Before leaving the appointment, you will be bandaged to protect your tattoo and prevent anything that might contaminate your skin and cause infection. Leave the dressing on for up to an hour.

Once you are home, wash hands with unscented, antibacterial soap. Remove the bandage and immediately, with clean hands (No Washcloth), gently wash the tattoo with the same unscented antibacterial soap and rinse with cold water. Cool water will help reduce redness and swelling.

After cleaning your tattoo, gently pat it dry with clean paper towels, do NOT wipe it. When it’s dry, you can put a small amount of Auqafor or tattoo aftercare ointment like Redemption. Using to much ointment will interfere with the healing process, so if your tattoo is still shiny after 5 minutes, you’ve used to much. Wash it off and reapply using a smaller amount.

You will need to repeat this process 3-4 times a day for the first few days. After that, you can switch to an unscented white hand lotion. Brands like Lubriderm, Aveeno, Cetaphil, Eucerin are all great; even Palmer’s Cocoa Butter works well. Lotion should be applied using clean hands whenever your tattoo feels dry.

For the first 2-3 weeks you will have to avoid as much sun contact as possible on your tattoo. Submerging your tattoo in water or exposing it to prolonged sun will hinder the outcome of the healed tattoo. That being said, you can still take showers and get the tattoo wet but NO BEACH, POOL, HOTTUB etc. During the healing process it may itch from time to time, do NOT scratch or pick at it. You can try patting the tattoo with your hand to alleviate the itching. Allow any scabs to fall off on their own; you don’t need to help things along by picking at them.

A tattoo heals much like a sunburn, so try to wear loose fitting clothing while its healing. Anything rubbing against it will irritate it, resulting in longer heal time. If you have pets, their hair tends to get stuck in fresh tattoos while laying in bed so covering the tattoo with a non stick pad / bandage (seran wrap) while you sleep will help. (don’t do for more than the first 2 nights).