Question: "I'm looking for tips on how to tattoo with different needle configurations. Whenever I tattoo with anything other that a 1 rl, it doesn't implant as I would like and I go back to the 1 rl. Specifically 3rl and shader. Thank you in advance." 

Ms Amber Red's response:

Since I have been tagged a few times l'd like to just give a brief explanation as to the why this could be happening. 

You mention you use a 1RL. A 1RL is extremely sharp. 

Minimum pressure is needed for implantation. When you start to up the amount of needles your using (I use a 1205RS) for instance and I have a butt load of knowledge in a wide range of needles from liners, shaders, mags etc) anyways the larger the needle the more surface area the needle is covering. This means we have to apply a bit more pressure using our control in our hand to get the larger needles to implant for us. Remember more needles, covers more surface area = a bit more pressure. I find a lot of new artists trying to transition from 1RL to using anything bigger have very similar struggles, so you are def not alone. I prefer using a shader needle for a few reasons. 

More needles implanting more pigment due to the simple fact that more needles carry more pigment into the skin. 

1RL implants 1 dot of pigment into the skin at a time, 5RS implants 5 dots of pigment into the skin at a time! This also allows us to get the job done quicker and implant solid black results, minimal touch up, long lasting results.

This isn't to brag however a top & bottom eyeliner (like the one posted) takes me about 20-30 minutes. I timed myself recently. I hope this info helps some though. I use very specific circle movements and have a pattern I follow, it works like gold on everyone. I adjust my speed on different skin types but even that is minimal, my speed stays between 6.8-7.2 

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