AFTER CARE INSTRUCTIONS

Leave your adhesive bandage on for 3-5 days after receiving your tattoo (remove sooner if your skin appears to be increasingly red or irritated, or if you know you are sensitive to adhesives)

I’d suggest not to leave it on longer than 5 days.

-Within the first 12 hours of receiving your tattoo, you’ll likely notice some pooling of ink, blood and plasma below the bandage. This is normal! But if the bandage begins to leak, take off immediately and proceed to bandage removal.

-After 36 hours, some of the pooling ink, blood and plasma may begin to dry under the bandage and look kinda crusty. This is normal! But it’s probably approaching the time to take off the bandage.

-Do not submerge your tattoo and avoid getting overly sweaty while wearing the bandage.

-I recommend taking this off with clean dry hands at the end of a hot shower.

-Peel bandage off (along the hair grain) in a downward direction, close to the skin, like a command strip. Do not pull outwards away from your skin. (It may feel like pulling tape off of a sunburn.) 

-Once bandage is removed, gently wash with water diluted unscented soap and ensure all soap is rinsed completely off. I recommend Dials antibacterial unscentedsoap. Avoid direct water pressure and instead, splash water gently onto skin.

-Pat dry with a paper towel 

-Apply a thin layer of lotion on your tattoo. I recommend unscented “white” lotion (Lubriderm, cerve, aveeno.) or mad rabbit 

-I do not recommend Aquaphor or petroleum oil based lotions after use of a second skin bandage. Aquaphor and Second Skin do the same thing: they create a waterproof barrier from bacteria and prevent infection. Your skin should be topically healed enough when you remove your second skin bandage to prevent infection. I find that Aquaphor is too thick for this stage of aftercare and may clog the pores of your skin, increasing the risk of irritation and slowing the healing process. If you like Aquaphor for aftercare, please only use a very thin layer and switch to a regular lotion after a few days.

Trust that your body knows how to heal itself! Do not over-moisturize or treat it any differently than you normally would. We want your skin to heal as naturally as possible.