Aftercare,in plain English.
How your tattoo looks in ten years starts in the first ten days. Follow the timeline below and you'll heal cleanly with sharp lines and saturated color. Skip a step and we can't promise the same.
Leave the wrap on.
Your artist sent you home in a sterile second-skin bandage or plastic wrap. Leave it exactly as-is until you're somewhere clean with washed hands. Do not peek.
Warm water, unscented soap.
Gently peel the wrap off in the shower. Wash the tattoo with lukewarm water and a fragrance-free soap (Dr. Bronner's baby, Dial Gold). No washcloth — clean fingers only. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Clean, dry, uncovered.
Wash 2–3 times a day. Skip lotion for the first 24 hours. After that, a rice-grain amount of unscented healing balm (Aquaphor, Hustle Butter) rubbed in until it disappears. Never smother it.
Peel and itch phase.
You'll flake like a bad sunburn. Do not pick, scratch, or pull anything off — you'll lift ink with it. Keep it moisturized and let it shed on its own schedule.
Fully healed on the surface.
The tattoo will look a little dull or shiny — that's the outer layer settling. Underneath, it's still finishing up. Keep it out of pools, saunas, and direct sun for another two weeks.
SPF is the whole game.
The single biggest killer of tattoos is UV. Once healed, hit it with SPF 30+ any time it sees sun. That's the difference between a piece that reads at 5 years and one that reads at 25.
- Wash 2–3× a day with unscented soap
- Moisturize with a thin layer of unscented balm
- Sleep on clean sheets, loose clothing over the piece
- Drink water. Skin heals faster hydrated
- No pools, hot tubs, oceans, or long baths (14 days)
- No direct sun or tanning beds while healing
- No picking, scratching, or peeling
- No gym / heavy sweat for the first 48 hours
Something looks off? Excessive redness after day 4, weeping past day 3, or a fever — text the studio directly. Free touch-ups within 6 months if the healing was on us.