ALWAYS wash your hands before AND after you touch your tattoo.  Avoid unnecessary contact with your tattoo.  PLEASE REMEMBER your tattoo is an open wound.  You wouldn't pet on that paper cut with your dirty fingers, would ya?  No way!  The basic rules of good hygiene apply here.  

Wait the allotted time before removing your bandage.  DO NOT remove it while out at a bar, in the public restroom.  Wait until you are somewhere where you can properly clean the tattoo and dispose of your bandages in the most sanitary way possible.  (((i.e.  HOME.)))  If you get wrapped in a black bandage, you should still wait the instructed amount of time before removing....  Don't worry, your friends can wait the extra 2 hours for that facebook mobile upload!  Respect the needs of your tattoo, and the wishes of your tattoo artist, and follow these guidelines!!

Once you:  1. wash your hands  then  2. remove the bandage, thoroughly wash your tattoo with antibacterial soap.  Rub vigorously with the pads of your fingertips.  Wash it repeatedly until all the slime is removed.  The general idea is no slime = no scab!  Pat your tattoo dry (with a clean towel) and then go about your business.  

That evening or the next day (when your skin starts to feel tight and as if it might crack), apply a thin layer of the ointment instructed to you by your artist.  Super thin!  Not too much!  Just enough to relieve that tightness.  Do this a few times a day for a week or so, as you need it.

No picking at the skin as it flakes away.  Picking = color loss.

No baths.  Baths = picking = color loss.

No sun exposure for at least 2 weeks, if at all.  sun = baths = you get the idea.

You paid good money for your tattoo.  If you want it to have a long, bright, beautiful, healthy life, just follow these instructions!  You can request extra printed copies at the shop, or you can always call with questions.  Just like snowflakes, no two people have the same skin, so everyone heals differently.  

Good luck and Enjoy!

The Ink Spot Gallery

601.352.4700