It’s important to understand that with getting a tattoo you have the responsibility of taking care of it afterwards, and that getting a tattoo is essentially getting a wound. You will be poked with a lot of needles and therefor your skin will experience trauma and you have to cope with the pain - yes, tattoos hurt! So it is very important to make sure your body is prepared to deal with the pain and healing as well as being prepared to take care of it afterwards. My goal is to make the entire process comfortable and positive, and following this advice will help make that happen!
Yay! You made it through the booking process! (How to Book) Now to focus on preparing for your session. Here are some ways for you to prepare:
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Eat a decent meal before the appointment. What’s worse than dealing with the pain of a tattoo? Dealing with it while hungry. Not only that, but keeping your blood sugar levels up will help keep you from becoming lightheaded. I also recommend you to bring snacks or drinks if you are going to be sitting for a while.
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Get a good nights sleep the night before! What’s worse than dealing with the pain of a tattoo? Dealing with it while tired! Yes, this really makes a huge difference. The more tired you are, the harder it is for your body to cope with the pain. Also, don’t go out partying the night before - alcohol and other substances can not only affect your ability to deal with the pain but it also can thin your blood or mess with your immune system.
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Make sure you won’t be on antibiotics! Antibiotics attack foreign bodies in your system and a tattoo is a foreign body! It can cause really bad healing problems. You’ll have to wait until you’re at least two weeks off of them. Also make sure you don’t have something coming up soon - like surgery - if it will involve taking antibiotics (or being in a germy hospital) while you’ll be healing.
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Take care of your skin! If you tend to have really dry skin, keep it moisturized leading up to your tattoo. Moisturized skin will take the ink easier! Also, don’t get a sunburn in the area you are going to be tattooed right before your appointment!
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Bring proper clothing and a blanket. Getting tattooed for a longer period of time means your body will try pulling the blood away from your extremities and can cause you to become cold. Also the shop is usually on the cooler side so if your cold-natured I definitely recommend you bring a blanket! Also plan your outfit around what you're getting tattooed. If you are getting a sternum tattoo I recommend you bring something that buttons or zips.
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Bring a valid, non-expired photo ID. Such as a driver's license or passport. This is so we can confirm that you are over 18. I CANNOT tattoo you without this!
Also keep in mind that I can’t tattoo you if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or on antibiotics. Let me know if you are concerned about an illness you may have.
Following all of this advice will not only help to give you a more pleasant and enjoyable experience but also make it easier for you sit - therefore making it easier for me to tattoo you and be more comfortable overall!
What to avoid:
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Soaking in water or swimming. Bath water, pool water, and ESPECIALLY lake/ocean/sea water is TERRIBLE for your tattoo. Not only can some of the ink seep out while it is still fresh and open, but bodies of water can be FULL of bacteria and highly increase your risk of infection. Showers are fine, as long as you’re mindful of the tattoo and don’t wash away the scabs before they’re ready or use scented/exfoliating body wash over it.
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Sun exposure. Getting a sunburn sucks. But you know what sucks worse? Getting a sunburn ON your tattoo! That can cause extra scabbing and healing time due to healing a sunburn AND a tattoo and therefore can really mess things up. It is also not recommended to wear tight clothing around a fresh tattoo, and you absolutely can NOT apply sunscreen to it during the healing process, so it’s best to just stay out of the sun as much as possible until it’s healed. (Sunscreen is safe and actually recommended once the tattoo is healed, but NOT before.)
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Touching it! It’ll be so tempting!! But remember, it’s literally a FRESH WOUND! So don’t touch it with dirty hands! The only time it should be messed with is is when cleaning it or applying Aquaphor. Don’t let anyone else touch it, including your curious pets! Resist picking at it once it gets scabby, and don’t scratch at it when it gets itchy!
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Sweating. Sweat can have bacteria and increase the chance of an infection. I suggest taking it easy on the work outs for at least a week!
What you’ll need:
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Aquaphor
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Unscented Anti-Bacterial Soap (Softsoap, Dial, etc.)
Healing time: 2-4 weeks (depending on the tattoo)
Once your tattoo is completed, I may wrap it up in plastic wrap for you. This is to avoid it being exposed to bacteria or from rubbing on your clothes while it’s still fresh. Leave it on until you get home for the day or for at least 1-2 hours. Once you take it off, clean it gently with clean hands with warm water and plain, unscented anti-bacterial soap. (Dial, Softsoap, etc.) After you clean all the ooze off, rinse it and then pat it dry with a paper towel. (Make sure not to use any actual towels or wash cloths - the rough textures are too hard for your tattoo and they also tend to carry a lot of bacteria!) Wait 24 hours at least before applying moisturizer.
Your tattoo will ooze under the plastic wrap - that’s normal! It’s just ink, blood, and plasma. It will be sticky and gross for a couple days. It will also be sore for a while, the skin will be red and irritated, possibly swollen, and the skin will be warm to the touch. All of these things are normal for the first few days!
