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By infmom, August 20, 2009 10:43 am

So, are you on Twitter?  I am–click the link on the right to see what I’m talking about.

One of my Twitter friends (someone I have met offline as well) is thinking about getting a tattoo.  Naturally, I leaped at the opportunity to plug this blog.  (I’ve also handed out a few of my new spiffy MOO MiniCards this past week–yes, I’d love to have more readers).  My friend asked me about whether aloe is used in tattoos, since he’s allergic to it.

Which gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about skin care and tattoos.  I’ve talked about this in the past (see the sidebar on the right? Scroll down to the Tags section and click on “aftercare” or “skin care”) but it’s always a subject for discussion because once you’re multicolored you have to take better care of your skin if you don’t want your

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investment to fade or flake away.  Today I’m going to talk about natural (and more-natural) remedies.

Aloe vera juice is a favorite natural skin-problem remedy for many people.  I’ve had aloe vera plants for many years, starting when my kids got diaper rash.  Using it is simple–you just clip off a segment of leaf, squeeze it gently to press out the juice, and apply it to your skin.  It’s a clear gel that smooths on easily and protects your skin for quite a while.  If you don’t have plants, you can buy aloe vera juice products in most of the places where you’d buy other skin care products, but read the ingredients carefully so you don’t get a bunch of extra chemicals you don’t want.  Some of the aloe vera products sold in stores are designed to soothe sunburn and contain a mild topical anaesthetic.  You may not want to apply this to newly tattooed skin.  The idea is to keep as many possible irritants off the tattoo until it’s well healed.  After it’s healed it’s not so critical.

It’s also a good idea to keep the skin protected and moisturized during and after the healing process.  A lot of tattoo artists warn against applying petroleum products to the tattoo as it heals–but I’ve seen some of those people turn right around and recommend A&D Ointment, which is petroleum based.  Go figure.  Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is not a moisturizer, per se, but once you’ve got the skin well hydrated it helps keep the moisture inside.  Judging by how many “don’t use petroleum products” warnings I’ve seen, I would not advise putting Vaseline on a new tattoo, but once the healing is complete, you could put a very thin layer on after you bathe.  The down side to that, of course, is that petroleum jelly forms a coating on the skin rather than sinking into it and you may end up getting it on your clothes or on your bed.

As for commercial skin care products, there are zillions of them out there.  Today I’m only going to talk about the ones I have personally used and liked.  I am not a fan of putting layers of glop on my skin, tattooed or not, so I look for products that are light, contain as few noxious chemicals as possible, and are not tested on animals.

Burt’s Bees has several really good skin care formulas.  I have mentioned their Hand Salve before, because it contains almost the same ingredients as some of the products designed specifically for use on tattoos, and is more readily available.  It’s light, not greasy, and has what is to me a pleasant scent.  I know some people are sensitive to scents, though, and this one does have eucalyptus oil in it, so you might want to see if you can sniff it before you buy it.

LUSH Cosmetics has stores all over the world and a mail order catalog.  Their products use natural ingredients and are processed in small batches, and each comes with a “best used by” date.  A little LUSH goes a long way, too.  If you’re anywhere close to one of their retail outlets I recommend going in and talking to their super helpful salespeople, who will happily give you a generous sample of anything you’d like to try.  I’ve tried their skin creams, shampoo, soap, and powder and have liked them all.  One caveat:  These products tend to be strongly scented, although the scents do fade after application.  If you’re not sure, definitely get a sample and see how it “wears” for a few hours before you buy.

Avalon Organics and Kiss My Face, which you can find in health food stores and in chains like Whole Foods, also make skin care products with natural ingredients, and their formulas are designed to be kind to skin.  I currently use a lavender-citrus skin lotion from Kiss My Face, and lavender-citrus face wash and toner from Avalon.  I happen to like that combination of scents, but once again, it’d be a good idea to sniff before you buy.

I have no recommendations for more natural sunscreen products and I’d sure like to find one.  Do any of you have any experience with those that you’d like to share?

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By infmom, July 24, 2009 12:14 pm

I haven’t been writing much lately, because the 104^o heat around our not-air-conditioned house in the San Fernando Valley has made all kinds of things slow down. We close the windows and pull down the shades early in the morning before it starts heating up, and the house is never as hot as the outside, but still, day after day in a house that comes close to being 90^o gets wearying pretty quickly.

