aftercare
what to do
Leave your bandage on for a minimum of 2 hours. Do not leave your bandage on for more than 24 hours.
ALWAYS wash your hands prior to removing your bandage, and prior to cleaning your tattoo!
Remove your bandage and wash your tattoo thoroughly with unscented soap and warm water. DO NOT use any scented soaps, or anything with perfumes. The bandage I apply is meant for SINGLE use, once it comes off please do not re-bandage your new tattoo. The bandage is not meant to be re-applied or changed.
Pat your tattoo dry with a paper towel, or allow to air dry.
Apply unscented moisturizer after 24 hours or when the tattoo starts to look dry & tight. (Aveeno, Lubriderm or any tattoo aftercare sold at Babalon Tattoo is perfect!)
Apply unscented moisturizer 3-5 times daily until your tattoo is healed.
Do not over moisturize, you will want your tattoo to breathe in order to heal, while also feeling that awesome relief of moisturizer. Over moisturizing is just as bad as re-bandaging. Please use a THIN layer. (i.e the amount of chapstick you would use).
NEVER pick or scratch your tattoo. If it becomes too itchy, lightly slap it!!
Do NOT soak your tattoo !!! No pools, baths, hot tubs, saunas, lakes ETC! This will cause the ink to fall out, or even worse, cause an infection. This is a crucial step to healing your tattoo properly.
Stay Healthy: the healthier you are, the easier your body can heal.
Keep bedding & clothing clean. Try to wear loose fitting clothing in a soft fabric for the healing duration.
Generally tattoos will look and seem healed in about 2 weeks however tattoos take 3-4 weeks for a full heal. Sometimes tattoos take longer to heal depending on location and circulation.
Please contact me if you have any concerns about the healing of your tattoo, if it becomes hot to the touch, major redness grows around the tattoo, or if you think you might have an infection.
Please do not hesitate to contact me prior if you are new to tattoos and aren’t quite sure!
what to expect
Some swelling, redness, bruising and/or tenderness.
For the first day, blood & secretions of a clear or ink coloured film or "slime".
For the first week or so, oozing is totally normal during the tattoo healing process. Please make sure to keep it CLEAN. Your body is producing the extra fluid in order to help heal your tattoo but if you do not keep your tattoo super clean, this might lead to scabbing. (which is also totally normal during healing process).
Scabbing, cracking, dry skin, flaking after a few days.
Itching & irritation.
Clothing & bedding may stick to the tattoo for the first few days. If this happens, PLEASE do not rip your tattoo off the piece of clothing or bedsheets! Take it all into the shower with you…no but seriously do it!!
what to avoid
NEVER pick at or scratch the tattoo. It will get annoyingly itchy, like I said before, just lightly slap it or tap it.
Do NOT soak or submerge the tattoo: avoid baths, saunas, hot tubs, pools and natural bodies of water until ALL scabs are gone. Your tattoo will NOT be guaranteed if you don’t follow proper instructions, and yes, we can tell ;)
Avoid the sun & sun tanning - especially when a tattoo is fresh. UV rays cause tattoos to fade. This also means fake tanning beds, as well as spray tans!
Stay away from products that contain petroleum, such as Vaseline and polysporin, as they tend to want to treat your tattoo as if it’s infected, and therefore will pull ink out instead of heal it nicely under your skin. I also recommend staying away from coconut/almond/natural oils, essential oils, scented moisturizers, Hydrogen Peroxide, baby oil, sea salts, epsom salts etc on a fresh tattoo.
Do not over moisturize or over clean. Do not pick your scabs! (Most tattoos do not scab anyway, they will for sure PEEL. Peeling is totally normal, and must be done naturally.
Do not use perfumes or makeup on the tattoo until completely healed.