Aftercare
Heal it properly.
A tattoo is a wound for a fortnight and healing for six weeks. The sheet you leave with is here in full, so you can find it when the film comes off on day four and you cannot remember what we said.
The healing timeline
Day 0
Leave the film on
You leave with a second-skin film over the tattoo. Leave it on for three to five days unless it leaks or lifts; a bit of ink and plasma pooling under it is normal and not an infection. Do not pick at the edges.
Days 3 to 5
Take the film off in the shower
Warm water, peel it slowly along the skin, not away from it. Wash the tattoo with unscented soap and your fingertips, rinse, pat dry with a clean paper towel. Nothing else that day.
Days 5 to 14
Thin cream, twice a day
A thin layer of an unscented moisturiser or the balm we sell, morning and night, after washing. Thin means you can barely see it; a thick layer suffocates it. It will flake and itch. Do not scratch, do not pick, do not soak it.
Weeks 2 to 6
Healed on top, not underneath
The surface heals in a fortnight; the deeper layers take six weeks. Keep it out of the sun or under factor 50, out of baths, pools and the sea, and out of the gym's grip of a sweaty sleeve for the first fortnight.
Three months
Free touch-up
Once fully healed, if a line has dropped out or colour has healed patchy, book a free touch-up with your artist. After three months, or if the tattoo has been in the sun or picked, it is charged at the minimum.
Any time
If it looks wrong, send a photo
Spreading redness after day three, heat, pus that is yellow or green, or a fever means see a pharmacist or GP today and email us the photo. Mild redness, clear fluid and flaking are normal. We answer aftercare emails the same day.
Six weeks
Do and do not.
Do
- Wash with clean hands and unscented soap, pat dry with paper towel
- Use a thin layer of unscented cream twice a day from day five
- Wear loose, clean clothing over it and sleep on clean sheets
- Keep it out of the sun, then factor 50 for life once healed
- Email a photo if anything looks wrong; we answer the same day
- Book the free touch-up at three months if a line has dropped
Do not
- Pick, scratch or peel the flakes, however much it itches
- Soak it: no baths, pools, sea, hot tubs or saunas for two weeks
- Smother it in cream, petroleum jelly or anything scented
- Re-wrap it in cling film after the second-skin comes off
- Shave over it or let a pet sleep on it for two weeks
- Train in a sweaty sleeve or a gym that uses shared mats for a fortnight
Normal, or not
Redness, flaking and clear fluid are normal. Heat, pus and fever are not.
For the first three days expect redness around the edges, some swelling, ink and clear or pinkish fluid under the film, and tenderness. From day five it flakes like sunburn and itches. All normal.
Redness spreading outward after day three, heat in the skin, yellow or green pus, a smell, red streaks, or a temperature mean a pharmacist or GP today, not tomorrow, and an email to us with a photo so the artist can see it. Infections are rare with proper aftercare and easily treated when caught early.
Book, or just walk in.
Custom work starts with a free consultation, in the studio or by video. Flash is walk-in, Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, with ID. Eighteen and over only.