Tattoo Aftercare

Looking after a new tattoo is mostly a matter of leaving it alone. Your body already knows how to heal a wound, your job is just to support it. Here's my full aftercare info:

1. The basic idea

Different tattoos want slightly different handling. Most of mine are fairly light on the skin. Fine line work, textural lines and subtle shading tend to heal easily and need very little from you. Heavier blackwork, chunky solid lines and filled colour put the skin through more, so they get a bit more irritated and want a bit more support.

Either way, less is generally more. Keep it clean, moisturise lightly when it needs it, and otherwise let your body get on with it.

I sometimes describe it as the scab is your friend. You might barely notice the healing layer, or you might get some light flaking. Either way, don't do anything that makes it come away early. That means no soaking, no picking, and not letting the skin get too dry.

If you've had plenty of tattoos and know how your skin heals, treat this as a guide rather than a timetable.

2. Second skin and clingfilm: how and when to take it off

Second skin is the clear adhesive film I put over most tattoos before you leave. You can happily leave it on for up to 3 days.

A bit of blood, ink or clear fluid usually collects underneath it, sometimes enough to look alarming. That's completely normal.

It sometimes comes off earlier. Hot weather, sweating, or somewhere on the body that moves a lot will all do it. No problem. Take it off and carry on from step 3 if it:

• starts peeling away significantly
• leaks
• loses its seal

Some people react to the adhesive too. If you get itchiness, raised skin, blistering or a bruise-like rash around the edges, take it off straight away.

Taking it off

Wash your hands first. It's usually easier under lukewarm water in the shower.

Instead of pulling it up and away from your skin, gently stretch it backwards across itself so the adhesive lets go gradually. Pulling it straight up is what makes it hurt, and it can lift the healing layer with it.

Click here if you'd like to see a short video of that (opens in a new tab).

If I used clingfilm instead

If I wrapped you in clingfilm rather than second skin, that's only an initial covering, and it isn't meant to stay on for days.

Leave it on for a few hours, or until you're somewhere clean and comfortable enough to wash the tattoo. Then take it off and leave the tattoo uncovered.

If something's going to get in the way, like a long journey, a day outdoors or a shift at work, wrap it again for that. Then take it off afterwards, give it a gentle wash, pat it dry and let it breathe.

It's worth knowing why. Clingfilm keeps a tattoo clean, but it's also a barrier, and while it's on the tattoo can't really start healing. So use it when it genuinely needs the extra protection, and the rest of the time let the skin breathe and air out as much as you can.

3. Keep it clean

Once your tattoo is uncovered:

• Wash it gently with lukewarm water and a mild, fragrance-free cleanser.
• Use clean hands rather than a flannel, sponge or brush. No need to scrub.
• Twice a day is plenty for the first week or so.
• Pat it dry with clean kitchen roll, then let it air dry for a few minutes.

Use a bit of common sense too. If it gets properly dirty, brushes against something unclean, or you think it's been contaminated, give it another gentle wash rather than waiting for the next one.

4. Moisturise lightly when it needs it

The first 2–3 days

You don't really need to moisturise yet. If your second skin is still on, leave it alone. If the covering has already come off, just keep it clean and let the surface start healing.

If it starts feeling dry, tight or uncomfortable, use a tiny bit sooner. There's no point letting it get really dry on purpose.

From day 2–3 onwards

Moisturise lightly whenever the skin feels like it needs it. Straight after washing is usually a good moment, because soap dries the skin out a little and a small amount puts back what you've just taken off. Only if your skin actually wants it, though.

The important word is lightly. It should feel comfortable afterwards, not greasy or shiny.

5. Keep the products simple

You don't need specialist tattoo products. I'd much rather you used simple, boring skincare: fragrance-free, gentle, made for sensitive skin. You're only keeping it clean and putting a bit of moisture back.

What works

• For washing: something like Sanex Zero% Sensitive Shower Gel or CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser.
• For moisturising: a light, fragrance-free lotion or cream for sensitive skin, such as CeraVe Moisturising Lotion.

Those are just examples. Most pharmacies will have something suitable.

What to skip

• Vaseline, very thick ointments and heavy tattoo balms
• Straight oils such as coconut oil
• Fragranced products and essential oils
• Exfoliating acids, retinoids and other active skincare

The thick stuff makes it far too easy to put on much more than the tattoo actually needs. Simple is good.

6. Things to avoid while it heals

These ones matter. For the first few weeks:

• Don't soak it in baths, swimming pools, the sea or hot tubs. Showering is fine.
• Don't scratch, pick or peel flaky skin or scabs.
• Don't let tight or dirty clothing keep rubbing against it.
• Be careful with vigorous exercise for the full three weeks. Sweat films over a healing tattoo and keeps it damp and dirty, and working out hard also means rubbing and big stretches through the area.
• Keep it out of strong direct sunlight.
• Don't put SPF on it yet. It's greasy and full of chemicals a healing tattoo doesn't want. Cover it up instead for the first three weeks, then start using SPF.
• Avoid hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and harsh skincare products.
• Use clean towels, clothes and bedding around a fresh tattoo.

