Tattoos

[Guest Glue]

22 hours/7 appointments/2g's/ later

[ColdsnapBryan]

That tattoo from b9 does rule (the traveling one).

I've got 5 more appointments scheduled Feb to finish my Isaac Asimov tattoo. The artist has been a year booked since he started working on me so I'm stoked my second sittings done.

[akuma no uta]

very very wrong, a tattoo is not an open wound, in fact a tattoo really shouldnt ever break skin, it should merely be like roadrash, just a surface disturbance, if your artist is going through the skin, then go find someone else. ive been getting tattooed for years, and the people that have tattooed me have been getting tatooed for even longer, and i spend quite a bit of time at a shop. the first 24-36 hours i have a tattoo i wash with super hot water, then cold, then super hot again maybe 20 to 25 times. scabbig is not good for a tattoo because it lifts ink out of the skin, plus when the scab comes off it takes ink with it. no scabs = no color loss. i havent had a scab on a tattoo in nearly two years, ever since i learned that the lotion blah blah blah is bullshit.

[mouko]

very very wrong, a tattoo is not an open wound, in fact a tattoo really shouldnt ever break skin, it should merely be like roadrash, just a surface disturbance, if your artist is going through the skin, then go find someone else. ive been getting tattooed for years, and the people that have tattooed me have been getting tatooed for even longer, and i spend quite a bit of time at a shop. the first 24-36 hours i have a tattoo i wash with super hot water, then cold, then super hot again maybe 20 to 25 times. scabbig is not good for a tattoo because it lifts ink out of the skin, plus when the scab comes off it takes ink with it. no scabs = no color loss. i havent had a scab on a tattoo in nearly two years, ever since i learned that the lotion blah blah blah is bullshit.

What? Not break the skin? Have you ever read about how tattoos even work? The needle breaks the first layer of the skin, lodging the ink into the 2nd layer where ink sits in place. So it does technically (and literally) break the skin. As the first layer heals, it basically seals it in.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/tattoo.htm

Anyways. Every tattoo artist and person has their own method in terms of aftercare. You might be one of the lucky ones that don't scab much when getting tattooed (my current sleeve barely scabbed), but scabbing is not a sign of a bad artist or bad ink (unless its aparent you got an infection). It's normal. It's what your body does when any part of your skin is damage. Just don't pick at it. Though some will get spotty ink even if you don't, that's normal too. I haven't heard of any tattoo that didn't need at least a small touch up after a recheck visit.

[soap]

very very wrong, a tattoo is not an open wound, in fact a tattoo really shouldnt ever break skin, it should merely be like roadrash, just a surface disturbance, if your artist is going through the skin, then go find someone else. ive been getting tattooed for years, and the people that have tattooed me have been getting tatooed for even longer, and i spend quite a bit of time at a shop. the first 24-36 hours i have a tattoo i wash with super hot water, then cold, then super hot again maybe 20 to 25 times. scabbig is not good for a tattoo because it lifts ink out of the skin, plus when the scab comes off it takes ink with it. no scabs = no color loss. i havent had a scab on a tattoo in nearly two years, ever since i learned that the lotion blah blah blah is bullshit.

Just because the tattoo doesn't form a scab like a deeper cut doesn't mean it is not a wound. Have you ever actually gotten tattooed? You know that red substance that is on the paper afterwards? That is called blood, and it doesn't just fall out of the skin for no reason. Hopefully your post was fecetious because what you have given is just terrible information. You should not expose the tattoo to super hot water 20-25 times...hopefully no one follows this advice. The tattoo peels for a week or so after it is done, and may peel a little more after this even from my experience...

My artist tells me to wash once a day for the first two days after it is done, and then try to keep it dry so it will heal faster. I have never put anything on my tats in terms of lotions...

[soap]

22 hours/7 appointments/2g's/ later

Sorry I just caught the caption...is this a full sleeve? Show the top please...

