-Leave your adhesive bandage on for about 48 - 72 hours after receiving your tattoo (remove sooner if your skin appears to be increasingly red or irritated, or if you know you are sensitive to adhesives)

I’d suggest not to leave it on longer than three days.

-Within the first 12 hours of receiving your tattoo, you’ll likely notice some pooling of ink, blood and plasma below the bandage. This is normal! But if the bandage begins to leak, take off immediately and proceed to bandage removal.

-After 36 hours, some of the pooling ink, blood and plasma may begin to dry under the bandage and look kinda crusty. This is normal! But it’s probably approaching the time to take off the bandage.

-I recommend taking this off with clean dry hands, or at the end of a hot shower.

-Peel bandage off (along the hair grain) in a downward direction, close to the skin, like a command strip. Do not pull outwards away from your skin. (It may feel like pulling tape off of a sunburn.) Take nice deep breaths as you pull it off, or sit down on a bench in your shower area if possible.

-Once bandage is removed, gently wash with water diluted unscented soap and ensure all soap is rinsed completely off. I recommend Dr. Bronner’s unscented castile soap. Avoid direct water pressure and instead, splash water gently onto skin.

-Pat dry with a paper towel (I like to leave some prepared pieces ready before I get in the shower) and let air dry for 10 minutes.

Occasionally I may send you home with a second bandage to apply at home. This is typically due to environmental factors (heat and weather = sweaty skin = bandages don’t stick well) or the amount of color packing we did (lots of liquid building up under the bandage). You’ll only leave the second bandage on for up to the initial 3-4 days of our appointment, so you may only have the second piece on for 24-48 hours.

-Remove bandage as normal, wash well, rinse well and pat dry. (Please rinse well as soap residue can cause rashy irritated skin under the bandage). Do not apply moisturizer

-Apply second bandage to clean dry skin by removing the white backing paper (like a sticker!), and applying directly to the skin. Try to apply to the center of the tattoo first and smooth outwards— it’s ok if there are air bubbles! Along the outside of the bandage is an orange line which you can then pinch to lift and remove, peeling off close to the skin.

-Remove the second bandage 3-4 days after receiving your tattoo

Not gonna lie, you’ve probably heard conflicting information about what to do from here. But this is my personal method…

-Apply a thin layer of lotion on your tattoo. I recommend unscented “white” lotion (Lubriderm, Cerave, etc.) or shea and coconut butter. On myself, I am currently using an organic shea butter for the first week or so, and then I prefer an essential oils blend such as Everyday Oil for the week after that.

-You may have been recommended Aquaphor for this stage… PLEASE do not use Aquaphor or petroleum based lotions. Aquaphor and Second Skin do the same thing, they create a waterproof barrier from bacteria and prevent infection. However, your skin should be topically healed enough when you remove your second skin bandage to prevent against this. Aquaphor is too thick for this stage of aftercare and may clog the pores of your skin, increasing the risk of irritation and slowing the healing process.

Trust that your body knows how to heal itself! Do not over-moisturize or treat it any differently than you normally would. We want your skin to heal as naturally as possible.

-Take off adhesive bandage 4-6 hours after receiving your tattoo (or the next day, if it’s an evening session)

-With clean hands, remove the bandage and gently wash with water diluted unscented soap and ensure all soap is rinsed completely off. I recommend Dr. Bronner’s unscented castile soap. Avoid direct water pressure and instead, splash water onto skin.

-Pat dry with a paper towel (I like to leave some prepared pieces ready before I get in the shower) and let air dry for 10 minutes.

See above “Adhesive Bandage” Text for my recommended lotion application routine.

-After removing your bandage and for the next three days, wash your tattoo 1-2 times per day with water diluted unscented soap and ensure all soap is rinsed completely off, pat dry with paper towels, let air dry, and moisturize with your preferred unscented lotion for at least two weeks after receiving the tattoo. I like to keep a little bag with a bottle of soap and lotion and some clean paper towels with me during this time to apply as needed if I’m not going to be at home.

-Please be cautious of over-moisturizing. We want the tattoo scab to flake off as naturally as it would a normal scab. Over-moisturizing doesn’t allow the scab to form correctly and may result in a duller looking and less contrasty tattoo.

-Continue to wash & moisturize at least once per day.

-Until the tattoo is healed, avoid prolonged sun exposure and the beach, avoid getting overly sweaty, avoid submerging your tattoo entirely in water (i.e. bath, pool, ocean, etc.), and avoid tight clothing on the area that was tattooed. 

-During this time, your tattoo may appear dry, flaky, scabbing, itchy, red, etc. Remember this is a fresh wound and to treat it with care! Your tattoo will be healed when it is no longer doing those things. If it appears to be doing anything else (rash, bumps, excessive pus or bleeding, etc.), please contact me as well as your dermatologist/doctor.

For relief from itchiness, you can use a cold compress over the tattoo with a cloth barrier between it and your skin. If you are a topical CBD user, you can work a small amount (1-2 drops or a squeeze smaller than a dime) into your moisturizer. I do not recommend using topical CBD in the first week when the wound is still open or until the scab begins shedding naturally.