CARE INSTRUCTIONS
Leave the bandage on either 2 hours or overnight. If you are going to be sleeping on hotel sheets, hey, the bandage is cleaner. Best to wear some sort of cotton clothing that covers it so that if the bandage comes loose in the night you don't end up stuck to the sheet. It won't be funny that you left a print of your tattoo on the sheet when you realise it ripped away a healed layer of skin. With some sort of pj on if you get stuck to it you can go into the shower, get it wet, and gently peel it away.
When the bandage is removed gently wash the area with a mild soap and water, working loose any bits of dried blood or ooze that might be on the surface.
DO NOT REBANDAGE. At this point you want to begin to moisturize your tattoo, and let it breathe. Use UNSCENTED good quality hand lotion frequently and sparingly. The one I personally think is the best is CUREL FRAGRANCE FREE because the main ingredients are glycerin and water. Most hand and body lotions are made of alcohol and oil, and just don't work as well. But the most important thing is that you look at the ingredients in whatever you are going to use and make sure there is NO FRAGRANCE.
Believe me, I KNOW that you are going to have friends tell you to use Neosporin or Bacitracin. Don't do it. They are antibiotics, and they have no healing value unless there is infection present. You will need them if you introduce dirt or germs into the tattoo, but for normal healing you want a moisturizer.
So keep on using the moisturizer for 2-3 weeks, at first I would say it is not too much to put it on once an hour. As soon as the tattoo begins to feel a bit tight or dry, feed it moisture! The more you do, the quicker the skin will heal over. The idea here is to PREVENT SCABBING. A scab will be the pigment pulled up and out onto the surface. Obviously if you want the brightest possible tattoo you want to leave the pigment beneath the surface. The best possible healing will be a couple of peels, like after a bad sunburn, like a snake shedding skin.
Do not pick or scratch at it while it is healing. Don't mess with the crust.
Remember to wash your hands before applying the lotion. If you have handled money your hands are filthy. If you pet an animal and then rub in lotion, eeeuuuuugh, think about where they might have been. Be sensible, remember that it is a wound that needs your help to heal.
If it is difficult for you to clean your hands every time, carry some Purel or another "waterless hand sanitiser" in your pocket. First clean your hands, then rub in the lotion. FREQUENTLY and SPARINGLY.
No direct sunlight for 2-3 weeks. This is absolutely vital with red ink, it can easily develop a photosensitivity and you DO NOT want to experience the intense itch of this reaction. But with every color of ink, even black, the sun is a major cause of new tattoos looking blurred.
No soaking in water, no swimming, hot tubbing, or direct shower water beating on it for 2-3 weeks. Of course you can keep clean, we want you not to stink when you show off your new art, but if the healing bit soaks up water it will be like going swimming when you were a kid and had a scab. Remember how the waterlogged scab would float away.......there goes your new tattoo! Seriously! No surfing, dudes!
If it does get wet in the shower, gently pat it dry , don't rub at it with a towel. Then immediately after getting dried off remoisturize it.
It is up to you to protect your investment. By giving your tattoo proper care while healing you insure that you will enjoy it for the rest of your life. It will age as gracefully as you do.
Shannonkish!
Yes, the Sun fades it... (tanning beds included) also fades them. Swimming within the first week of getting a Tattoo also fades them (quickly)
