But it’s not over yet.
Your fresh tattoo is to be considered a wound and has to be treated with care.
Your skin has been perforated with a lot of little stitches of a needle. The amount of bruise can be compared to a medium intense burn.
This means for you: You want to do your best possible within the upcoming days to protect this wound against further damage and especially prevent bacteria or other microorganisms from entering your body.

Below are the instructions on how to care for your new tattoo, depending on whether it was covered with plastic wrap (foil) or a protective sticker (second skin).
They are slightly different, especially the first few days.

Plastic Film/ Cling Foil

🔴 FIRST FEW DAYS
Keep the plastic foil only for a couple of hours or until you get home.

Remove the foil and wash the tattoo well with neutral/baby soap preferably, to avoid skin irritation from scented soaps.
Rub the tattoo well with the palm of your hand to remove any leftover ink, blood and plasma. NO scrubbing.

Pat dry with a clean paper towel or let it dry in open air. NO rubbing.
DON’T use a normal bath/hand towel to avoid infection or irritation.

Wash it 2x per day or more if needed – If sweaty, too dirty, etc..

Keep it clean and dry the rest of the time.

🔴 AFTER A FEW DAYS

The skin might feel dry, stiff and/or itchy. It’s normal. DON’T scratch it.
Applying a thin layer of the ‘tattoo after cream’ will help keep the skin hydrated, softer and not as itchy.
Only apply a thin layer of cream once or twice a day, after cleaning the tattoo.

❌ DON’T ❌

NO sauna, pool, beach, sea, sand, sunbathing for at least 2 weeks, to avoid infection and bad healing.

AVOID synthetic clothes, friction and pressure on the tattoo, especially for the first few days.
Example.: elastic from socks/backpack/bra/GYM

Any questions or concerns, please contact your tattooist directly 🙂

Second Skin/ Protective Sticker
(Generally used on smaller tattoos)

🔴 WHILE THE STICKER IS ON

Nothing needs to be done to the tattoo 🙂 Just avoid direct sun exposure and pressure on the tattoo.

Staying 1 night with the sticker is already good.
Staying 2 nights with it is even better.
Only keep it if it’s fully on.
If it starts peeling off and the tattoo is partially exposed OR liquids are dripping outside the sticker, then it should be removed asap.

🔴 REMOVING THE STICKER

To remove it, do it in the shower, under lukewarm water, peeling it slowly and parallel to the skin.
It’s normal for some ink to come off with the sticker.

Rub the tattoo well with the palm of your hand to remove any leftover ink, blood and plasma. NO scrubbing.

Pat dry with a clean paper towel or let it dry in open air. NO rubbing.
DON’T use a normal bath/hand towel to avoid infection or irritation.

Wash it 2x per day or more if needed – If sweaty, too dirty, etc..

Keep it clean and dry the rest of the time.

🔴 AFTER A FEW DAYS

The skin might feel dry, stiff and/or itchy. It’s normal. DON’T scratch it.
Applying a thin layer of the ‘tattoo after cream’ will help keep the skin hydrated, softer and not as itchy.
Only apply a thin layer of cream once or twice a day, after cleaning the tattoo.

❌ DON’T ❌

NO sauna, pool, beach, sea, sand, sunbathing for at least 2 weeks, to avoid infection and bad healing.

AVOID synthetic clothes, friction and pressure on the tattoo, especially for the first few days.
Example.: elastic from socks/backpack/bra/GYM

Any questions or concerns, please contact your tattooist directly 🙂

you will notice that your tattoo is getting dry and starting to peel. This is completely normal even if it doesn’t look very nice. Also this process might cause a very annoying itching. However – don’t scratch. By scratching you risk to damage this sensitive skin once more or rip out some pigment which might cause your tattoo to have holes afterwards.
If you followed our instructions to take care of your tattoo and it still hasn’t healed so well, you should contact your tattooist, to see if a free touch up is possible 🙂