The first 48 hours after relieving a tattoo are the most important. If you take good care of your tattoo, if will stay bright and beautiful forever.

            Wash you tattoo as many times as you can for the first 2 days (3 or 4 times is sufficient, but if you want to wash it more, you won’t wash it off!). We suggest you use baby shampoo (because it doesn’t have alcohol in it), or a mild hair shampoo (like Suave or White Rain). Use only your fingertips to massage the shampoo into the tattoo (no rags or scrubbies or sponges.)

            Once you have washed the tattoo well, let it air dry, and then apply some ointment (bacitracin, Neosporin, A&D ointment, Triple antibiotic) or mild lotion (Lubriderm, Vaseline Intensive Care). Occasionally, a person will react to the ointment. This reaction occurs as a rash (that looks like poison ivy) right around the tattoo. If you have this reaction, simply stop using the ointment, and go with one of the lotions or aloe.

            After the first 2 days, tattoo will begin looking dry and flaky, and start to itch. Please do not scratch or pick at the tattoo, as this can pull out some of the ink, and cause a light spot in the pigment.

            This flaky/itchy healing stage may last up to 3 weeks. Some people heal as quickly as 3-5 days, but 10-14 days is more common.

            You will know your tattoo is healed, when you can run your fingers across it, and not feel any roughness on it. At this point, the best care for your tattoo will be to keep it moisturized and out of the sun. Any time you are out in the sun (for the rest of your life), you should put sun block on your tattoo. Use as high a factor sun block as you can find!

            If you can do these few things (especially the sun block), your tattoo will stay bright for many, many years, and should NEVER need a touchup.