Tattoo Aftercare | Tips for Healing

Three and a half months after uploading My Tattoo Tag up onto my youtube channel, almost 41k views later and your endless requests, I thought it was about time I talked to you guys about my tips and tricks for the healing process after getting a tattoo. If you've never gotten a tattoo before - you might not know what happens. Basically, after getting a tattoo you may experience some soreness, redness, swelling and even bruising depending on your skin. Then after that, it can get itchy as the tattoo goes through a sort of scaly scabbing period where the skin the ink was put in has a texture to it similar to well... a scabby scale. This can last anywhere from 1-4+ weeks.

For me personally, I like to follow these three golden rules:

1. Don't pick at it.

2. Don't scratch it.

3. Listen to what your tattoo artist says.

I mean you trusted them to permanently ink your skin, trust them how to heal it.

Everyone is different though, and every artist will tell you something different. So I thought I would ask a few people in my life this question:

What did you do to heal your tattoos?

"Well I don't put any creams on it or anything, I usually just avoid sun exposure as much as possible (obviously if it's like on the arm or collarbone etc it'll be hard). When showering I just avoid soaking my tattoo for more than 30 seconds. But the most important thing I'd say is to NEVER EVER pick or scratch at it, no matter how itchy it gets. Like it gets so itchy and it sucks but I pretty much slap where it itches multiple times until it stops" -Ashraqat Ahmed (bff)

"I use neutragena non scented soap and clean my tattoo 2-3 times a day for about the first four days . After cleansing (gentle! Don't want to irritate/tear off scabbing!) I dry with a soft paper towel and apply non scented lotion (aveeno rocks) and then after the first initial scabbing I wash once or twice a day and lotion continuously until no more scabs happen" - Cheyenne Mabberley (bad ass MUA)

"I just moisturized it multiple times a day for a couple of weeks and it healed beautifully" - Alyssa Nielsen (sister)

"I just try and leave it alone to do it's thing. If it's really itchy and scabby and just overall bad (this has only happened maybe 3 times in 9 tattoos) I'll put some hypoallergenic unscented moisturizer on it (ex. Tattoo Goo or Bepanthen). The biggest thing for me though is to not pick at it or scratch it (slap it if it's really itchy) and try and not soak it in water for too long." - Me (you know, Coley)