[Servo2000]

I'm thinking I might finally get my modified version of the "Black Palms" graphic tattoo (more symmetrical near the center and tapers off at the edges). Debating about whether to get around my upper arm / in sort of a crescent shape below my collarbone so it only shows up if I wear shirts with droopy / v-neck collars. The latter seems like a bit more "major" for a first-time tattoo but the bicep one might be harder to cover up if necessary (I mean, or not, really).

[Tyro1]

cool idea, go with collarbone if you do it...

also people might think its got to do with scarface?

[NatseOklim]

Or Miami Vice.

[mike lowrey]

very very wrong, a tattoo is not an open wound, in fact a tattoo really shouldnt ever break skin, it should merely be like roadrash, just a surface disturbance, if your artist is going through the skin, then go find someone else. ive been getting tattooed for years, and the people that have tattooed me have been getting tatooed for even longer, and i spend quite a bit of time at a shop. the first 24-36 hours i have a tattoo i wash with super hot water, then cold, then super hot again maybe 20 to 25 times. scabbig is not good for a tattoo because it lifts ink out of the skin, plus when the scab comes off it takes ink with it. no scabs = no color loss. i havent had a scab on a tattoo in nearly two years, ever since i learned that the lotion blah blah blah is bullshit.

getting ink under your skin without going through the skin is some next level shit

[sunkenshoes]

You should not expose the tattoo to super hot water 20-25 times...hopefully no one follows this advice. The tattoo peels for a week or so after it is done, and may peel a little more after this even from my experience...

My artist tells me to wash once a day for the first two days after it is done, and then try to keep it dry so it will heal faster. I have never put anything on my tats in terms of lotions...

My artist actually recommends me all the time to take a really hot shower just about an hour afterwards.

But whatever, just follow the advise the artist gives you and you'll be fine. Scabbing is not bad, just don't peel that shit off. Never had any scabs myself though.

[artificialsky]

in fact a tattoo really shouldnt ever break skin

this fucking guy.

[renski]

I'm thinking I might finally get my modified version of the "Black Palms" graphic tattoo (more symmetrical near the center and tapers off at the edges). Debating about whether to get around my upper arm / in sort of a crescent shape below my collarbone so it only shows up if I wear shirts with droopy / v-neck collars. The latter seems like a bit more "major" for a first-time tattoo but the bicep one might be harder to cover up if necessary (I mean, or not, really).

chest piece shouldnt be that bad as a first tat compared to stomache, ribs, neck, or feet. working on my chest piece to be done next week that will sit underneath my colllarbones.

[soap]

My artist actually recommends me all the time to take a really hot shower just about an hour afterwards.

But whatever, just follow the advise the artist gives you and you'll be fine. Scabbing is not bad, just don't peel that shit off. Never had any scabs myself though.

No mine says the same, I guess I just meant not to do so 25 times a day as this dude was suggesting.

And as long as it is under the collar bone, that wouldn't be a terrible experience for the first one. I was watching a guy get one done (just script) right on his collar bone and he was in agony...

[knucks]

I'm no expert, but here is what I did/followed my shops advice, and it worked great...

SECTION 9 - AFTERCARE

All shops have a different method of aftercare. I’ll explain how my shop does it first then I’ll explain a few other ways of doing it including how I’ve healed all of mine. Some methods work better for different people. The one thing you don’t want to use is any sporin based products such as Polysporin or Neosporin. These are medicated for infections and if you don’t have an infection they will treat the pigment as a foreign body in your skin and will pull a lot of it out making your tattoo seem faded or blotchy. You do not want to soak any scabs, this will just cause them to get thicker and will crack your tattoo. Stay away from pools (public or private), baths, hot tubs and Jacuzzis. Keep your tattoo out of the sun during the healing time and after its healed use sunscreen.

