Multi.Colored—tattooed people, tattoo dreams

Frequently asked questions about tattoos and tattooing:

How do I get a good tattoo?

It’s not a simple or instant process, so don’t go thinking you can just walk into the nearest shop and come out with something fantastic. You’ll need to do research. Go to as many tattoo parlors as you can and look carefully at the artists’ portfolios. Never mind the flash on the walls. Concentrate on what the artist puts out as examples of his or her work. Also, when you’re out and about, if you see someone with tattoos that appeal to you, don’t be shy. Most multicolored people are delighted to hear you like their artwork. Ask where they got it. Carry something you can write on so you can make a note of where to look.

How much does it cost?

This is something each artist determines for him/herself. Most charge by the hour, and many have a one hour minimum. You should get an estimate from the artist when you discuss your design. The final price may or not be the same as the estimate, but it should give you an idea of what to expect. And be sure to bring extra money to tip the artist. Good work should be rewarded.

Can’t I just find something on the wall in the tattoo parlor I like and go with that?

Absolutely, if what you want is something that’s on the tattoo parlor wall.

What do I need to do to prepare to get tattooed?

Bathe or shower that morning. Wear clothing that you can adjust or remove without flashing the neighborhood. Eat a light meal shortly before your appointment but don’t stuff yourself. Don’t drink a lot of water or soda, because you don’t want to interrupt the artist repeatedly to go to the bathroom. Do not, under any circumstances, get drunk. If you’re nervous, have a good friend or family member go with you for support.

What do I do after I get tattooed?

Besides pay the artist and tip him or her, you mean? Be sure your artist gives you aftercare instructions. Don’t let him/her put plastic wrap over your new ink. You may want to keep the bandage on overnight so you don’t stick to your bedsheets. Wash your tattoo according to the instructions and keep it moisturized with the product your artist recommends, or with Burt’s Bees Hand Salve, which contains just about the same ingredients as proprietary after-tat products and is much more widely available. Do not pick the scabs off, do not scratch no matter how much it itches (and it will) and don’t be in a hurry to get out in the sun. Healing takes time and your body is unique, so don’t go by someone else’s timetable.

And the #1 frequently asked question: Does it hurt?

You betcha. But getting it removed hurts worse. So be very sure of what you want, where you want it, and whom you want to apply it before you start!

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Had a lot of things to do the past few days, so the post I was going to put up today, I still have to think some more about. So till I get my act together, here are some links of interest to multicolored folk. No particular order–just sites I found interesting and I hope you all do too. If you have recommendations for other good sites, please add a comment!

The Art of Tattoo
National Geographic on the history of tattoos
British Tattoo History Museum
World Wide Tattoo Designs
About.com on plastic wrap
Alliance of Professional Tattoists: Advice for tattoo artist wannabees
Pat Fish, Celtic tattoo artist
Tattoo history sourcebook

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I don’t recommend products here unless I’ve tried ‘em myself, so that limits the number of endorsements considerably.

I had heard about a company called Lush from a good friend who has been ecstatically using their products for quite a while now. She has without a doubt the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen–long, thick, curly and shining. She credits Lush’s shampoo for a lot of that.

When Ifirst heard about the company, it sounded great, but there were no stores within a convenient travel distance of where I live. The web site does a great job of describing the products, but I wanted to see them for myself before I took the plunge.

My daughter got ahead of me, though, and bought me some shampoo, soap, and hand and foot cream for Mother’s Day (and what a glorious present that was, too!) And now I can say that it’s well worth the effort to seek out a Lush store and check out what they’ve got.

I think their Helping Hands cream would do fine for tattoo aftercare. It’s not greasy, absorbs quickly and leaves a very light protective film on your skin. Lush is an international company (the link above is to the main page, where you can tell the web site where you live). It’s worth seeking out one of their stores, though, if there is one within a reasonable distance, because the staff there knows their products thoroughly and will be happy to give you a sample of anything in the store to try before you buy.

Have you tried Lush? What did you think of it?
photo credit: incurable_hippie

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I was very surprised to find out that tattoo ink can fade in the sun. I guess I thought that “permanent” really meant “permanent.” But that’s not so.

While the simple passage of time alters tattoo ink (as anyone who’s seen an elderly man with a tattoo he
got decades ago while in the military can attest) sunlight can cause the brigher colors to fade faster than they otherwise would have. Red ink, which seems to be in a class by itself already, fades most noticeably.

I’ve been able to see this in my “swoosh” of seven stars over my collarbone, which is the tattoo that I most often display in public and which has gotten a lot more sun exposure than my others. The red stars have faded more noticeably than the others (although all of them show signs of fading, and I need to go get them touched up one of these days).

Wearing sunscreen over a new tattoo is advice nearly all of us get from the artist along with other aftercare instructions, but those of us who don’t automatically reach for the sunscreen when we’re going to be out in the sun for any length of time may slack off on using it after a while. Even a little bit of sun exposure adds up over time.

