Precautions & aftercare

Look after it.

A tattoo is an open wound for two weeks and part of you for life. The day before and the month after decide how it heals, and how it looks in ten years. He goes through your piece's own routine before you leave; that comes first.

A cross-section of skin with a tattoo needle in it Three layers, top to bottom: the thin epidermis, the thick dermis holding the ink, and the hypodermis beneath. The needle reaches one to two millimetres down, into the dermis. Animated, the needle runs along laying ink in the dermis, then lifts, and the epidermis above flakes away while the ink stays. 1–2 mm 123

Why it peels, and why it stays.

The needle puts the ink a millimetre or two down, under the layer of skin that renews. The layer above it carries on renewing, and in the first fortnight it sheds the skin the needle went through. That is the flaking. The ink isn't in it.

  1. 1
    Epidermis. The surface, a tenth of a millimetre. New every three to four weeks, which is why a healed piece looks a little milky at first and clears by month three.
  2. 2
    Dermis. Where the ink sits, held by cells that don't turn over. Pick a scab before it's ready and you pull ink out with it.
  3. 3
    Hypodermis. The fat beneath. Ink put this deep spreads and blurs. Depth is the whole craft.

How it heals

  1. Day 0

    Wrapped

    You leave wrapped. Keep it on as long as you're told: a few hours for film, three to five days for a second-skin dressing. Take it off under warm water, then wash.

  2. Days 1–3

    Weeping

    Red, warm, and weeping plasma with a little ink in it. That's normal. Wash it two or three times a day, pat it dry, keep the ointment thin.

  3. Days 4–14

    Peeling

    It flakes and itches like a sunburn. That's the top layer renewing; the ink under it is fine. Don't pick, don't scratch. Moisturise, and let it fall.

  4. Weeks 3–4

    Closed

    The surface has healed and looks a little dull and milky. Keep moisturising. Still no soaking, still no sun on it.

  5. Month 3

    Settled

    The deeper layers finish and the piece comes up to its final look. Sunscreen from here on, every time it's out. Send him a healed photo.

Before you come in

  • Eat, sleep, drink water. Come fed and rested, with water in you. Low blood sugar in the chair is how people faint.
  • No alcohol the night before. Alcohol, aspirin and ibuprofen thin the blood: you bleed more, the ink holds less, and the work is harder to read.
  • No sunburn on the spot. Burnt or peeling skin can't be tattooed and gets rebooked. Moisturise the area for the week before instead.
  • Wear clothes that give access. Loose, dark, easy to move in: shorts for a thigh, a vest for a shoulder. Ink stains.
  • Say what he should know. Medication, skin conditions, allergies (latex, nickel, pigments), pregnancy, diabetes, epilepsy. None of it is awkward to say; some of it changes how he works.

Once it's wrapped

  • Keep the wrap on as told. A few hours for film; three to five days for a second-skin dressing, which can stay on in the shower. Then off under warm water.
  • Wash it, gently. Clean hands, lukewarm water, fragrance-free soap, two or three times a day. Pat dry with a clean paper towel, never a cloth one.
  • A thin layer of ointment. It should shine, not sit white; too much smothers it. From the peel on, a plain fragrance-free lotion is enough.
  • No soaking for three weeks. Pools, baths, hot tubs, the Gulf. Showers are fine; keep them short.
  • Don't pick, scratch or shave it. The flakes come off on their own. A scab pulled early takes ink with it.
  • Easy on it for a week. Clean sheets, loose clothes, no gym or heavy sweating for the first few days. Fabric rubbing a fresh tattoo costs you line.
  • Then sunscreen, for good. No sun on it until it's healed; SPF 30 or more after, every time. Sun is what fades a tattoo. Nothing else comes close.