Tattoos are a badass investment into yourself and so much of their longevity comes down to the healing process. Follow these few steps to get the most out of your fresh ink and love it for a lifetime!

Wear Your Saniderm (If you can tolerate it!)

Long gone are the days of leaving the tattoo shop with your fresh ink covered in paper towels, plastic wrap, and electrical tape. Post-care for tattoos has come such a long way, and many artists are catching on. One of our favorite products (and we aren’t even sponsored!) is Recovery by Derm Shield. It has a lovely silky texture that doesn’t feel plasticky on the surface of the skin. Saniderm is also a great alternative and has been used for many years. As long as you can tolerate adhesives such as the ones found in medical tape or bandages, you will probably love the ease of healing tattoos with this simple yet effective tool.

These derm shields should be applied on clean skin free of any glide or petroleum products. It’s best to leave it on for 2-6 days, depending on the amount of lymph drainage and size of the tattoo. Consult with your artist to get their specific aftercare, as it will likely differ slightly between artists. When you’re ready to remove the Saniderm, stretch the material parallel to the skin under running water, avoiding pulling off any potential scabs in the process. You likely will notice a bit of ink stuck to the film as well, which is completely normal.

Keep it Clean

Once the derm shield or bandage is removed, it’s important to wash your new tattoo 1-2 times daily until it’s fully healed. Like most details of aftercare, all artists have their preference on what you use to cleanse your tattoo. Some might suggest fragrance free, Gold Dial soap, or antibacterial. Our favorite Ink Soap is available in our studio for our clients, and it is the same soap we are using to wipe throughout the procedure.

It helps reduce redness, soothes the skin, and helps reduce the risk of infection with its natural antibacterial effects. It smells and feels amazing on the skin and can be used as cosmetic tattoo aftercare as well!

Keep it Hydrated

Once your tattoo is nice and clean, pat gently with a clean paper towel and allow it to air dry the rest of the way. Once it’s dry, you’re going to want to rehydrate the area using the preferred ointment of your artist. This could be A&D ointment, Aquaphor, unscented lotion, or a tattoo aftercare balm- but whatever you do, don’t leave it dry! Dry healing leads to poor ink retention, more itchiness, redness, and overall is just not a great experience. It’s important to rehydrate after every time you cleanse!

Keep it Out of The Sun

Keeping your tattoos protected from the sun is vital for the longevity of them as well as the health of your skin. For 2-4 weeks after your fresh tattoo is done, you want to avoid sun exposure all together. After that point, make sure you’re slathering on the SPF when you’re spending time outside. The sun will greatly affect the brightness of your tattoos, especially color tattoos. Black ink tattoos eventually fade and can take on a greenish blue hue as they age, and the sun will amplify that process as well.

Make Them Last.

Whether your tattoos are fairly new or years old, improve their appearance over time by slathering those babies in SPF.

Keep it Out of The Water

For 2-4 weeks after your tattoo appointment, you want to avoid swimming and soaking in all kinds of water- whether or not they are chlorinated. Remember that this is an open wound and long exposure to water will affect scabbing and healing as well as potentially introducing bacteria to your healing process. Showering is totally fine and you definitely want to keep the area as clean as possible, but skip the loofah on your fresh ink!

Don’t Pick or Pull Scabs

Depending on the size of your tattoo, you may have scabbing or peeling present as part of the healing process. Some dry flakiness could be present for some smaller tattoos, and for some larger pieces it could be large areas that develop scabs, especially those that took quite a bit of color packing in the design. It’s super important to avoid picking or peeling these areas as they heal, as tempting as it it. As the tattoo heals and ink is settling into the skin, pulling off scabs can remove ink from the skin resulting in a patchy look once the tattoo is healed. Hydrate those areas and put it out of your mind to the best of your ability! It will be worth it in the end.

Care for Old Tattoos

Now that your ink is well healed and beautiful, the aging process begins. You will notice with all tattoos that the ink spreads ever so slightly over the course of time, and this is completely normal. It’s this exact reason that your artist will (hopefully) derail you from choosing a design with too much detail in one small area, to allow room for slight ink expansion. Though this cannot be avoided, there are a few things you can do to make your tattoos look better as they age. Exfoliating regularly, with a scrub or a loofah, will help remove the very surface dry skin and brighten up tattoos. Going one step further, if you have a waxing or dermaplaning treatment done to the skin, it will brighten tattoos even better, as it is a slightly deeper service in removing those dead skin cells. SPF is important not just for your tattoos, but for the health of your skin all together, forever- so lather those pretty pieces of art on your body for longer lasting darkness in your tattoos. Keeping skin hydrated, from the inside out, will also help improve the appearance of your tattoos and is just a good rule of thumb overall. Drink lots of water, supplement with electrolytes when you need it, and moisturize after you’ve dried off after your shower.

Some tattoos do need a touch up after healing, which is recommended to wait about 6 weeks, especially fine line tattoos. Reach out to your artist if you need one, as they are typically included in the original cost of the tattoo or relatively inexpensive. Tattoos, especially those that are well done, are an investment in yourself and the better they are cared for, the longer you will be able to enjoy them! If you’re an artist looking to further your education or learn the art of fine line tattoos, the Arizona Tattoo Academy is here for you!

If you’re in the Scottsdale area and looking for a new tattoo, our tattoo artists would love to take care of you!

We hope you enjoyed this read composed by Lanna of Bold Beauty Company. See you next time!