I know three weeks off exercise is a big ask for a lot of people. Certainly prioritise the first week. Beyond that, be smart with how you work out: exercise in a way that keeps sweat, rubbing and stretching away from the tattoo, and remember to give it a gentle wash afterwards.

Your tattoo might let out a bit of ink, blood or clear fluid over the first day or two, so use bedding you don't mind marking.

7. How long aftercare lasts

Unless I've told you otherwise at your appointment, your aftercare lasts three weeks.

Sometimes a tattoo needs a bit longer. The stomach, for example, gets less blood flow, so healing takes a little longer there and it might be closer to five weeks.

8. What's normal while it heals

All of this is normal, and none of it means something has gone wrong:

• A subtle amount of redness, warmth, tenderness or swelling for the first few days
• A little ink, blood or clear fluid leaking early on
• Itching, which usually turns up as it starts to dry out
• Peeling and flaking, a bit like mild sunburn
• Light scabbing, particularly over any heavier areas
• Slightly raised lines for the first week or so, which settle

The main thing is the direction it's going in. Your tattoo should gradually get calmer and more comfortable, rather than more sore or inflamed.

Shiny skin over heavier work

Where there's a lot of colour or solid fill, you can be left with a slightly shiny patch of scar tissue over the tattoo once the first few weeks are done. It can hang around for months, sometimes up to six, then fades back to normal skin. Punchier work needs the skin worked harder, and it takes a while to settle.

If you react to second skin

Take it off and gently wash the tattoo. If you normally take over-the-counter antihistamines safely, you can take your usual one, following the instructions on the packet.

9. What's not normal during healing

Get medical advice for:

• Redness or swelling that is spreading or getting worse
• Increasing heat or pain
• Yellow or green pus, or unpleasant-smelling discharge
• Red streaking
• Significant swelling
• Fever, chills, or feeling generally unwell

If you're worried about infection, or something is getting progressively worse rather than better, contact a pharmacist, GP or NHS 111.

If a second-skin reaction doesn't settle after taking the dressing off, or is getting worse, speak to a pharmacist or healthcare professional.

For difficulty breathing, or swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue or throat, call 999.

And you're always welcome to send me a photo if you're not sure about something. I'd much rather hear from you than have you worrying about aftercare.

How tattoos settle in

Your tattoo will carry on changing for the rest of your life. It heals over three to five weeks, settles into the skin over roughly the first six months, and then ages with you from there.

That's the thing that makes tattooing what it is, and I'd rather work with it than against it. It's why I draw the way I do, with organic shapes that move with the body and the skin rather than perfect geometry and rigid linework that spends its whole life fighting them.

Colour

Colour sits under your skin rather than on it, so it reads through your own melanin and shifts tone accordingly. It'll be slightly different to what you saw in the chair, and different again on somebody else's skin. It should still be clearly visible, and still tell its story.

Healed colour. The pigment is under the skin, so it reads through whatever tone the skin already is.

Grey wash and shading

I shade some of my tattoos with grey wash, which is just black pigment diluted down with water. Because it's diluted, the contrast tones back a shade or two as the tattoo heals and settles. I know that's coming, so I account for it while I'm tattooing.

Healed grey wash, a shade or so back from the day it was done.

Designing for the healed tattoo, not the photo

It's the main reason I spend so long on size, spacing and the rhythm of a design before anything goes near skin. Less is often more with this medium, and a drawing that tries to do too much is usually the one that struggles later.

I love using colour to add to the story a tattoo is telling. I'm careful about how much I ask of it though, especially in small, highly detailed or very fine areas, because I'm always picturing the tattoo years from now and not just on the day. Once you think about it that way, you get choosier about where colour goes.

Colour used in one place and left to do its job, black weight that holds its shape, and fine line kept simple enough to last.

Protecting it from the sun

Sunlight fades tattoo pigment over time, so sun protection helps yours age well. Once it's fully healed, use a broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher whenever it's getting any real sun. It keeps a tattoo looking fresh and crisp for as long as possible, and it genuinely makes a difference.

Free touch-ups

Sometimes something doesn't heal the way it was meant to. A bit of linework drops out, or the colour doesn't come back as vividly as it should. I'll do a second pass free of charge.

The right time is six to eight weeks after your appointment, once it's properly settled and we can both see what it's actually doing. Don't be shy about asking. Any artist who stands behind their own work should offer this, and I do.

That's separate from a touch-up years down the line, once a tattoo has had real wear and tear. I'll always look after my own work, and there's a small charge for that, nothing dramatic.

Eli