Some tattoo artists suggest that you only keep your tattoo covered for 1 or 2 hours. This is blood, plasma the clear part of blood , and some extra ink. Your skin will also be red and sore. It might feel slightly warm to the touch. With clean hands, wash the tattoo with warm water and a fragrance-free soap. Apply a fragrance-free and alcohol-free moisturizer.
Leave the covering off so the tattoo can heal. By now, your tattoo will have a duller, cloudier appearance. This happens as your skin heals. Scabs will start to form. When you wash, you might notice some ink running into the sink. Keep washing your tattoo once or twice a day. Let them come off naturally. Otherwise, you could pull out the ink and leave scars. At this point, your skin may feel very itchy. Gently rub on a fragrance-free and alcohol-free moisturizer several times a day to relieve the itch.
If your tattoo is still red and swollen at this point, you might have an infection. Go back to your tattoo artist or see a doctor. In this last stage of healing, most of the big flakes will be gone and the scabs should be going away. You might still see some dead skin, but it should eventually clear up too. The tattooed area might still look dry and dull. Keep moisturizing until the skin looks hydrated again.
It may take 3 to 4 months for the lower layers to completely heal. By the end of your third month, the tattoo should look as bright and vivid as the artist intended. Some lotions and creams contain artificial ingredients that can actually further irritate your skin or cause allergic reactions that interfere with the healing process, including:.
Any combination of these ingredients can affect your skin and ink. Some of these ingredients have also been linked to certain cancers with long-term use of products that contain them.
Dry healing eliminates this risk completely. But this risk is avoided if you use natural oils or moisturizers like coconut oil , jojoba oil , or shea butter. Moisturizers can help lubricate the skin and make it less likely that any scraping, picking, or rubbing makes your skin peel and your tattoo heal improperly.
They can also make your skin itch less than with dry healing. Your skin is usually kept dry during wrap healing, but the plastic can help lock in natural moisture while lymphatic fluid leak outs. Dry healing and wrap healing are similar in that neither method relies on any moisturizer to keep the skin moist.
Neither method is really better than the other. Here are important tattoo aftercare tips that you should follow no matter which method you decide to follow:.
This can slow down or interfere with the healing process. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and water before you touch your tattoo. It can be used to heal and soothe dry skin and lips, eczema rashes, and burns and scrapes, and also makes a great quick fix for taming flyaways and unruly eyebrows. Harper recommends looking for tattoo aftercare products with naturally-derived ingredients. When it comes to how your aftercare product is packaged, Olive recommends reaching for products that come with a dispenser or, alternatively, a squeezable tube.
Some of the aftercare products on this list do contain some fragrance, but both Olive and Harper recommend avoiding fragrance if possible, especially if the tattoo is extremely fresh or if your skin is on the sensitive side. Meet the Expert. Olive is the Oregon-based tattoo artist behind Damn Zippy. Harper is the Melbourne-based hand-poke artist behind Pocaharper. If you know of one we should consider, please email us at contact byrdie.
Tattoo aftercare management with a dermo-cosmetic product: improvement in discomfort sensation and skin repair quality. J Cosmet Dermatol. The role of moisturizers in addressing various kinds of dermatitis: a review. Clin Med Res.
Effects of colloidal oatmeal topical atopic dermatitis cream on skin microbiome and skin barrier properties. J Drugs Dermatol. Aloe vera for tissue engineering applications. J Funct Biomater. Anti-inflammatory and skin barrier repair effects of topical application of some plant oils.
Int J Mol Sci. Vegetable butters and oils in skin wound healing: scientific evidence for new opportunities in dermatology. Phytother Res. Thank you [email] for signing up. Please enter a valid email address. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Byrdie. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.
We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. As tempting as it can be to remove the protective cover to look at the tattoo, the bandage or plastic wrap should stay on for at least a few hours after the process. The length of time will depend on the size and location of the tattoo. After thorough hand-washing, a person can gently wash the tattoo with hypoallergenic soap and warm water using their fingers.
The moisturizer on the skin will come off, and the tattoo may appear as if it is oozing ink or a thick, sticky substance. This reaction is not usually a cause for concern, as it is just the excess fluid and ink from the tattoo process.
After washing, a person should pat the skin with a clean paper towel and allow it to air-dry for up to an hour. When the area is completely dry, they can apply a thin layer of moisturizer to the tattoo, but leave it uncovered to allow the skin to breathe.
Some tattoo artists recommend waiting between hours before applying moisturizer, though others recommend doing so as soon as the first wash. For the first couple of days, the tattooed skin may feel warm to the touch and have a reddish appearance. The colors may also appear very bright against the rest of the skin. The tattoo will become less vibrant as the healing process continues.
A person should avoid submerging the tattoo in water or getting the tattoo wet during the first 3—6 weeks, except for when washing it. A person can continue using the washing technique above throughout the first week when needed. Someone who is sitting in an air-conditioned office all day may only need to wash the tattoo once a day.
However, someone who is working in a hot or dirty environment and sweating may need to wash the tattoo every few hours. It is best to wash the tattoo with clean fingers only and not a cloth or towel, which may irritate the skin and prematurely remove any scabs that may have formed.
Scabs will often form in the first few days, and ink may still come up through the skin and need to be washed away.
It is important not to pick the scabs or scratch the skin. In general, Scabbing is not a sign of improper wound care. Scabs will form anytime the skin is injured, and can be a sign of healthy tissue forming underneath the wound. Keeping some form of antibiotic ointment or moisturizer under occlusion as long as there is no known allergy on the wound can help it heal better and the sooner this is done the better healing will happen with less chances of scarring.
Around the beginning of the second week, the scabs will start to flake off. It is important to be especially gentle with washing and moisturizing during this week, as it is easy to tear away scabs and damage the tattoo.
The skin is likely to feel very itchy during this week. However, it must not be scratched.
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