AFTERCARE:
Leave bandage in place for a few hours, until you get home or to a suitable place to clean and care for your new tattoo.
TODAY:
Remove bandage. If bandage sticks, run some warm soapy water over and around it to release the adhesion. Wash your hands. Gently wash the tattooed with your hands using anti-bacterial soap. We recommend Dial Gold. It is simple, and highly effective. Allow the area to air dry. Apply a thin coat of Aquaphor ointment.
DAYS 1-3:
Wash morning and night and any time you feel the cleanliness of your tattoo has been compromised. Always allow to air dry after cleaning. DO NOT DRY WITH A TOWEL!! For the first 3 DAYS ONLY, apply a thin coat of the fore mentioned healing ointment 3-5 times a day. Always wash your hands before applying the ointment and before caring for your tattoo. Should you find the ointment is irritating your skin of be negatively reactionary, discontinue its use.
DAYS 4-7:
Wash morning and night. STOP using healing ointment. Rather, switch to and use a fragrance free dye free body lotion of your choosing. Use this whenever the tattoo feels dry and/or is peeling or flaking. It is common during this phase of healing for your tattoo to become itchy. DO NOT scratch it! Applying the body lotion is the best course of action.
Your tattoo will be sore for the first few days, and can remain red, show signs of bruising. and otherwise be slightly unhappy. This is normal. Abnormal swelling, signs of puss, severe discoloration of the skin around the tattoo, or fever are NOT normal and may be signs of an infection. Should this occur, GO TO YOUR DOCTOR!!! We cannot help you with an infection that requires antibiotics, nor your bodies rejection or negative reaction to ink.
DO's and DONT's:
DO keep SPF 40 or higher on your tattoo whenever you are in direct sunlight to help prevent fading. DO this for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.
DO care for your tattoo well. The healing process is (almost) as important as the healing itself.
DON'T swim or soak your tattoo in pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers or any other bodies of water for at least 1 week, but preferably 10-14 days.
DON'T pick, scratch, bugger, or otherwise fiddle and mess with your new tattoo. Leave it be unless you are caring for it.
TOUCH UPS:
Sometimes ink from your new tattoo will go on holiday. Unfortunately, this holiday is permanent. Your ink went to the islands for some sun and fun and it is NOT coming back. However, we can replace that ink with new ink, free of charge, should that happen. This is a fairly normal occurrence, and not something to be upset by. Tattooing is just ink being placed into your skin with a needle; it is not a perfect science. This tends to happen most with fine line tattoos, such as small text, or tattoos placed on parts of the body that move frequently (i.e. wrists, feet, elbows), but it can happen anywhere. Another thing to keep in mind is that YOUR aftercare of the tattoo can make or break the finished product. If you apply too much of a healing ointment or use a healing ointment that we don't recommend, or you don't keep it clean, or you go swimming, or you rub your new tattoo against the beer-soaked bar, or any number of activities we would not advise, your tattoo CAN and WILL be affected. If you follow our aftercare instructions to the letter and always keep your tattoo clean and moisturized, it should heal beautifully and last a lifetime. If you do find that you need a touch up, just give us a call or shoot us an email and we will schedule that for you directly. We are happy to touch up all of the work we do for free. However, if you need a touch up of work you had done by someone else, normal shop rates will apply.