My Shops Method (good for any size tattoo)

After your tattoo is finished they will bandage it. Leave the bandage on for 6-24 hours. Take it off and hop in a shower as hot as you can stand. Do not let the water hit your tattoo directly. Place a CLEAN cloth over it and let the water hit that. Use a mild white unscented soap (dove works great) and wash your tattoo off completely. Pat dry and leave for 2-4 days. You can still shower during this time but keep them short. Once you feel the skin start to tighten up use an unscented hand moisturizer such as Vaseline Intensive Care, Curel, Lubriderm or Aveeno. Place a very small amount on your tattoo and rub it in. If the tattoo looks greasy or shiny you’ve used too much. Use a CLEAN paper towel to wipe off the excess. Be sure to wash your hands before every application of lotion. Apply lotion 3-6 times a day until all scabs have fallen off. DO NOT PICK THEM OFF. Once they’re all gone apply lotion as often as you can.

Occlusive Bandaging (good for very large tattoos)

This method is the same as they one they use on burn patients in hospitals to minimize scabbing. After your tattoo is finished they will bandage it. Leave the bandage on for 6-24 hours. Take it off and hop in a shower as hot as you can stand. Do not let the water hit your tattoo directly. Place a CLEAN cloth over it and let the water hit that. Use a mild white unscented soap (dove works great) and wash your tattoo off completely. Pat dry and leave for 2-4 days. You can still shower during this time but keep them short. Let your tattoo sit for an hour or two. Apply a very thin layer of lotion to your tattoo then place a piece of saran wrap over your tattoo. Do this 2-3 times a day for the first week of having your tattoo. This method tricks your body into thinking it already has a scab (the lotion and saran) and it will heal up very quickly. This does not work for all customers. If you don’t think you can wash and re-wrap your tattoo 2-3 times a day then don’t use this method.

My Method

After your tattoo is finished take a few paper towels and soak them in water as hot as you can stand, the hotter the better. Place the towels on your tattoo and let them sit till its cool. Pat it dry and bandage it. Leave the bandage on for 3-4 hours. Take it off and hop in a shower as hot as you can stand. Do not let the water hit your tattoo directly. Place a CLEAN cloth over it and let the water hit that. Use a mild white unscented soap (dove works great) and wash your tattoo off completely. Pat dry and leave for 2-4 days. You can still shower during this time but keep them short. This is all I do. I don’t use any lotions, creams or ointments on my tattoos until all the scabs are gone. This method works great for me but others have major problems with it.

[knucks]

getting ink under your skin without going through the skin is some next level shit

lollllllllllllllll

[mouko]

The actual meat of the chest isn't so bad. But when you get near the side near your armpit, and around the collar bone..it sucks. Anyone that has gotten tats in soft areas wil tell you its the worst, and when its near or over a bone it feels like someone is grinding your bones down.

As for the dude saying to wash it 20-25 times. I forgot to address it..but then again he's saying tats shouldn't break the skin so you probably don't want to listen to him for aftercare. All I did was wash it with warm water, mild soap right after. And lotion it up with lubriderm when its dry. Excessive washing of anything is not a good thing.

[mike lowrey]

washing also dries your skin, which obviously isn't what you want when you have a tattoo, makes it itchy as hell.

[renski]

The actual meat of the chest isn't so bad. But when you get near the side near your armpit, and around the collar bone..it sucks. Anyone that has gotten tats in soft areas wil tell you its the worst, and when its near or over a bone it feels like someone is grinding your bones down.

when i did my ribs and this was the first time i actually wanted to stop. i can take pain but this was next level. 1 hour into the session i asked for a break, my friend said we were almost done...2 hours later, he finished.

[aypeeone]

^^, I was the same with my side, it was the worst of them all and I wanted to stop the entire time but I toughed it out. I used something called Bactine on my second session and it helped a lot. The skin has to be broken at first but it sort of numbs the area and doesnt feel as bad.

Just finished my second session and quite a few more to go

[FAM0US.]

Don't know what all this hot shower talk is about, leaving it wrapped up for 6-24 hours, and re-wrapping it... This is all wtf to me.

My healing process:

1) Leave it wrapped for 1.5-2 hours.

