After care advice and recommendations:
After care is a personal process, how you go about healing your new tattoo may change depending on things like tattoo style, placement and even your personal life. I will do my best to advise you on the day how best to heal the tattoo you have received. Below are some general guidelines.
Temporary dressings and creams
You want to leave the intial wrap on for a few hours, hopefully this will give you time to get to a clean environment for the first wash.
Wash your hands with antibacterial soap then remove the wrapping from your tattoo.
Use clean warm water to rinse the area; there will be a build up of blood, plasma and ink, this is normal and should be thoroughly cleansed away at this point.
Next, using a clean paper towel pat until dry.
Apply a thin layer of your chosen after care and the wrap with a clean dressing. Avoid using petroleum and lanolin based creams, such as E45 or Vaseline.
Keep this dressing on untill the next morning.
In the morning wash your hands again, remove the dressing and repeat the cleansing process.
Once clean and dry apply a thin layer of cream.
From this point onward be very cautious not to itch, rub or over expose the healing area.
Keep pets and other contaminates away - it’s an open wound.
Do not submerge the tattoo until fully healed - no swimming, baths, saunas, lakes, rivers, seas or puddles please.
Do not use sun-beds and avoid sunlight until SPF can be applied.
Do not use any skin products on the area while healing - just your chosen after creams/soaps.
Keep it clean, dry and lightly moisturised until it’s fully healed, this can take between 5-14 days depending on the style/placement etc.
Second skin
Second skin will be applied by myself at the end of the appointment.
This can stay on for up to 7 days.
While it is on you do not need to do anything another than limit sun exposure. It is water proof and will keep the area free of contaminates while healing.
If it comes off earlier than expected you will need to keep the area clean and moisturised as you would if you used a temporary dressing. Please see previous story for instruction.
To remove second skin it’s recommend you do it under running water with clean hands.
Pick up the edge of the dressing and pull the material parallel to your skin, this should stretch the dressing until it peels off, avoid pulling it away or tearing at the dressing. Once all removed lightly wash the area to remove any residue or ink. Pat dry and moisturise, the area should be well healed but should still be treated thoughtfully - use SPF and avoid excessive sunlight.