After you take the plastic wrap off and clean it for the first time, DON’T re-wrap it. Just let it breathe! If you can help it, keep clothes off of it for a few days, or wear loose clothes. I recommend ONLY re-wrapping it if it’s a decent sized tattoo for the first 1-2 NIGHTS only. (Since the tattoo is oozy and sticky still, it can get stuck to your bed sheets! And ONLY wrap it with plastic wrap!) Getting stuck on fabric while it’s still fresh can cause lint and fuzz to get stuck in your tattoo, or to pull ink out of your tattoo when you peel it off and cause it to heal funky. If this DOES happen, try to run some warm water over it as you remove the fabric.
After a day or two, your tattoo will start to get dry, itchy, and tight. A tattoo, like any other wound, will start to scab, peel, or flake. This is NORMAL. You're essentially getting rid of a layer of skin so you can renew it. It will also be itchy, but DON’T scratch it! ( some people don't peel or scab at all, which is also normal! Everybody's body deals with things differently.)
Apply a small amount of Aquaphor 1-2 times a day (Don’t smother it, or leave a greasy layer - just enough to soak into the tattoo. Too much moisturizer is worse than not enough - it can make scabs soggy and seep ink out) and don’t pick at the scabs or flakes. Picking at it or scabs falling off prematurely can cause ink to be pulled out, so be careful and just keep in moisturized.
While this happening the tattoo will kind of go through a gross looking phase - don’t panic! Once all the scabbing/flakiness subsides your tattoo will be fine.
What's DermShield?
A transparent bandage that covers your tattoo and is used as a form of aftercare. You may have heard it called Saniderm before. I will always ask if you want to use it or not and I usually recommend it as long as it's not in a super movable part of the body that it may not stick as well to. I especially recommend it for people working in healthcare or any job that may jeopardize the cleanliness of the tattoo.
How does it work?
Completely seals your tattoo from the outside. The blood, plasma, and ink that oozes out in the healing process collects under the bandage as opposed to drying at the surface. This creates an ink sack, you may have heard of them scrolling on TikTok. Basically the bandage will fill up with grossness to be completely honest, but keeping that moist in there helps to accelerate the healing process. Your tattoo will be close to/if not completely healed once you take it off. I will put the initial bandage on before you leave your appointment, and you will need to change it out after 24 hours and leave the second one on for 4-6 days. If you're able to keep it on that long, it will be closed to completely healed (if not completely) when you take it off.
Things to keep in mind:
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If you develop itchiness/redness around the edges of the badges, you may be having an allergic reaction the adhesive. If that's the case just take the bandage off and do regular aftercare.
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If the edges raise up a bit that's fine, but if it comes up all the way to the tattoo (to where it's no longer completely sealed), just take it off if you can't get it to stick back down. At that point it's not doing any good because the goal is to keep bacteria OUT, not trap it!
HOW TO CHANGE OUT:
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Take the initial bandage off after 24 hours (at least).
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If it's a bigger tattoo, I recommend taking it off in the shower for less of a mess if it has a big ink sack. A hot shower can help loosen the edges and make it easier to remove.
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Clean the tattoo like normal with clean hands and unscented anti-bacterial soap. Pat it completely dry.
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Peel the solid white part of the bandage off first and center the adhesive side over your tattoo, sticking it down starting in the middle and smoothing the rest of it out.
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Peel off the top layer with the +s. There will be orange arrows indicating where you can peel them off easily. Leave on for 4-6 days.
Once you take the second off, clean it and dry it again and put on a little bit of moisturizer. (I recommend aquafor, lubriderm, or cocoa butter)
The tattoo may imprint on the bandage, which is scary, but your tattoo will be safe and look normal once you clean and moisturize.
If you're able to keep the bandage on for longer it may be completely healed, if not almost. If it still seems a little dry/flakey just keep it moisturized once a day!
Once it’s done scabbing/flaking, and is nice and smooth, it’s healed! At this point, it is safe to swim or bathe, shave, etc. You may want to keep it moisturized a bit longer to keep it nice and vibrant but that’s it! When it's healed you can put on sunscreen if you're going to be out in the sun to increase the longevity of the tattoo and keep it looking great.
I do one free touch up with every tattoo within the first year. I can go in as early as a month, once it’s nice and healed, but if there’s not anything super noticeable or bothersome then I recommend waiting about 6 months to let the tattoo fully settle and make sure nothing else fades. If you're unsure if it needs a touch up, feel free to send me a picture of it and I can let you know!
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND - following this advice is important to your tattoo, your health, and to me. This advice will help prevent infections, and keep your tattoo looking great!
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS - PLEASE CONTACT ME!
Send me a DM on Insta or an email (inkbyjordi@gmail.com). I have formed this aftercare advice from seeing what works for me and my clients. There’s a billion different things on the internet, and a billion different opinions on how to take care of tattoos - this is just what I know WORKS. So if you have any questions, PLEASE ask me! I would be happy to help you!