Super stoked with my piercings from Shawn. Went in with a few friends on 6/13 and each got a piercing. I got my vertical labret done and have had zero issues! Hardly any swelling which only lasted half a day. Feels like I’ve had the piercing forever. Was so impressed I went back the next day for an eyebrow piercing! No swelling, no bleeding, no soreness. A tint of a black eye, but that can be expected with this piercing. Shawn was very informative and professional, and uses titanium jewelry which is great for metal sensitivity! Highly recommend Exile for piercings! Read Less

My piercings always heal well and look good. And the staff are friendly and skilled. I love tori. She saved a piece i had started by someone else. Still working on it. And there are other great artists there vouched for by people i know. Read Less

Went in for the Friday the 13th sale, you guys are awesome for finishing the list out so late! I’m so happy with my piercings. I’ll definitely be coming back for my next one as I do need my daith done. Read Less

I'm displeased with this place but I don't have the heart to give it a 1 when honestly they should get one. Tori did a hand moth tattoo for me which turned out OK. I emailed her about a consultation but she said we could do it both in one session, it was small so I agreed. She cancelled and rescedualed my appointment 2 times before she "squeezed" me in between two appointment. This has never happened to me before at any other tattoo place. I was terrified I wouldn't get another appointment so I agreed, she rushed something that should have taken 2 hours into one and the people she was tattooing we're obvously close friends and we're waiting around. Which was uncomfortable because I came alone due to the spontaneous scheduling. I wanted to talk more about the drawing but she said we don't have time. I felt rushed and ignored. She was suprised when I tipped her too which hurt my feelings, like I wasn't going to have the money to pay for it. I have seen a lot of good work from her so I was disappointed with the way she treated me and rushed her own artwork. So a year later I tried exile again, I figured one bad experance shouldn't ruin it. I was wrong, I emailed Lenny about some work on my forearm for me and my partner. Never got a response, which hurt again because I was ignored and given no reason why. I hope no one else has had this problem, and this becomes helpful for the staff. Sense than I have found an amazing artist who respects me and makes me feel comfortable. Read Less

I’ve recommended this shop more than any other in the world. My beautiful chest piece is a walking billboard for Tori and her incredible talent. Best tattoos in Washington! Best vibes, great people, incomparable talent. Read Less

My mother, girlfriend, and I went in to see if they could do a ring tattoo for my mother. The last place we went to just brushed us off and gave us every excuse possible as to why that wouldn't work and why finger tattoos are impossible, so we came to Exile instead. The gentlemen that we spoke to (both the piercer and one of the tattoo artists) were really nice and polite. They both explained the costs for their services (as my mother decided she may want a piercing too). The artist, I believe his name was Travis, was so extremely helpful in explaining why it is hard to do finger tattoos with much detail, but he actually showed us the type of design he COULD do, instead of just telling us no like the last guy. He also showed us an idea for a prior tattoo that needs retouched and reworked. He was awesome! Read Less

My wife and I stumbled upon an artist from Exile about 4 years ago randomly in Puyallup and now make the trip out to Olympia for everything! Thanks Luis, your work is great and means so much to my wife and I. Read Less

Just had the second session of my hot rod sleeve from Lenny. Lenny is the man and everyone here is cool and fun to be around. Highly recommended to anyone looking for quality work and a good experience. Read Less

I would give them zero stars if I could. My boyfriend and I both got our tongues pierced here and within a couple hours both of our piercings fell out. Shop has neat stuff and the piercings were cheap but other than that neither of us were satisfied at all. Read Less

Amazing people, friendly and inviting. Luis has been working on my tattoo and it is BEAUTIFUL. It's my first tattoo so I was skeptical on where to go and after a recommendation and a lot of research I chose exile. Luis is such an amazing artist, I love it! Read Less

Visited Exile today and had the pleasure of working with Tori. Super friendly and professional, not to mention an amazing artist. She took my idea and turned it into an awesome piece. I couldn't be happier. Read Less

Love it. Have been a few times and so ready for my next visit. Luis is an amazing artist as is everyone there. He makes it a good trip everytime and won't be going to anyone else until we move. May even make trips back here just to see him for more work. Definitely worth checking out! Read Less

If you're looking for an inviting and friendly shop, this is it. I can't tell you how many shops have that unwelcome, "you're stupid", snobby feel about them. Love the work Lenny did to almost finish out my sleeve. He's quick, experienced, and has great ideas. Can't wait to go back. Read Less

Amiee did an awsome job on my first tattoo, she is funny and friendly. Lenny did amazing on my second tattoo of the day :-), free handing the outline and great detail. I cant wait to get back and get some more work done. Read Less

