Immediate Care

For second skin/saniderm: Leave on for 2-4 days unless there is a lot of pooling of plasma then remove the day after your tattoo. For easy removal, remove your second skin in the shower by pulling the second skin back, keeping it more parallel to the tattoo when pulling it back, and not pulling away at a 90 angle as this can cause more tugging and irritation. Follow cleaning steps in last step of this section.

For any other kind of bandage: Remove 3-5 hours after your tattoo. This will ensure enough time for any major excretion to settle down and your tattoo will be ready for cleaning and the next steps.

Wash with gentle, unscented soap like Dr. Bronners or Cetaphil and gently but thoroughly pat dry with clean paper towel. Do not use your bath towel as you want a sanitary, never before used wiping agent on your fresh, open wound.

Aftercare

After cleaning and airing out your tattoo for the first couple of days, you may then apply a light layer of simple, unscented moisturizer like Lubriderm or coconut oil with clean hands. Coconut oil has a natural anti-microbial agent making it great for healing tattoos. Repeat 1-2 times daily for 7-10 days or as long as it takes for the scabbing to fully come off and the tattoo is healed without any more flaking happening.

If you use coconut oil, please separate from the one being used in the kitchen into it’s own container and do not double-dip.

Do not soak your tattoo in water (bath, swimming, shower) and keep it dry during the scabbed over portion of healing (7-14 days). You may gently wash your tattoo once a day within the first few days to keep it clean but it must be dried immediately after a quick wash. Though it is important to keep a fresh tattoo clean, over-washing can cause irritation during the healing process.

Once it has fully scabbed over, the scab will act as a protective layer for your tattoo while it heals and will need to be moisturized 1-2 times a day to prevent it from prematurely cracking or coming off before it has had a chance to heal and develop new skin underneath.

**DO NOT PICK THE SCABS**

Wear clean, non-abrasive, loose clothing around your tattooed area to prevent friction and allow breathing room.

Other Things to Note

If you notice redness around your second skin bandage, remove immediately and clean as you may be having an allergic reaction to second skin. Though second skin/Saniderm is an incredible agent for faster healing, it can occasional cause a reaction for some. Let the cleaned and dried tattoo air out and you should notice the redness dissipate from then on.

Avoid soaking the fresh tattoo ie: bathing, saunas/steam-rooms or heavy work-outs within the first week of healing or until the scabbing portion of the healing is complete.

Avoid scratching at your tattoo. Your tattoo will be very itchy during the healing process but it’s important to avoid scratching as that can cause further irritation, premature removal of any necessary scabbing that is healing your tattoo and may cause infection as our nails can hold a cesspool of germs under them. Lightly moisturizing with clean hands when your tattoo becomes dry and itchy can help to ease the itch.

Keep tattoo out of sun exposure while healing.

Sun protection and regular skin care will help keep your tattoo looking vivid for longer.

Depending on where the tattoo is located or your skin type, you may notice a little bit of ink fall-out in your healed tattoo. This is not uncommon. After the first month, if this is the case, reach out to me for a free touch-up within a year of getting your tattoo.