash day with it being on a weekend instead of a week day. Contact me if you’d like to book a fundraiser piece!

°*+*Pricing Policy Update**.

I’ve been tattooing for almost 3 years and l’ve been doing flat prices on everything up until now. I love my job and getting to tattoo people every day, and I’m very much one of those people that struggles with pricing because of that :’) So it’s time to move over to hourly!

☆ All tattoos other than predrawn flash will be $120 an hour. I can give an estimate before the tattoo on how long a design will take, and you can also check out the post right before this one for some examples of how long different tattoos took me.

☆Predrawn flash designs will be a flat rate. You can find my available designs in my “Available” highlight and on my website with their starting prices. The price may be effected by sizing and placement, if there’s a piece you’re interested in let me know how large you want it and where and I can verify the price with you

☆Minimum is still $100, so if there’s a tattoo that’s especially simple, takes under an hour, and in a simple location to tattoo then it may be $100 instead of the hourly $120. This is up to my discretion

☆Deposits aren’t changing, it’s still $100 deposit to book which comes off the end price of the tattoo. Check out my “Booking” highlight for more info on deposits

**All existing appointments made before this post won’t be effected, your pricing will be the same as quoted when you booked**

…A million thank yous to everyone who’s ever gotten tattooed by me or supported me as an artist! It’s because of all of you that I get to do my dream job for a living and I’m forever grateful for that (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

My Springfield guest spot at Electric Quill Tattoo is fully booked! Thank you so much to everyone who was interested in getting tattooed in central Illinois. Stay tuned for more future guest spots!

Finished up March’s fundraiser for YWCA Elgin with $400 (rounded up to $414.25 to cover processing fees)! Such good turnout this time that I had to turn a few people away because I got fully booked. Which definitely felt like a suffering from success moment!

Thank you so much to everyone who got tattooed and everyone who expressed interest in getting tattooed!

New guest spot! I’ll be headed down to central Illinois for three days next month. Catch me at Electric Quill Tattoo in Springfield IL April 27th, 28th, and 29th. Check out my “Contact” tab for ways to get ahold of me to book a spot while I’m there, and my “Available” tab for some designs I already have drawn up!

Wrapped up my fundraiser flash day for Brave Space Alliance and this month we raised $330 (rounded up to $339.90 when donating to cover processing fees)! I’m so appreciative of everyone who came out and got tattooed!

Check out @bravespacealliance and their link tree in their bio for ways to support BSA and resources for support with gender related care, housing, food insecurity, clothing, sex work, name change, support groups, and more.

I’ve been dipping my toes in realism for a while and I’m now accepting color realism pet portraits and other color/black and grey realism pieces! Check out the “contact” page for options to contact me about setting up your next tattoo

We received a letter notifying us that we had won Best Tattoo Shop in South Elgin 2024 in mid December, but now we have the plaque to prove it! It’s only been a little over a year that South Elgin Tattoo Company has been up and running and we’ve come SO far. I started at this location under the previous shop, which wasn’t going so great, but there was an ownership change, name change, value change, almost entirely different staff, and South Elgin Tattoo Company was born! The “Best of” award is 100% based off of client feedback and we are so thankful for every person who’s come into our little shop in the last 15 months, and the owner Brian Pinto for making all of this possible.

I have two new portfolio piece designs available! Portfolio pieces are at a discounted price because they are to build the artists portfolio with a style they don’t do as often, and comes with more requirements. These pieces are $300 each (two separate $150 sessions) with these stipulations:

-no changes to the design (color palette can be adjusted to accommodate varying skin tones)

-tattoo goes on arms or legs only.

-size limitations. ex. the design would cover the majority of one side of the forearm or calf

-tattoo will take multiple sessions

-must be ok with tattoo being photographed

-must come back after 4-6 weeks for healed pictures

-any preexisting health condition that effects the skin or healing must be discussed prior to the tattoo

-deposit required

If you like the designs and agree to the conditions check out my “Contact” tab for info to set up an appointment!

My guest spot at Temperance Tattoo Collective has come to an end and I had such a great time with some really fun tattoos! I’ll eventually come back to Arizona so if you weren’t able to get tattooed this time you can catch me when I’m back. My Instagram always gets updated first so keep an eye on what I’m up to there!

I’ll be guest spotting at Temperance Tattoo Collective in Phoenix Arizona this November 1st-6th 2024! I’m booking those dates now and some days are already filled. Contact me directly to book and check the remaining available dates!

I’ll be guest spotting in Phoenix Arizona this November! November 3rd + 4th are currently confirmed, more dates to come! I’ll announce more info soon but thought I’d sneak an announcement in here

I have a new sparked interest in color realism! I’m now encouraging small color realism appointments. Check out my available designs for some cute realism or bring me your own idea for a small realism piece!

I’ve made some silly little “take one” flyers that I’m going to tape up in random areas surrounding South Elgin and even Chicago! This is one of them, there’s a couple other designs going up with little pull tabs with more info on the back of them. If you spot one of the flyers, post a pic and tag me in it! And grab whatever pull tab speaks to you ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

**CLAIMED** I have this Neopets piece available at a discount as a portfolio piece! “Portfolio piece” means this piece is discounted because it’s a piece in a style, subject, and size I want to add to my portfolio as an example of my work and what I want to do. Only one slot available for this design! Check out the Deals/Games tab or the Available Flash Designs tab for more pictures!**CLAIMED**

The shop’s hours are updating to 1pm-close instead of the previous 3pm-close starting February 1st. Walk-in availability now cuts off at 8pm. Check out the contact page to schedule your next appointment!

It’s almost February and no matter what you’re doing (or not doing) for Valentines Day, you can always get tattooed!

It’s our first Holiday season as South Elgin Tattoo Company at the shop and we’re doing a raffle to celebrate! If you bring in an ornament for the tree you can be entered to win a $150 tattoo voucher. Raffle ends this new years.

It’s November 1st which means I’ve been back from the guest spot for a little bit, the October flash deals are over, and now the holiday season is coming! This is the perfect time to get tattooed so your tattoo has time to heal out of the sun and water that come with warmer months.

This week I’ll be doing a guest spot at Klas Piercing & Tattoo in Sugar Grove! I’ll be taking walk-ins and appointments Sunday October 15th – Saturday October 21, shop is open 12pm-8pm. Come by the shop to get some tattoos and piercings!