2) Wash it off with Dial foam soap + warm water.

3) Pat it dry with clean paper towels.

4) Repeat steps 2 & 3 throughout the rest of the day until blood/ooze is gone.

5) Do nothing to it for 24 hours, not even hop in the shower.

6) After 24 hours or so, apply your first light amount of lotion (Aveeno or Curel) on it, then hop in the shower, but make it damn fast.

7) Always apply a light amount of lotion on it before hopping in the shower.

8) Apply a light amount of lotion on it every 2-3 hours until all peeling is complete. Once it's completely finished peeling, throw on a light amount of lotion every 5-6 hours for a week or two.

9) Hide your ink from direct sunlight for 3-4 weeks, and after that time period... Sunblock!

This whole process should take 3-4 weeks.

And make sure everything you use that will touch it is FRAGRANCE FREE.

[aypeeone]

homo chest piece:

[derek]

FUCKING JACKALOPE! posted:

The idea of washing the tattoo with cold water is comforting, but horseshit. When you take of the initial bandage (after at LEAST 4 or 5 hours, longer [up to 24 hours] is better), you MUST MUST MUST wash the tattoo thoroughly in water as hot as you can stand it, then a little bit hotter. You want any dried lymph and blood to be able to loosen up a bit. Showers are great, but for fuck's sake, do NOT soak it in a bathtub, swimming pool, hot tub, or a fucking lake or ocean.

Although you do NOT want to use a washcloth or sponge on your healing tattoo at all, you DO want to thoroughly and somewhat aggressively wash the living hell out of your tattoo to make sure that you get ALL of the coagulated blood and lymph off of the tattoo. Leaving any of this on the tattoo will lead to a scab, which means a rough healing process that can leave you with a shitty, busted tattoo. After washing, pat the tattoo dry with a paper towel and then apply a TINY amount of either Vitamin A&D ointment (found in the diaper section of your market), Aquaphor, or Bepathin (for you foreign dudes and dudettes). TINY AMOUNT is the key. You do not want to smother your tattoo in a slather of goo, just put enough onto the tattoo to absorb.

Don't cover your tattoo with another bandage, but you DO want to wash your tattoo off every couple of hours, dry it, and apply the ointment again. Keeping the tattoo clean is imperative to the healing. It absolutely doesn't matter if the soap is anti-bacterial or not; any mild soap will be fine (I use dove or ivory myself). Just make sure that when you wash your tattoo that your hands are clean before you touch it, so wash your hands thoroughly first (how can you tell if you have washed your hands well enough? When washing, get all the nooks and crannies while singing the "ABC" song. By the time you finish the childhood melody, your hands should be well clean enough to now wash your tattoo.

Remember to do the above steps for THREE DAYS ONLY. Using any kind of ointment for longer than that can lead to complications. You can use neosporin or bacitracin, but I don't recommend it as some people can get toxic reactions from using medications so much. I know around a dozen or so tattooists who had to go to the hospital because suddenly their bodies reacted near fatally to having neosporin on their new tattoos for days. Not good. Keeping the tattoo clean will be fine. After the initial three days of washing the tattoo like an obsessive-compulsive ape, just wash the tattoo 2-3 times a day and start applying a tiny, tiny dab of mild, unscented skin lotion to the tattoo on a limited basis. Cetaphil LOTION (not the cleanser) is a good mild brand. Don't use the lotion too much though. Obsessing on it and applying the lotion too often can lead to clogged pours and pimples on and around the tattoo.

A few days after all this, your tattoo shouldn't scab, but it will peel like a sunburn. If this is the case, congratulations, you followed the above instructions well. These peelings will be the colors of the tattoo though, and that looks like fucking hell. Don't worry though, it's not the tattoo falling out, but rather the epidermis exfoliating and carrying with it any excess pigment. Your tattoo is healing beneath that in the dermis, so don't freak out if it looks like your arm is excreting some kind of fruity children's breakfast cereal flakes.