Now that summer weather is beginning (it sure is hot here in Los Angeles today!) we all need to start thinking about taking better care of our decorations. Wearing sunscreen is a good idea anyway, and while it won’t completely protect a tattoo from fading (there really isn’t any magic potion that will do that) it can help. And it can also help prevent skin cancer that might really damage your decorations.

Consumer Reports magazine posted a link to a web site called Skin Deep that offers a lot of useful advice about cosmetics in general and sunscreen in particular. That link will land you on a “splash page” that asks you to give them your email address, but if you look closely you will see a link that says “no thanks” and you can click on that to get access to the site without giving them any personal information.

Taking good care of your ink is good for the rest of your body, too.

photo credit: James Jordan

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OK, so now you’ve chosen your design, chosen your artist, gone through with the tattoo process and you’re home again and enough time has passed that you can peel off the bandage, wash your new ink and admire it.

Now what?

Well, as with any healing skin wound, it’s going to weep. It’s going to itch. And later on, it’s going to peel. All of which are good reasons to grit your teeth and vow to keep your cotton-pickin’ hands OFF it. Do not scratch, rub, or try to peel yourself. What it boils down to is that you’re going to have to leave that new ink strictly alone if you want it to last.

The problem is that a new tattoo (again, like any other skin wound) is going to form a scab of sorts. (Show me one person who survived childhood without ever wanting to pick off a scab.) Scabs, being far less flexible than the underlying skin, tend to pull at their borders and break in the middle. That may lead to further scab formation. The scabs that form are likely to be colored the same as the underlying ink and it’s all the more tempting to pick at them to get rid of them once and for all.

In a word: DON’T.

If you pick those scabs off before they fall off naturally, you run the very real risk of pulling the ink off with them. Your tattoo will end up with holes in it and will look terrible. Why go to all the trouble and expense to get inked if you’re going to pick the thing to pieces afterwards? Grit your teeth. Keep your mitts off.

Keep using whatever aftercare product you chose. They will usually keep the scabs reasonably soft and less irritating. Wash the area gently with warm water at least once a day and gently pat it dry. You could follow that up with something like Bactine Hurt-Free Antiseptic Wash, which kills germs and also contains a mild topical anaesthetic that may dull the itch and prickle of healing skin. Once that’s dry, reapply your chosen aftercare product with a gentle hand.

The length of time it takes a new tattoo to heal depends entirely on the individual. Some people have smooth, irritation-free skin in a week. For some people the process takes longer, sometimes much longer. And in some cases, which I’ll address more fully in a future post, the skin may never properly heal at all.

Stay out of the sun while your skin is healing, and if your new tattoo is someplace that is normally visible when you’re outside, be sure to apply sunscreen forever after lest the sun fade the ink. (Most ink does fade and sometimes change color over time, which I’ll also talk about in more detail later on.)

The healing process is like getting the tattoo in the first place–endure a little discomfort now, enjoy your ink for a lifetime afterwards.

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So, should you use any of the specialized products designed for tattoo aftercare? (Black Cat and Tattoo Goo are two well-known brands.)

On the plus side, those were designed by people who really know about tattoo aftercare, and they contain all-natural ingredients and are far less likely to cause any kind of skin problems. They are not greasy, and easy to apply to the skin. They have a pleasant scent and come in smaller containers that hold more than enough to care for one tattoo while it’s healing. You can find both salve for immediately-after care, and lotion for long-term application. You can buy the products from many tattoo artists so you can just pick up what you need before you leave the shop.

On the minus side, those products aren’t drugstore items and they are a little on the expensive side compared to more readily available products. Since they are made from fragrant herbs (such as lavender) the scent is noticeable and everyone’s preferences in scents are different so there’s no guarantee that any one individual will like the smell. (For the record, I happen to think they smell pleasant and have used both products with no problems.) The salves are not readily absorbed into the skin so it might get on your clothing (although it doesn’t stain).

But here’s a hint for anyone who wants to try those specialized products: The ingredients in Burt’s Bees Hand Salve are almost identical, and that product can be found in almost any drugstore these days. Burt’s Bees is also all-natural, smells pleasant and is easy to apply. So if you’re not sure you want to shell out for special tattoo aftercare, it might well be worth buying a tin of Burt’s Bees. I’ve also used that and it worked great on my ankle tattoo.

So in the end what you try is up to you. It helps if you do your research ahead of time so you’re not standing in line at the drugstore with your new tattoo weeping into its covering while you sniff bottles of this and that and try to figure out what chemicals are what.

The more you do before you sit in the chair, the happier you’ll be afterwards!

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The one thing everyone agrees on is that you should protect your newly tattooed skin while it heals. The skin itself is going to get dry and flaky and the epidermis is going to peel off after the new skin forms underneath. It’s rather like what happens when you get a sunburn that peels.

So you need to keep the healing epidermis moisturized so that your new ink doesn’t peel off along with the skin. (When the skin peels off it may look like the color is going with it, but it’s nothing to be alarmed about.)

