Tattoo Care After 2 Weeks – Days 15 to 30 If your tattoo looks dry and dull, continue to moisturize to rehydrate the skin. It may take another month or two for the lower layers of skin to completely heal, at which point the tattoo should look as bright and vivid as you expected, and as the artist intended.
Why do tattoos fade when healing? Sometime between two to four weeks after getting a new tattoo – when your tattoo scabs and/or peels - your new ink may appear more faded and duller than expected. Don't worry, this is completely natural.
Weeks 3 and 4
During this stage of the healing process your new ink may appear a little less vibrant than you were expecting. This is because a layer of dry skin can form over your new tattoo. Over the next week or so this will naturally exfoliate itself, revealing your tattoo underneath in all its vibrant glory.
Is that normal? A tattoo is VERY bright when it is first completed but during the healing process, it starts to look discolored and dull. Don't worry, when the tattoo is finished healing, the color will come back.
Over-moisturising can lead to inflamed tattoos and potentially infection. Excess moisture can clog your skin's pores which prevents it from breathing, something that's important for your skin to heal. This can lead to breakouts on the skin that can damage the tattoo.
Signs of an Overworked Tattoo
A Change in Appearance - If the tattoo looks faded, pale, cloudy, blurry, or heavily distorted, this could be a sign of overworked skin. This may also appear as ink distortion and blurring. During a tattoo, ink needs to be deposited in your dermis so the pigment stays put.
Over-Cleansing or Exfoliating Your Skin
Scrubbing off layers of skin from your tattoo routinely will not keep it looking fresh and can make it fade faster. If you over cleanse, you are removing the protective layer of skin away too much which can cause a lot of irritation.
This layer of skin is called 'silver skin' and will make the tattoo look a little shiny and dull. The brightness will return in time once the tattoo is fully healed.
A patchy tattoo could be the result of bad technique; if the artist hasn't made sure the ink is deep enough to stay put. It could also be due to them not 'packing' the ink enough; certain ink colours, or areas of concentrated black, often need to be packed in quite a lot in order to create a solid area of colour.
Tattoo cream: how many days you need to apply it for optimal skin healing. After getting a tattoo, you should moisturize it daily for at least 10 to 14 days. Respecting these timeframes is absolutely crucial because, if your skin dries out, you are likely to get very disappointing results.
Your skin is building itself back up again, so it's new skin that you're seeing. Your shiny new skin is called “onion skin.” It will go away from anywhere between 2–8 weeks.
A great tattoo should have fully saturated black, color and shading. When it recovers, there should not be gaps or shapes in the tattoo that show it wasn't completed properly. The lines of a tattoo must be crisp, straight, and constant throughout the tattoo. Wonky lines are a big indicator of an unskilled artist.
In addition to excessive pain, bleeding, and scabbing, a tattoo that is too deep may also have a blurred or distorted appearance. When the needle goes too deep, it can cause the ink to spread beyond the intended area, leading to a smudged or blurry appearance.
When a tattooer doesn't go deep enough with their needles, the tattoo won't stick and will be more prone to rapid fading. Blowouts occur when a tattooer inks too deep and they're the result of tattoo ink spilling throughout the layers of skin.
Until the surface of the tattoo is healed (at a minimum of two to three weeks), wash the area gently 2-3 times per day. After cleaning the tattoo during this two to three week period, gently apply a thin coat of a lotion-based care product. We recommend After Inked tattoo moisturizer and aftercare lotion.
When you over moisturize your tattoo, you can actually delay the healing process. Excess moisture in the skin creates the perfect environment for bacteria and germ growth, so one of the key signs is irritated, inflamed skin. Another key sign of over moisturizing is clogged skin.
Yes! Moisturizing your tattoo regularly is extremely important. You should moisturize your clean tattoo 3 – 6 times per day, for roughly two weeks (though proper skincare is always important, and most tattoo enthusiasts moisturize their tattoos daily for life!).
Around four days after getting your tattoo, the redness and drainage should subside. The tattoo often takes on a cloudy appearance as scabs start to form over the ink.
You may have heard some rumours that Bepanthen shouldn't be used on new tattoos, but this absolutely isn't the case. Bepanthen is by far one of the most highly recommended tattoo aftercare products and is the go-to ointment for most tattoo artists and studios.
After the first month, you still need to be diligent about protecting and caring for your tattoo as it could take 3 to 4 months for the lower layers of skin to heal fully and completely. You are completely healed when your tattoo surface is clear and has an even texture and feeling as the rest of your skin.