All of which got me to thinking about how one cares for tattoos in hot weather and abundant sunshine. Since I don’t have any new ink and I don’t spend a lot of time in the sun (I am a melanoma survivor) I don’t have to do much out of the ordinary. But for those of you who are in different situations, here are some suggestions.

If your ink is new and is in an area usually covered by clothing, be sure to wear lightweight fabric and loosely fitting clothes. Find some clothes at the thrift store that have a fairly busy pattern so that any weeping ink or stains won’t be so noticeable–and that you won’t mind discarding and replacing if need be. If your ink is new and it’s usually visible, do your best to stay out of the sun till it heals. The chemicals in sunscreen are not good for injured skin.

If you sweat on newly inked skin, it will sting.  You might want to keep some soft cotton handkerchiefs on hand to blot away sweat without hurting your ink.  Once again, the thrift store is a great place to look, and you can just toss the handkerchiefs when you no longer need them.

Sun has been known to fade the colors in tattoos (red is especially susceptible) and to make the ink change color (most noticeably, some black ink turns a murky dark blue or dark green). Once your tat has healed, obviously it’s important to protect it from the sun. Make sure you wear sunscreen and keep the ink out of direct sunlight as much as possible. If you go swimming, you need to be aware of the power of sunlight reflected off the water as well. The worst sunburn I ever got was when I thought I was safe because I was in the water.

What happens when tattooed skin gets sunburned? You need to be extra careful not to pick at it if it starts to peel, and you need to be extra careful not to let it get burned again. You paid a lot of money and put a lot of creativity into your ink, and it would be a shame to have it turn into a murky mess because you didn’t take simple precautions.

Do you have a sun-vs-ink tale to tell? Let me know.
photo credit: island home

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By infmom, March 4, 2009 5:44 pm

One of the more popular subjects I have covered is the issue of nickel allergies. If you haven’t read my previous posts on the subject, you can find them here and here.

Although like most things nickel is a bit more expensive than it used to be, it’s still inexpensive enough that it’s a very common element in jewelry.  And it is quite common (and easy) to be sensitized to it, especially when it’s in jewelry that goes into the skin.  I got sensitized to nickel by wearing inexpensive earrings after my first ear piercings.  I’ve since had earrings from Tiffany’s in New York that had enough nickel in them to make my ears itch.   Just because it’s high end doesn’t mean it’s nickel free.

What does this mean for tattooed people?  Well, as I mentioned before, nickel can be a component of tattoo ink, especially the blue and green shades.  If you’re already sensitive to nickel, you could end up with serious problems if that’s the kind of ink you get.  And if you’re not already sensitive to nickel, the exposure to those inks could rile up your system to the point where any further exposure to nickel-containing ink or jewelry would be a problem.

It is not easy to tell which inks contain nickel.  It might or might not be listed on the label and even the best tattoo artists might not have any indication that the ink has nickel in it till it’s too late.  That is not their fault; the manufacturers should be upfront about potential allergens in their products.

So, what to do?

Cosmetics manufacturers always advise people to do a patch test before applying any new product to vast expanses of skin.  Granted, this is not quite as easy to do with permanent tattoo ink, but the procedure can be modified to suit the purpose.  If you know already that you are sensitive to nickel, it is vital that your artist know about that in advance.  Save yourself a lot of misery and pay your artist to do a small trial patch of each color of ink somewhere inconspicuous.  Wait a week to see what happens.  If you have no reaction, then it’s likely you will be OK with that ink and you can go ahead with your design.  Better to delay the gratification of getting new ink, than to have a weeping, ugly mess on your skin for ages afterwards.

If you aren’t already sensitive to nickel, your first tattoo will probably be safe, but you don’t know if it will sensitize you.  About the only way you’ll know for sure is if your earrings and watch start itching you like crazy afterwards.  If you want to be absolutely sure the ink is safe, talk to your artist about doing a patch test first.

For allergies to nickel jewelry, if the item is something you for whatever reason don’t want to throw or give away, you can coat the part that touches your skin with clear nail polish if the item is small.  For larger items, a small can of spray lacquer or fixative from an art supply store can be used to seal the surface and keep it away from your skin.  You will have to reapply the protective coating from time to time.

Here is an informative article from the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology about nickel allergies, if you’re interested in further reading.

photo credit: Mad African!