What to use to keep the skin moist is a matter of debate. Some artists suggest using some kind of antibacterial ointment. However, most of those are petroleum based and will not only keep your skin from breathing, but might well contribute to future sensitivities. In general, one should avoid antibacterials–you run the risk of irritating your skin with the chemicals, plus any bacteria on your skin may develop resistance to the medication and cause way more trouble in the future. If you’re worried about germs, washing gently with regular soap and water should do the job. Just don’t scrub your skin–in fact, don’t even use a washcloth, just your hand. Rinse it off under gently running warm water and pat (don’t rub) dry with a clean towel. Put the towel in the wash afterwards, because it may well have ink on it.

Some artists advise using a specific brand of lotion on your skin. If the artist’s clients have had good luck with that brand, there’s generally no harm in using it, but be aware that lotions contain all kinds of possibly-sensitizing ingredients as well. And even a brand that you’ve used successfully on your hands before (for regular dry skin) might cause a different reaction when put on injured skin because more of it would be absorbed into the bloodstream. However, the tattoo artists who recommend a particular brand generally have a lot of client experience to base their recommendations on, so that brand should generally be safe.

And then there are the proprietary after-tattoo products like Black Cat and Tattoo Goo. I’ll talk a bit more about those in the next installment.

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There’s no part of the whole tattoo experience that contains more contradictory advice than aftercare. What exactly does the newly tattooed person have to do to take care of the tattoo while it’s healing?

The artist will put something on your skin to cover up the new ink when it’s finished. This is a good thing, because what you have is essentially an open wound. It may or may not actually bleed, but it will weep, and it needs to be kept moist and protected while the healing process begins.

As I wrote previously, though, the common practice of slapping a piece of plastic wrap on a new tattoo is a really, really bad idea. Here is a link to an article on about.com that lays out the reasons why. If you see the artist starting to peel off a length of plastic wrap, ask him or her to put on a bandage instead.

Each artist seems to have his or her own preference for how long the bandage should stay on. Some say, just take it off when you get home and shower and leave the bandage off after that. Some say leave it on for six to eight hours. Some say overnight. My own experience leads me to advise leaving the bandage on overnight, for the simple reason that you don’t want your new ink sticking to your bed or whatever it is you sleep in. Time enough to peel it off the next morning. Then take a shower and carefully wash the area to remove any accumulated fluids. If the bandage sticks to your skin, as it likely will, just wet a washcloth with comfortably warm water and use that to saturate the bandage till it can be peeled off.

And then what? Leave the ink to dry? Put antibacterial ointment on your skin? Use hand lotion? Use a proprietary after-tattoo product? Nobody seems to agree. Some people say “Never use petroleum based products on your skin” and then turn right around and tell you to use something like A&D, which is… um, medicated Vaseline. Some people say “Don’t use anything that might irritate the skin” and then say to use some brand or other of hand or body lotion, the ingredients list of which contains all kinds of chemicals that can irritate skin. Some advise the use of fairly expensive proprietary after-tattoo products, which they have on sale at the shop.

Given the mass amount of conflicting advice out there, what’s the best course? Do whatever your artist tells you to do and hope for the best? Established tattoo artists have plenty of experience with these things, but it’s your skin that’s going to be covered with this stuff, so shouldn’t you do at least a little research before you get your ink?

I’ll cover the various options in the next couple posts.

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I was just watching an episode of “American Chopper” where (among other things) the guys from “Miami Ink” came to the OCC headquarters to give some of the guys tattoos.

First thing they did when they got done inking Rick was tape a big patch of plastic wrap over the tattoo on his back. Aiieee!

Bad, bad idea. I know that plastic wrap is very popular at many shops (and I ended up with a patch of it myself, over the
dragon on my back). But I’ve learned a bit more about it, and the latest thinking is that it’s just asking for trouble to slap that stuff on fresh ink.

For one thing, your skin is going to “weep” for quite a while after the tattoo is done. With plastic wrap stuck to your skin, that substance that you’re weeping has nowhere to go. It will accumulate under the wrap and then drizzle out wherever it can. This will concentrate all that liquid, and ink, and whatever germs are present, somewhere at the edge of the plastic wrap, and it will almost certainly leak out and get all over something.

And if it doesn’t leak, it will sit there on your skin and recirculate all the germs until you peel it off. Heaven only knows what will be growing in there by the time you get into the shower to wash your newly inked skin.

Ask your artist to please put a bandage on your skin rather than the plastic wrap. Any reputable artist will do that. You don’t need to give a reason or do anything more than make the request.

Every artist has his or her own timetable for the removal of the bandage after the ink, but if you think about it–the best time to remove the bandage is the next morning after the tattoo. Because you definitely do not want that newly inked skin sticking to either your sheets or whatever you wear to sleep in.

So restrain your curiosity, keep the plastic wrap off your skin, and leave that bandage in place till after your first night’s sleep–then carefully remove it and wash with soap that doesn’t contain a whole bunch of extra chemicals that might make you break out in hives. If you don’t have anything like that, stop by the store on the way home from the tattoo parlor and buy yourself a bar of Ivory. It’s just cheap insurance for your ink.

photo credit: harryalverson

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