Healing and AFTER-CARE Advice

How you care for your new tattoo during the days and weeks following your session are especially important for the longevity and vibrancy of your new ink.

Please ensure you follow any specific aftercare instructions and advice provided by your artist as they may vary slightly from the general advice given on this page.

By listening to your artist and heeding the advice provided here, you’ll ensure your tattoo stays looking its best for many years to come.

DRESSING

You’ll leave the studio with one of three different dressing options. Which one you get will depend on several factors including the style of tattoo, where it is on your body and if you have or if you have any specific requirements. IE if adhesives react with your skin, you’d automatically get clingfilm or if the tattoo is in a particularly curved or creased area on your body, we wouldn’t use a ‘second skin’.

TRANSPARENT FILM DRESSING/BANDAGE - AKA ‘Second Skin’

Advances in medical film technology has seen a range of self-adhesive, clear, breathable film bandages arrive on the tattoo scene. These both protect your ink from dirt/infection and allow your skin to breathe, which aids the healing process. For most people, these film bandages mean there is less soreness and far less cleaning/aftercare required in the first few days after your new tattoo. They also make sleeping far more comfortable.

Tattoo Armour absorbent Pad

Some tattoos may be dressed with an absorbent pad made by Tattoo Armour. These keep you tattoo clean, while also absorbing any plasma, blood or ink which is expelled during the early stages of healing. You can usually keep your pad on for the rest of the day and your artist will usually provide an additional pad for you to use over night.

CLINGFILM Wrap

If your artist has applied a clingfilm bandage, this will protect your tattoo from dirt/infection and help get you home with a clean tattoo, however it doesn’t allow your skin to breathe and isn’t a healing aid. Clingfilm wraps should be removed after a maximum of a couple of hours to allow your skin to start the healing process.

After your Tattoo

It’s common to find some ink escaping from your tattoo and collecting under the bandage, obscuring your new tattoo - this is nothing to worry about. It’s also common for areas of yellowish plasma to develop under the bandage - this is also nothing to worry about. Plasma is antibacterial and part of the normal healing process for skin wounds (your tattoo is thousands of tiny skin wounds).

Your artist will provide you with a detailed aftercare instruction sheet which is specific to the dressing they’ve applied.

Removing the Bandage/dressing

1) WASH YOUR HANDS

Before removing your bandage you need to thoroughly wash your hands. If you’re using a bar of soap (rather than liquid from a dispenser) always thoroughly wash the bar of soap first, then wash your hands.

2) Paper Towels

Now your hands are clean, get yourself a couple of sheets of clean paper towel as you’ll need them to dry your tattoo later.

3) Removing your bandage

With your hands thoroughly washed and your clean paper towels to hand you can remove your bandage. Don’t allow the outside of the bandage to touch your tattoo. For clear film bandages we recommend you remove it under warm running water (having a shower is ideal) as this softens the adhesive and makes it easier to peel off - the water should not be hot and the water pressure should be gentle.

4) Cleaning your tattoo

Once your bandage is removed, thoroughly wash your hands again to remove any contaminants which may have been on the outside of the bandage.

Now gently wash your tattoo and the surrounding area with warm clean water and a gentle (ideally antibacterial) soap to remove any plasma, ink or blood.

5) DRYING

Gently pat (not rub) your new tattoo dry with your clean paper towel - if you’ve had a shower, don’t use your normal towel to dry your new ink. Let the area air dry for around ten minutes before applying any aftercare cream.

The healing process

To get tattoo ink into the dermis layer of skin the needles have to pass through the epidermis - a process which causes superficial damage. If you use no aftercare products at all (known as ‘dry healing’) the damaged epidermis will scab over and then fall off - sometimes taking some dermis and some of your new tattoo with it! So rather than dry healing we recommend you regularly clean and moisturise your new tattoo (we will provide you with some free aftercare cream). As a general rule your new tattoo should be cleaned and moisturised three times per day for the week after the dressing is removed, then regularly moisturise for the next few weeks after that.

Damaged epidermis coming off a week or so after your session (either in the form of a thin scabs or light skin peeling) is a normal and unavoidable part of the healing process, but by keeping your new tattoo clean and moisturised during the heal, you can minimise the skin loss and maximise the intensity of your ink.

Keeping yourself hydrated internally (by drinking plenty or water and avoiding alcohol) will also help hydrate your skin and help your heal.

It’s very common for your new tattoo to feel itchy during the healing process. It’s very important that you do not scratch it or pick at it as this increases your infection risk and can damage your tattoo. If the itchiness gets really intense, wash your hands and give your tattoo a slap - that should take the edge off!

APPLYING Aftercare

There’s one golden rule of after-care products and that is: only apply it with CLEAN HANDS to a CLEAN TATTOO. Another important rule is DON’T USE TOO MUCH! You want to keep your new ink moisturised, but you also need air to get to the skin and you don’t want to create a gooey mess, which is ideal for bacteria to grow in and increases your risk of infection.

We all have very different skin types and different levels of skin hydration, so what works best for someone with dry skin (such as thicker, more hydrating products up to four times per day) might not work as well for someone with oily skin (who might be better off with thinner, less hydrating products twice a day).

Our favourite aftercare products are the bottles of Palmer’s Coconut Hydrate, Raw Shea Nourish or Cocoa Butter. We will provide you with a free bottle to go home with, so there’s no need to buy your own.

Other aftercare products we recommend include Bepanthen Tattoo and After Inked After Care.

If you have very dry skin, you could also consider using the pot version of Palmer’s Coco Butter or original Bepanthen nappy cream. For those two thicker products it’s important to apply as thinly as possible - blocking all your pours with too much aftercare ointment vastly increases your infection risk.

And Repeat

Repeat the cleaning and aftercare three times per day (morning, noon and night) for the first few days after your bandage comes off. After a few days you can drop down to cleaning and applying after-care twice a day. The longer you keep it clean and moisturised, the better it will turn out. You’ll know when it’s fully healed as the area will feel exactly the same as it did before your tattoo - usually three to four weeks after your session.

DOs and Don’ts

Just like you’ll find 90-year-olds who have smoked for 85 years saying they’ve never had any health issues, you’ll also find tattooed people who took zero care of their ink and had no issues or infections - but they are very much the exceptions and the lucky ones!

If you follow these tips, you won’t have to rely on luck to get a great heal!

DO…

…wash your hands before you touch your tattoo or the surrounding area and before applying after-care

DOn’t…

…wear tight-fitting clothing which rubs on your new tattoo while it heals.

Do…

…keep your tattoo clean by avoiding dirty and dusty environments during healing.

DON’T…

…scratch or pick at scabs - it can damage your tattoo and increases your risk of infection.

Do…

…keep it moisturised with a thin layer of aftercare (applied to a clean tattoo with clean hands).

Don’t…

…use too much aftercare - you don’t want to become a walking petri dish!

DO…

…avoid the sun completely during the heal and always wear factor 50 sun block on your tattoo in the sun after it’s healed if you want to keep it at its best.

DON’T…

…soak your new tattoo in water of any kind for the first week (ideally two weeks). During the heal you should not go swimming, no bath, no hot tub, so sea bathing, you get the idea. Showering is fine, but not too hot, low water pressure and not for too long.

Do…

…wait a week before you hit the gym or do physical exercise. The less you sweat your new tattoo the better.

DON’T…

…shave the area for at least two weeks after your tattoo.