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By infmom, September 18, 2008 12:13 pm

When one season changes into the next, the way we care for our decorations needs to change as well.

Northern Exposure

Here in the northern hemisphere, we are heading into cooler weather (well, here in southern California we aren’t, but our weather is well known to be weird). Does that mean anything different for a tattooed person?

In the colder months, many people’s skin gets dryer.  We are not sweating and encouraging our natural skin oils to come to the surface as often.  Dry skin makes a tattoo look dusty or faded, and the fine lines may appear less clear.  Dry skin feels thinner and may look more wrinkled, if your ink is on a part of the body prone to wrinkling (and it’s not just your face–look closely at the skin on the back of your hands sometime).

The ads for moisturizing products are mostly aimed at women, and mostly aimed at de-wrinkling the face.  Occasionally you will see an ad for body lotion, but those aren’t nearly as common as the “age defying” ads.  I doubt anyone wants to buy one of those overpriced “age defying” products in the itty bitty containers, and slather it all over everything.    And of course just because the ads are aimed at women doesn’t mean that men don’t need dry skin treatments during the winter months as well.

Finding a good body lotion is often a matter of trial and error.  Any time I go looking for something new, the first thing I do is take the cap off (in the store) and check how the stuff smells.  Too strong, or too unpleasant, and back on the shelf it goes.   (What can I say, I hate the smell of fake roses!)  Manufacturers change their forumulations from time to time, and even if something has been just fine in the past, a sniff test wouldn’t hurt and might save you the time to take the smelly stuff back to the store.  I suspect men would be much happier with an unscented lotion.

Are store brands worth buying?  I don’t really know.  I haven’t done enough comparison shopping.  I tend to buy the name brand kind, because I have experience with the products and I already know what I like.  With a store brand, it could be manufactured by just about anyone.   I personally like the Nivea and Olay products and I have never had a bad experience with any of them.

Apply a good body lotion (also marketed as hand lotion–as far as I can tell, they’re the same stuff with different labels) to your ink at least once a day if your skin tends to get dry or flaky.  Your ink will look better, even if it’s not out on display as much as it is in warmer weather.  And yes, men, this means you too.  Nivea makes a line of products especially for men, if you don’t want to be caught with a bottle of Jergens in your bathroom. 

Buy small sizes.  It may cost less per ounce to get the biggest one, but skin care products do not last forever.  Check the expiration date and be sure you toss the container at the appropriate time.  Expired products might work, but why take chances with your skin?

Southern Exposure

In the southern hemisphere, of course, you’re headed into summer.  In warm weather you sweat more, your skin is oilier, and you need to bathe more frequently.  Exposed areas of skin should be covered with a good sunscreen.

Buying a sunscreen is also a matter of personal preference.  It comes in lotion, gel, spray-on and stick form.  Unfortunately, most sunscreens seem to be fairly strongly scented, so the sniff test in the store is essential.  Buying a smaller size is not so essential with sunscreen, because you should be using it pretty lavishly to make sure you’re covered, and reapplying it every couple of hours if you’re going to be out in the sun a long time.  But sunscreen, like any other skin care product, doesn’t last forever.  In our household it’s a constant battle between my husband’s attitude of “If we still have the bottle, the stuff is still good” and my “If it doesn’t have an expiration date on it somewhere and we didn’t buy it this year, out it goes.”

Sunscreen is another product that is available in name brand and store brand, and once again I have no real experience with store brands.  I’m sure that if the sunscreen contains the proper chemicals and smells OK, it’d be worth a try if it saves you money.  But try a small size first, just in case.

Try to use soap or bath gel that cleans your skin without drying it out too much.  If your skin oils are depleted, the skin will just make more to replenish what was lost.  If your skin tends to break out, the natural impulse is to scrub away all that oil with vigor, but that might not be the best course of action.  Your skin is something that doesn’t need to be squeaky clean!

If you apply a moisturizer to your skin, do it with a lighter hand.  A small amount usually goes a long way, and since your skin is producing more oil in response to the warmer air, you won’t need as much lotion to make sure your skin is soft and your ink is bright.

Your turn

Do you have favorite skin care products you’d like to recommend?

photo credit: Maly Krtek
photo credit: fabcom

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By infmom, May 16, 2008 11:34 am

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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By infmom, May 21, 2007 12:49 pm

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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