Aftercare
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Keep it clean.
After taking off the wrap on your fresh tattoo you will want to gently clean it, under a tap or in the shower using just water. Don’t submerge the tattoo in water if you’re having a bath. Leave the tattoo to air dry and avoid using a towel to dry it. After the second day or so you can use a gentle fragrance free, antibacterial soap to clean your tattoo. If you work in a dirty environment eg. Labouring, or live around animals. Try to keep your tattoo covered during the first week and clean it as often as possible to prevent infection. Avoid working out or
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Keep it moisturised.
Once you have taken your wrap off and the tattoo has been cleaned and dried down, you can start to use the tattoo balm to moisturise the area. This can be bought in the shop for £5. Make sure your hands and tattoo are clean before hand and apply a thin layer over the tattoo a couple of times a day. As it starts to heal, it will harden and start to flake, please don’t be alarmed this is normal. Please don’t pick at the dry areas as this could pull the ink out and cause scaring. The tattooed are may also start to get itchy, the best way to avoid scratching would be to give it a good clean and moisturise as a gentle way to satisfy that itch!
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Keep it out of the sun.
Keep your tattoo out of direct sunlight while it is healing for the first few weeks. This will avoid possible sunburn, scaring and fading of the tattoo. Once your tattoo is fully healed use a high spf sunscreen whenever you are in the sun. Overtime, long sun exposure can cause tattoos to fade, especially lighter colours which will make the tattoo look less vibrant over time.
Smaller/ less detailed tattoos.
Lighter shading/ less detailed tattoos tend to be slightly easier to care for. The same principles still apply in terms of keeping the area clean and moisturised. After your appointment you may only need to keep the wrap on for a few hours and not have to rewrap it overnight as there not be much ink leaking from the skin due to less trauma. Keep cleaning and moisturising the tattoo a 2-3 times a day and you will find it heals pretty quickly. Make sure that your tattoo is covered from direct sunlight or high spf is applied as finer lines tend to fade a lot quicker.
Larger/ heavily shaded tattoos.
For more detailed pieces you will want to reapply a wrap the night and day after getting your tattoo, the day after you will want to change the wrap around lunch time and give the tattoo a good clean. Because of the heavy shading it is completely normal to have ink leaking from the skin. When you get home from the shop, remove the wrap and clean the area, make sure your hands are also clean before rewrapping the skin with cling film. It may also be a good idea to have clean bed sheets before you go to bed.
