Okay..so I got my first tattoo, its palm size or so, on my upper right bicep/shoulder area.. top of arm.
Anyway.. i first night I had it I smothered it in lotion, and without realizing it until 2-3 days after getting it done, you shouldn’t do that because it created like nasty lotion wall, that I had to rub off with a wet wash cloth, pretty painful.
Anyway, so I got it off, but I feel like there is still remaints of the lotion over it.. and I can’t rub them off, way to painful, and it doesn’t seem to work. Now I’m only using a pea’s worth of lotion, and spreading it evenly every couple hours and washing it 2-3 times a day with antibacterial soap. But my question is.. will this small wall of lotion go away? Because I just tried rubbing it off/soaping it off and 😮 No good.
I’m such a dumbass. It still looks fine and maybe I’m making up that its there in my head because of how much i rubbed off a couple days ago. 😮
I wouldn’t call you a dumbass, just uninformed. Now, if you were saying this shit after you fifth tattoo, then yeah, dumbass, but since this is your first, you just need to be told.
Dude, you’re supposed to start lotioning it as soon as the bandage/seran wrap/butcher paper/whatever your artist prefers, comes off. FYI, the bandage should stay on over night.
There’s no such thing as too much lotion. The build up you experienced was most likely a combination of the leftover Vasaline (or whatever, personal tastes vary) your artist used to apply the tattoo and your lotion…and it should be there. It’s a good thing.. Besides, it’s freaking petrolium jelly. It’s gonna hang out for a bit.
In the mean time, STOP SCRUBBING THE FUCKING THING! You should only wash that thing once a day with antibacterial soap, and even then DON’T SCUB! Gently cup water in your hand and dump it over the new tattoo until the soap is gone.
Your ink is most likely fine. Your ink never looks as vibrant as it does the day you get it (but my own personal experience is that if you keep it out of direct sunlight when feasible, and lotion it after every shower, it will evenetualy look almost as good). I would wait two weeks (which I’ve been told by my artist is the normal time tattoos take to heal, or at least get close to it), and if you’re still worried, call your artist.
For that matter, unless you got this done by a scratcher, that should have been you first stop.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
I gotta agree completely with KH. Lotion is a good thing and you DEFINATELY want to keep new ink moist and not let it dry out. He’s right, there is no such thing as too much lotion. And I also have to say NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER SCRUB NEW INK….AND NEVER EVER use A WASHCLOTH OR ANY OVER SCRUBING APPARATUS!!! All you should ever use to wash a new tattoo is antibacterial soap (liquid is fine) and your hand…and do it gently. You don’t want to disturb the scab (onion peel) as this is part of the body’s natural healing process. Other BIG NO-NO”S are SCRATCHING THE TATTOO OR PICKING AT IT. The scab (onion peel) will come off naturally in due time.
Every artist I’ve been to has reccomended that you pat (NOT RUB) the tattoo dry with a CLEAN TOWEL after a shower and then also allow 15-20 minutes of air-dry time before putting on lotion to insure that the scab doesn’t get water-logged. Your new ink shoukln’t feel dry/tight/crusty. Those are all signs that it’s time to moisturize again.
I also agree with KH when he says to wait 2 weeks or so and see what it looks like. Your ink is probably fine…but you might take a little longer to heal since your body had to push more lymphatic fliud to the surface to create a new scab. In the meantime, keep your ink moist and BE GENTLE WITH IT. Keep it clean and moist and things should be fine.
Every artist I’ve been to has reccomended that you pat (NOT RUB) the tattoo dry with a CLEAN TOWEL after a shower and then also allow 15-20 minutes of air-dry time before putting on lotion to insure that the scab doesn’t get water-logged. Your new ink shoukln’t feel dry/tight/crusty. Those are all signs that it’s time to moisturize again.
I also agree with KH when he says to wait 2 weeks or so and see what it looks like. Your ink is probably fine…but you might take a little longer to heal since your body had to push more lymphatic fliud to the surface to create a new scab. In the meantime, keep your ink moist and BE GENTLE WITH IT. Keep it clean and moist and things should be fine.
Jesus… fuck. This all sounds bad.
I didn’t leave the meat wrap on overnight.. i removed it when I got home within 2 hours of getting it.. probably. Then I washed it lightly, and put lotion on it.
I’ve washed it 2-3 times a day, but that one day i looked at it.. and it was like scabbong off so I rubbed it, and like little pices of black lotion remaints (How it appeared) came off.. and I thought I was fucking up.
Basically it appears a little spotty at the moment, its a straight black, fill in. No color.
Ugh, i hope I didn’t fuck up. My artist has a 100% gaurantee and will help you out or fix your ink.
So if worst came to worse.. would he just fill it back in 😮
Shit.:(
Hi
I don’t need to go into the care of it as we have covered that for future ref.
The main thing is do not panic about the tattoo – if there is any touchups needed your artist will do this for you no sweat.
The main thing is keep the area clean and do not go poking around with dirty fingernails etc. Once healed it may need a touch up in spots – it is no big deal. (I tinker with my tattoos often and get my artist to reshade or touch up as I want so no shame in it).
The best bit is you know now how to care for it if it does need a touch-up (or your next tattoo).
Take it easy and take care
Matthew
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