Sorry if this is a little long-winded but I wanted to be thorough …

My first tat was a small piece on my ankle and my artist recommended Aquaphor 2-3 days and then Lubriderm for another 2 weeks after that. I had no issues with the Aquaphor at all. The Lubriderm didn’t give me any issues until a couple days before I was suppose to stop using it. At this point, I got 2-3 medium-sized red bumps so I stopped using it immediately.

I just got my 2nd tat last week, which is on my upper arm and about 4x larger than my 1st tat. The artist recommend Aquaphor for 4 days and any type of unscented lotion for a week. For the first 3 days, I had no issues. At about 3.5 days, I broke out with 2 patches of tiny red bumps. They were mildly itchy, but my bigger concern was obviously that they might f**k up the ink. As soon as I noticed them, I washed off the Aquaphor thoroughly. Since it was Saturday night and the shop was closed, I couldn’t ask them what to do next. I know generally it is recommended that you stop everything at this point, but I envisioned a seriously f*cked up tattoo by letting it dry out and scab so I took a gamble. After doing some quick research on common allergies to the ingredients, I ran out and got some Curel, which doesn’t have Lanolin or mineral oil in it. After 1.5 days, the bumps are barely visible and all seems right with the world again.

It seems that I am allergic to something in Aquaphor, but it’s strange that I had no reaction the first time. Has anyone else experienced (or seen) a reaction that only occurs after more prolonged usage (used an extra day this time under artist’s instructions) or when it’s used over larger surface areas?

Secondly, if I am somewhat allergic to mineral oil or lanolin, what are some other good options for tattoo #3 for the first few days?