I got my first tattoo about two days ago and it already looks kinda blotchy. I can upload a picture later tonight, but I don't have my camera with me right now. It is a script tattoo, about an inch tall, on my ankle.

Being my first tattoo, I did have some issues with twitching during the process, so I am worried that it may have affected the end result badly.

My artist also put A&D and seran wrap on it when I left. About two hours later I was looking up aftercare instructions and found out that seran wrap can be horrible for it, so I removed it immediately and washed my tattoo carefully with generic antibacterial bar soap.

Since then I've been applying a thin layer of A&D about three times during the day, and not applying anything overnight, to try and let the skin breathe better.

I am still having occasional twitching and some pretty bad itching, and now the tattoo is starting to look a little blotchy. The lines are still in place, and the shading looks pretty good, but just uneven in places. I seem to be losing ink whenever I wash it. I'm washing by hand, not with a rag or anything, and I have not been bandanging. The area between letters is slightly gray, but I can't tell if it is blown out or if it is just because some ink is still coming out whenever I wash it. The first wash seemed to be a significant amount of free ink, but after that it has been steadily decreasing, earlier today I only got a little on my hand and an even smaller amount on the towel when I pat-dried.

If I could get any advice on this, it would be amazing. I'll be posting pictures in about 4 hours when I get off of work.

Don't bother posting the pics man, at this point it's kinda meaningless. See, here's the thing. It takes a tattoo a minimum of two weeks to start healing, and before that time you've no idea how it's going to look. In between the scabbbing and the peeling and the lotioning and all that good shit, parts of it are going to look faded, blotchy, and what have ya.

Your best bet is to chill, and don't look at it for two weeks. If, after that time period, it still looks bad, THAT'S when you're gonna have yourself an issue. Because before then, it's in too much motion to know anything for sure.

By the way, don't second guess your artist. Unless you choose to get your ink from a scratcher, he's the expert, not some jerkoff on the internet. Seran wrap is fine, period.

Love. Peace. Metallica.

__________________
If I die, pretend I said something witty and inspiring.

Yeah, well, I'd like to see you get out of the giant robot and say that -KnightHawk

Perverted old Kung-Fu Master--wandering the west, bringing law to the lawless, Big'uns in tow

My Deviant Art

Okay, so I called my artist and he got kinda pissy at me, because he didn't say how much A&D to put on it and I've been leaving a thin layer on there. So I am fixing that and hopefully anything that I accidentally messed up in the last two days will be better by the time I go in for my 2-week checkup.

Thanks for the advice, I guess I'm just worried cause I didn't really get any aftercare instructions and I was sure I'd messed something up awful.

In my experience, different artists recommend different specific instructions, but most agree on some version of what I'm gonna tell you. It's also how I take care of my own ink. Go ahead and check out my album, I've got a few


When you're done, the artist will cover it. What they use varies by preference, but most I've seen use seran wrap. They recommend you keep it on for 2-6 hours, then remove it. My own artist told me if it's a large piece you ought to consider leaving it on over night.

Whenever you take the wrapping off, you need to wash your tattoo with warm water. Do not put your ink directly under the water, and use an unscented antibacterial soap. Plain, orange Dial works wonders. The easiest way to wash it in my experience is to, very gently, rub the soap onto your ink, cup the water in your hand, and pour it from your hand over the ink.

When you're done, gently pat the ink dry with a clean towel.

Continue washing your tattoo at least once a day in that manner, but I've been told more than twice is overkill. After two weeks or so, you can just wash it in the shower like normal again, though it most likely will still be tender. Until then though, try to keep it out of the direct stream of water.

Here's the secret about your lotion:

There's no such thing as too much. Ever. Slather as much of it on as you want, as often as you want. You'll find it helps with the burning and the discomfort a bit too.

A&D is fine, but, frankly, any unscented lotion works just as well. And don't waste your money on those special tattoo healing lotions. They don't do anymore than your average lotion. All that matters is that it's unscented, and that you put buckets of it on.


As I said in my last post, parts of your tattoo are going to look faded and blotchy while it heals. The best thing to do is chill, and wait 2 weeks. That's the magic number right there. After two weeks, it's basically skin, and everything's settled down.


Hope that helps my man.

And don't worry about fucking your tattoo up. It's part of your body now, and it's more resilient than you think. If you need anymore help, post here, and we'll fix you right up.

AND LISTEN TO YOUR ARTIST.

Love. Peace. Metallica.

__________________
If I die, pretend I said something witty and inspiring.

Yeah, well, I'd like to see you get out of the giant robot and say that -KnightHawk

Perverted old Kung-Fu Master--wandering the west, bringing law to the lawless, Big'uns in tow

My Deviant Art