Thin lines, shading, small words, and small tattoos all fade much more quickly. Some like the effects age has on their tattoo. However, that tattoo will likely blur together if it's got too much detail. Bolder lines, thicker lines, and larger designs will better stand the test of time.
The most notable change in a tattoos appearance comes from wear and tear over a lifetime. As your skin ages, your tattoo ages with it. Although the ink will never completely disappear, over time your tattoo will begin to fade.
Bolder, deeper and darker linework looks better with age. Tattoos done in black or grey ink tend to hold up over time and are the least likely to fade when regularly protected and treated with care. Blackwork tattoos and Black & Grey tattoo styles have a high guarantee of aging gracefully.
As we age and our skin becomes more pliable, so the lines and edges of tattoos can blur, Zoeller says. "Tattoos fade because we are human and we age," she says. "Skin will wrinkle and sag, which affects the appearance of tattoos. All tattoos will soften and spread on the skin over time.
Over time, the ink may spread or fade slightly, but a well-executed fine line tattoo can still look beautiful and retain its intricate details even after many years. It's important to follow proper aftercare instructions and to avoid excessive sun exposure to help preserve the longevity of the tattoo.
Over time, cells from your immune system – called macrophages - gradually absorb the tattoo ink and disperse it, which can lead to some tattoo fading. On top of this, factors such as sunlight, friction and improper care of your tattoos can all accelerate the process of aging your skin and/or fading your tattoos.
Fine line tattoos are applied with less ink. While the ink is still embedded in the second layer of skin, the single needle does not penetrate as deeply or deposit as much ink. As a result, it is common for fine line tattoos to fade with age.
It will still look great as long as you take care of it and let it heal properly. Your tattoo will naturally fade over time. For some people, it can take only a couple of years for them to start to notice that the ink doesn't look as strong anymore. For others, tattoo fading won't be noticeable for decades.
Guess how tattoos stay there forever, even as your skin cells die and are replaced? French researchers say they have found the answer, and it's a little bit surprising. They found that immune system cells called macrophages eat the ink, and then pass it to their replacements when they die.
Apparently, the smaller your tattoo, the more likely you are to regret it. We found that 63 percent of people with a tattoo smaller than the palm of their hand regret it. However, only 2 percent of people with full-sleeves or longer, regret their tattoo.
Getting a tattoo on your shoulder will give you a piece that is going to age better than many other areas. This is because the skin tends to have fewer crease lines than other body parts. The rest of the upper arm also praises the physique.
Unfortunately, tiny tattoos may not age well. Tiny tattoos are small and have lots of detail in one concentrated space. These intricate details will be lost with time as your skin changes.
If you want to make your old tattoo as good as new again, you can use an exfoliating gel. Such gels remove dull and dead skin that covers your tattoo. In addition, the gel will remove all the signs of aging on the tattoo and make it look great again.
A tattoo that is poorly maintained can begin to experience some very slight fading after the first year. A tattoo that receives the appropriate care may not experience noticeable fading for many years – even a decade! The standard falls somewhere in the middle of that.
Tattoos that are drawn in clusters close to each other, may also blur over time, due to the skin's natural process of cell regeneration. The ageing your skin and hence the change in the elasticity of it, could also affect the boundaries of your tattoo, and cause blurring.
Following the aftercare period, depending on the type of tattoo you have gotten, the tattoo can begin to fade almost immediately. If you've had your tattoo for decades, it may not even resemble the original art you first got because of these factors breaking down the pigment and causing it to appear muddled.
The thing is, while tattoos theoretically last forever, they can fade over time. So to help you out in your fight against tattoo damage, we tapped two experts to get their best advice and pro tips on the dos and don'ts of caring for your tattoo.
This does occur with dye molecules (that's part of why new tattoos fade quickly at first), but most of the dye molecules are too big to be picked up by white blood cells. Unable to get rid of them, the body sequesters the dyes into fibroblast cells, where it hangs out basically indefinitely.
Older tattoos do tend to be removed more easily because they have typically already had some fading over time. For this reason, older tattoos will often take fewer sessions to remove than a newer tattoo would.
Tattoos can stretch and change shape, especially when it comes to more intricate patterns. The brittleness of aging skin may cause stretch marks and damage tattoo design.
"After it has healed (which can take up to 6 weeks depending on the type and size of tattoo), regular sun cream should be fine," says Hayes. “If you want to keep the colour vibrant, use a high SPF.” Don't apply irritants: A basic, fragrance free moisturiser (not Vaseline) is all you need to keep your tat hydrated.
With that being said, Kim points out that fine line tattoos do tend to fade quicker due to the fact that the ink isn't as densely packed under the skin as with other thicker tattoos. This then makes it easier for your body's immune system to attack and break the ink down before flushing it out of your system.
Do Tattoo lines get thicker as they heal? Not really as they heal but they do spread as they age. If a tattoo isn't designed to allow for that spread, the piece will become a blob.