To be an adept is to embody expertise and thorough knowledge, grasp and skill in particular field of study. When people walk into a tattoo shop with an idea- an adept artist will conjure from this base idea something akin to gold - creating what we call art. Exile Tattoo is a nest of adepts. The entire staff seem to be preternaturally imbued with this quality. Other reviewers have already faithfully reported the good shop basics of cleanliness and deft execution. So I won't go into that. I would be remiss not to mention Noah Boyes. Noah has recently taken up station at Exile Tattoo and Olympia is all the better for it. His particular style has clearly developed from a multi-faceted, seriously passionate background. I've yet to observe him in a state of complacency - he is constantly perfecting, relentlessly studying- and the results of his work are absolutely apparent. There is nothing stale or banal about what he does. Like the alchemists, he will transform a basic concept into a work of transcendent artistry (the caliber of which any individual would be proud to take to the grave.) I am no exception. I have never received an 'ok' tattoo from his man. I have brought him 'ok' ideas - and he has turned my idiocy into genius. I leave walking away with something better than I had ever imagined.  If you haven't done so yet, or are shopping for artists- you can stop here! You've found precisely what you're looking for (even if you don't know what you're looking for). A whisper-light hand, humble, engaging and profoundly talented- he epitomizes a tattoo artist whose style is never hemmed in by trends or the neurotic confines of commercial expediency. If you can dream it, he can manifest it. Why are you still reading this? If you've made it this far, you should be arranging an appointment now. You've found the good shit. Welcome to Exile. Self-imposed and fucking beautiful ;) Read Less

Just got the sickest tattoo here. Booker did such an amazing job! He even stayed late to finish up really impressive detail work!! I would 1000% recommend this place and Booker to anyone interested in a tattoo! The stippling work he did on my cicada tattoo is beyond impressive. Excellent detail work and above and beyond what I expected. Great line work, amazing shading!! He is extremely skilled. Read Less

I've been here before to get a flash Friday the 13th tattoo with a friend and had an awesome experience; but today my wife and I went in for walk-ins, and we definitely were not disappointed!Noah and Aimee were the ones that did our tattoos, and they were AWESOME.Reasonable prices, rad environment, friendly staff. Definitely will be back!! Read Less

I literally just got home from the shop and couldn't wait to write a review for Exile. I can't believe the poor and negative reviews on here. My wife and I both WALKED IN (soon after they opened) and pitched our ideas to Noah and Aimee and they took about 30 minutes to draw something up.Mine was much more simple than my wife's and was done by Aimee. She was kind and professional. The tattoo turned out awesome and I am SUPER happy with it! Noah took care of my wife's tattoo and it is beautiful! He did an amazing job!The prices for both were incredibly reasonable, I was actually taken aback. CASH ONLY, but they were comfortable with us going to the ATM after the session. We will definitely be returning soon. Note: Our designs were both pretty simple so they were cool with walk-ins but they definitely encourage an appointment if it is a bigger, more complex piece. Read Less

Got my tattoo today done by Lenny. He did an amazing job for my friend and I. He has a light hand and crazy eye for detail. The atmosphere was top notch. Supper happy with my tattoo. will come back. Read Less

Tattoo turned out great, it was just a design that I brought in. I asked for a couple of changes to the design and Lenny accommodated. It was reasonably priced, too. He was pretty quiet which was fine with me because I'm not much of a talker. Several of the other artists would come by and check out the design, which was fine by me but others may not like that. Also, one of the other artists who was talking to me while I was waiting gave me his personal number before I left. Regardless of intentions, that felt unprofessional to me.Unfortunately, I'm still on the lookout for a go-to tattoo place in Olympia. Read Less

I came into Exile with two very specific designs I wanted for my grandmothers; my 6th and 7th tattoos. I met with Tori two weeks in advance, discussed my designs, and left a deposit. Two weeks later I came in for my appointment and wasn't seated until an hour after my scheduled appointment. She still hadn't even finished putting my designs together after two weeks.I was finally seated, pleased with the designs. I kept mentioning how I wanted them placed lower (above my knee) so I could get larger tattoos above these but, "No. That will work." "That's enough room." "That will be okay." Rather than compromising with my life long needs for these tattoos which were placed right in the middle of my thighs. I noticed things in the designs I wanted changed and she said she would as she tattooed. She didn't. She added in things and colors I didn't want.These tattoos were very particular because they represented my favorite people. She ended up making a hummingbird tattoo on my thigh with a sparrows tail and a near-human-looking eye. Two things I mention before the tattoo was started. This was supposed to be a full color traditional tattoo and there is SO MUCH black shading. It's just a back shaded mess.On top of it all, she'd grind into my thigh the entire time. My tattoo ended up completely scarring over and my thigh was swollen twice its size for at least a week. The tattoo on my other thigh didn't even get finished.She expressed so much enthusiasm to do this work at our consultation so she cut me a deal. $300 for both when they were probably valued at about $500 for both. I think the longer she tattooed me, she realized she ripped herself off and started getting lazy and doing a shit tattoo. I will eventually be getting these laser removed and tattooed over. They are embarrassing. I don't recommend going here unless you're just getting flash. A lot of these artists like to do what they want. Read Less

