Step five - taking care of your tattoo
Tattoo care starts immediately after the tattoo is complete. Once the tattooist has finished you'll be shown the finished work to ensure you're happy with it. The tattooist will then clean it again and apply some ointment, usually Vaseline to hold in moisture and protect it. The tattoo will then be wrapped in cling film, it may seem odd at the time but the cling film keeps the tattoo from drying out and sealed in as the area is very much an open wound.
Having paid, thanked and possibly kissed your tattooist a great big thank you, you should go home or somewhere quiet to chill out. Tattooing is a draining process, your muscles will have tensed against the pain and you will unsurprisingly, feel very tired.
After a few hours you should remove the dressing and plunge the tattooed area into hot water, not so it burns the skin, just as hot as you can tolerate. It will hurt like the hot coals from hell have been applied to your skin but it has to be done as it brings blood to the skins surface and hastens the forming of a scab to heal the tattoo. Having done this, apply some ointment that your tattooist will have recommended. In recent years these have been developed as highly specialised creams, sometimes using natural oils that keep the skin moist and accelerate healing. You should apply this ointment twice daily or more depending on how dry your skin gets.
The healing process can last two weeks, during this period the scab will fall away and a new, thinner one will form and peel off. Do not ever pick the area, it will only aid to ruin your newly tattooed skin, let nature take its course.
After that your tattoo should be healed and having followed this 5 step process, you'll be extremely chuffed by your custom art. Visit your tattoist again for retouches if some ink hasn't taken in the following few weeks, they will be happy to adjust the shading or lines. Remember though, care lasts a lifetime, avoid prolonged sun exposure (as you should do anyway) as this can fade your tattoo and wear a high protection sunscreen.
Finally, love your skin, it's unique, and even more so now. 'My body is my canvas, I read like
my own history book, every high, low and love, detailed in my artists ink'. 