Taking care of your tattoo

-Run a warm shower. When you get in, progressively make it hotter. It should be hot but not hot enough to burn you. Remember,  freshly tattooed skin is more sensitive than normal.

-let the water run for three-five minutes on the tattoo. This allows all the blood, plasma, and ointment to be washed off the tattoo

-gently wash the tattoo with FRAGRANCE FREE soap (sensitive skin dove or similar, dr bronners fragrance  free) if you feel stinging or burning while washing, check the products you’re using. Fragrance easily irritates tattoos.

-after the tattoo has been washed, make the water cold and let it run on your tattoo briefly. This helps shrink the pores.

-Pat your tattoo dry using a PAPER TOWEL.  Bath towels, even freshly washed, can hold onto bacteria so we always want to be extra careful.

THIS PROCESS IS ONLY TO BE DONE WHEN YOUR TATTOO IS FRESH

In the first few days, following these steps will help speed up the healing process. Once the tattoos looks dry/itchy/flaky, go ahead and skip these steps

Use the ointment given to you at the studio, applying a thin layer. If for some reason you don’t have that or a plain nonscented lotion , you can use a thin layer of Aquaphor. If the tattoo looks greasy or shiny, there is too much ointment on the Tattoo. This can Clog the pores, causing  break outs or other skin issues.

* I recommend using the ointment provided at the studio, or a FRAGRANCE FREE lotion for the entire healing period. 

WASHING THE TATTOO: After the first initial washing of the tattoo,  try to limit the amount of water that touches the tattoo while cleaning it. Try not to have water running on it if not necessary. The healing is naturally dry and will absorb the water running on the tattoo. if this happens, the newly healing skin may fall off and cause the healing process to completely start over. 

Splash a small amount of water on the tattoo. using a minimal amount of soap in your hands (clean hands of course) wash the tattoo, gently. Splash water on the tattoo to rinse.  Pat dry with paper towel.

At this point, the tattoo should start to be dry/flaky. If it’s itchy, do not pick, scratch, or pat. This just means you should apply lotion.  Use a plain fragrance free lotion like Lubiderm or Aveeno. 

Clean the tattoo, pat dry, and apply a small amount of lotion several times through out the day. Please make sure your hands have been washed and dried before applying lotion to the tattoo. Please do not skip days in the healing process. This can seriously harm the tattoo or delay the healing. 

these steps are especially important for areas with a larger range of motion, such as fingers, bends in arms, elbows, knees, ditches on arms/legs, and skin on arms and chests near armpits. Hands and feet can also be tough spots to heal.  Be extra careful in caring for these areas. 

Scabbing on healing tattoos is not a cause for alarm. They will fall off by themselves. Do not pick or scratch,  this can damage the tattoo. If a scab comes off, and theres a small “milky” looking spot there, don’t worry. It is most likely excess  skin that will fall off by itself. 

The initial healing phase should be done with the initial healing. Some areas may look shiny, this is because the skin is still healing. apply a small amount of vitamin e  oil once or twice a day in addition to the plain lotion. 

keep the tattoo out of direct sunlight for at least six months. If you have to be int he’s in, please please use sunscreen. 

For two weeks, no swimming or submerging the tattoo in water.