Had an appointment and after waiting for 20 minutes with no artist in sight because she had "phone calls", I walked out.  Bummer for me because I drove down from Tacoma. Pretentious and Assuming especially since they REQUIRE an appointment. My time is valuable. Go to the other 20 tat places in town! Read Less

Love this place! Lenny has done work on three of my tattoos so far and I've been satisfied. Wonderful detail on my ankle piece. He was iffy about doing an evil eye on my shoulder, only because it wasn't really his style but it's what I had drawn myself and I was determined to get it exactly how my sketch was. Make sure you don't have any time constraints though, as it's usually a wait for him. Both times I've gone in I had to wait about an hour and a half after my appointment was made, but he made up for it by knocking the original price down for me. Everyone in the shop is very helpful and talkative. Read Less

I would suggest looking around before going here. I got my small tattoo done at Exile because there wasn't any other option at short notice (when I realized this wasn't my kind of shop) and I was only with my brother for the day. I was extremely upset when my brother and I had simple matching tattoos and were charged $140. The time spent in total was about 15 minutes, mine took about 5 minutes and my brother's took about 10. In addition to my discomfort with the price, I felt the artist was a jerk and I apparently got no say in which artist did my work. His daughter was there screaming in the background the whole time as well. Very unpleasant experience. If I'm going to pay that much I want an amazing experience worthy of telling all my friends about. Tattoo turned out fine but was very simple and wouldn't expect otherwise. Don't go here! Read Less

How else can I say HOLY CRAP AMAZING. I came here with my boyfriend and his family to get family tattoos-don't ask, we were bonding-and despite me having not planned anything in advance, I was getting something on my leg. Lenny is incredible and took my original design and turned it into something truly special. I still love it. The entire staff is smart, friendly, patient, and willing to let you really think out your tattoo. Seriously, the next time I want something done, I'll probably wait until I'm back out on the West Coast-these guys are that good. Read Less

First off I got an industrial...I seriously cannot get over what an amazing experience getting my new piercing was today! What a rush! I haven't felt like that in a very very long time! My last piercing was about eleven years ago so it's been a while. This one didn't bleed a drop and it didn't hurt nearly as much as my first cartilage on my other ear! I was so nervous and so excited. I almost talked myself out of it mentally about a million times. It didn't seem real until I was in that chair. I highly recommend Chaz (not sure about the spelling) she does an amazing job! She had great chair side manner and really helped to ease my nerves immensely. Not to mention this lady knows her stuff. She's been piercing longer than I waited between my last piercing and this one. She is extremely gentle and so fast it was over before I knew it. I almost want to get another piercing without any planning just to have her do it. Go to Chaz! She will treat you right! Overall it was extremely hygienic, fast and friendly. Did I mention they have killer deals on price. Way better than Metro or any of the other places I looked before a friend recommended them. Read Less

I knew I found a good, clean shop. Cool vibes all around. Everyone was so friendly when I walked in. The work here is SOLID. The portfolios that shower the coffee table are worth looking through. Beautiful work from everyone! You won't regret going to any of the artists here. Anyway, I got in touch with Lenny through IG and made an appointment for that same week. He made the 2 hour session a breeze. Everything went well and my arm healed up like a champ. It came out so nice and I'm stoked to come back to the shop for more ink. Read Less

Go. See. Tori. Sure, I am in all senses of the word at Tattoo Newbie when it comes to my own bod. But do I know lots of people with tattoos? Sure do. I've seen lots of good tattoos. And some not-so-good tattoos. None of the not-so-good have come from Exile, however I have seen great pieces of work come from here!She does quality work. Her designs look clean and are absolutely beautiful. Check out all the artists at Exile. They all do incredible work, and can accomplish virtually anything your little heart desires. It's clean, its got a great vibe, and it has good people working in it. Go. Read Less