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.
Bandage
TRANSPARENT FILM DRESSING/BANDAGE
Advances in medical film technology has seen a range of self-adhesive, clear, breathable film bandages arrive on the tattoo scene in recent years. 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. For those reasons, TATTOOMA artists will usually use a clear film bandage as the first option. The only times it wouldn’t be used is if the curvature of the area being tattooed isn’t suitable or if you have any history of reactions to adhesives.
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.
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).
TRANSPARENT FILM DRESSING/BANDAGE
We recommend your transparent film bandage stays on until at least the morning after your tattoo, but it can stay on for four or five days providing:
There’s no peeling at the edges which encroach onto the tattoo
There’s no redness along the edge of the bandage
There’s no ink or plasma escaping out from the edge of the bandage
And finally, no signs of skin reaction (excessive redness anywhere under the bandage)
If you wake up the morning after your tattoo and don’t like the look or feel of ink/plasma pooling under your bandage you can remove it by following the steps below.
CLINGFILM Wrap
If your tattoo has been cling-wrapped, remove it (by following the steps below) after two to three hours and begin your aftercare regime. Keeping clingfilm on for too long or excessive sweating under your clingfilm will damage your tattoo and increases infection risk.
Removing the Bandage
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 fragrance free soap (antibacterial soap is also fine) 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!
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.
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) might not work as well for someone with oily skin (who might be better off with thinner, less hydrating products).
Aftercare products recommended by TATTOOMA and its different artists include, in no particular order: Palmer’s Coco Butter (the pot version is thicker, the bottle version is more runny and more easily absorbed), Bepanthen, Bepanthen Tattoo and After Inked After Care.
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.