After the tattoo is done peeling, it will look slightly shiny and waxy. At this point you can still use lotion whenever it feels too dry, but it's pretty much going to be doing fine on it's own. If the skin feels tight, you can use something like Aquaphore, coacoa butter, etc at this point because the skin is no longer open or abraded. The tattoo will take around 1-2 weeks of really babying it and then an additional 2-4 weeks of going completely back to normal. Tattooed skin actually takes around 6 weeks to absolutely, 100% heal if cared for properly. During that time, please, please, please keep it out of too much sun exposure. ESPECIALLY during the initial 2 weeks of healing. Your new skin has no real protection against UV rays, and going to get a tan on a healing tattoo will fuck it royally. Also, once your tattoo is healed, start putting a heavy sunblock on it whenever you go out for a day in the sun. What SPF? I honestly advise a SPF 50 or above. Consider your tattoo a long-term investment. Keeping the UV off of it will keep it looking good for years to come.

Other things to remember while it's healing: Don't wear tight clothing on your tattoo while healing. It's especially important if you get a tattoo on your leg to wear shorts, culottes, a dress, or something that won't rub on the tattoo. Pants rubbing on tattoo = shitty heal. If you got a tattoo on your waistline, wear something that is not constricting as much as possible for the first week. Now is the time to convince your friends that mu-mus and togas are the hight of fashion.

Other than the above advice: don't expose your healing tattoo to any belt sanders, brick dust, or cat shit and it should be fine.

This giant fucking wall of text is brought to you by a second generation tattooist who has been putting Tazmanian devils on redneck's arms for over 16 years. Don't listen to any so called tattoo experts in any bars, busses, or tv shows on how to take care of your healing tattoo.

Taken from SomethingAwful and has most of the advise I've heard and follow

[BodiesOfLight]

^^, I was the same with my side, it was the worst of them all and I wanted to stop the entire time but I toughed it out. I used something called Bactine on my second session and it helped a lot. The skin has to be broken at first but it sort of numbs the area and doesnt feel as bad.

Just finished my second session and quite a few more to go

This is badass. That must of sucked while it was healing and wearing pants

I just got my third, a hanya mask on my leg, but it's nothing special, my friend is doing an apprenticeship and I'm letting him do some work on my upper leg. Freeeee tattoosss.

[aypeeone]

It wasn't too bad. The piece does go down towards my upper thigh and a good portion onto my butt too. The butt was definetely not any fun and sucked pretty badly and that kinda sucked to sit on.

And a bit of fyi on the piece itself. It's a Japanese spiritual creature called a Baku. It's a protector of dreams and keeps away the bad spirits and whatnot. Cool meaning and looks mean.

[BodiesOfLight]

It wasn't too bad. The piece does go down towards my upper thigh and a good portion onto my butt too. The butt was definetely not any fun and sucked pretty badly and that kinda sucked to sit on.

And a bit of fyi on the piece itself. It's a Japanese spiritual creature called a Baku. It's a protector of dreams and keeps away the bad spirits and whatnot. Cool meaning and looks mean.

Is it suppose to be a elephant/lion hybrid creature?

[aypeeone]

Yep that's exactly right, lion/elephant. If you wiki baku spirit you can read about it if anyone is interested. It's pretty cool though

[artificialsky]

The thing I love about tattoos is that there are literally a million different "aftercare" methods and each one basically says all other methods are bullshit and will destroy your tattoo.

The dude who said tattoos shouldn't pierce the skin sent me a PM thanking me for the "unnecessary" neg rep. lulz.

[nicotine]

Got some of the text done on my upper inner right arm. It's soon going to say "Dreamscapes in orange remind me that the cure for the pain is to tame the pain. So in my head I just keep repeating, 'this too shall pass. this too shall pass. this too shall pass."

(P.S. Excuse the medication bottles and the Sparks can in the background.)

[Advantage]

I been wanting that phrase on me too! I see lots o people have em. Freja Beha (the model) has it on her wrist as well.

Well the phrase is true though