Tattoo Tomorrow!

[udontno]

Well, I'm getting a tattoo tomorrow. I turn 18 and it's a birthday gift. :-) I can't wait.

Anything I should know? Should be worried about? I'm kinda nervous, but not really.

[thefirstlady]

be hydrated and eat before you go in so you don't pass out! don't psych yourself up for it. oh and remember to breathe. sounds silly but some people will hold their breath and pass out.

[Maloo]

Do you know who you're having do the tattoo? If not, make sure you ask to look at a portfolio of their work, or else you might get someone who sucks, like I did.

[fermatakid]

Make sure the place you go to is clean. Make sure you see them sterilize everything and set everything up.

[Maloo]

Oh and bring gatorade or something like that with you if it's going to be even a slightly extensive tattoo. (Basically for anything other than a tiny tattoo)

[udontno]

Okay guys, I've had it done. It wasn't that bad. The guy that did it did my dad's first tat. He has a lot of awards, member of a ton of tattoo associations, etc. He used to tattoo in LA as well but came back to be close to home.

I've attached a picture. In case you don't know, I play softball. This is a yellow heart with softball stitching, in case you can't tell.

He finished me up around 7pm and it's about 1am now... he told me to wait until around 4pm tomorrow, take a hot bath to loosen up the bandage so I'll be able to get it off. He said if I take it off dry, well it'll be stuck to my skin and it won't be good. However, bandage looks yucky and I've got some stuff I need to do tomorrow morning, I'm worried I might get hot and start sweating, loosening the tape on the bandage and what not.

So I'm wondering if I should take a bath tomorrow morning, before I go about my day?

[Ella.x]

I reckon you could, but I would replace the bandage with a new one that's less likely to come loose, just so that your tattoo is still protected during the day. It looks pretty darn amazing btw

[thefirstlady]

You never want to replace the bandage! Not sure what your tat artist told you to do but what we usually do is leave the bandage on for about 1-2 hours after the tattoo, then take a shower and wash the tattoo with antibacterial soap. About an hour after that start using an unscented lotion like lubriderm or what I prefer is baby aquaphor. It's helped all of my tattoos heal faster and brighter.

[udontno]

Well, when I woke up that morning the bandage looked kinda yucky. I knew not to replace it. I got in the tub and soaked the sucker off, but it still hurt when it finally came off. Tattoo looks great now though, I need to take a new picture.

[Eternal]

It looks lovely I'm glad you like it and I'm glad it wasn't too painful

[anony mouse.]

I love it. Your tattooist did a great job.

[Kitty.]

That's really pretty! Your tattoo artist did really well. Make sure that you keep it clean and take good care of it.

[i_am_waves]

I know it's a bit late, but you really shouldn't soak your tattoo for 3-4 weeks after you get it done. You should take showers rather than baths. And the bandage should have come off sooner, just for future reference. ^_^ Looks good, though. Cool idea.

[udontno]

Originally Posted by i_am_waves

I know it's a bit late, but you really shouldn't soak your tattoo for 3-4 weeks after you get it done. You should take showers rather than baths. And the bandage should have come off sooner, just for future reference. ^_^ Looks good, though. Cool idea.

Uhh, this is one of the things that I hate. I'm told to do one thing and I read a million other different things on the internet. I've done some research & talked to other people. They were all surprised that he told me to keep the bandage on that long.

[i_am_waves]

Originally Posted by udontno

Uhh, this is one of the things that I hate. I'm told to do one thing and I read a million other different things on the internet. I've done some research & talked to other people. They were all surprised that he told me to keep the bandage on that long.

Well, it's definitely not your fault! You were just doing what you were told. Whoever did your tattoo is at fault for not giving you reliable information. But either way, I'm sure you haven't done any harm to your tattoo. The bandage is just there to protect it from airborne bacteria after it's first done, but generally it should be taken off after about 2 hours so your skin can breathe. Like I said, you should just avoid soaking it (like in a bath or pool) for 3-4 weeks, wash it with antibacterial soap when you shower, and apply a good, non-scented lotion to it twice a day and it should heal nicely. I have a lot of tattoos, and I work at a tattoo shop, and I've always followed this process so I promise it's reliable. (:

[Maloo]

My boyfriend used to tattoo. You're definitely not supposed to soak a tattoo for a while, and you're not supposed to keep it covered for more than a couple hours either. It's definitely not supposed to stay bandaged for more than like 2 hours after you get it done. And when it comes to soaking it, that's how my friend ruined her tattoo - by going in a hot tub when it was a new tattoo, and now it's faded as shit. When a tattoo is new, it's very foreign to your body, and if you're sitting in a hot bad, it's going to open up your pores, your body is going to be pushing the ink out of your skin, and that's why your tattoo fades.

[udontno]

I don't know how in the holy heck I would have gotten that bandage off without soaking it though. The thing was like freaking glued to me.

Luckily for me, the tat is on my shoulder so I can still sit in the bathtub without it soaking. I take a bath almost every night. Also, he told me to wear white for three days? What's up with that?

Another question... when do they start to peel? The tattoo is kinda sore (not too bad), a little red, and it's already starting to flake a bit. It kinda itches some. I thought it would be a little soon for it to peel... I read somewhere that bright colors peel sooner though.

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by udontno

I don't know how in the holy heck I would have gotten that bandage off without soaking it though. The thing was like freaking glued to me.

Luckily for me, the tat is on my shoulder so I can still sit in the bathtub without it soaking. I take a bath almost every night. Also, he told me to wear white for three days? What's up with that?

Another question... when do they start to peel? The tattoo is kinda sore (not too bad), a little red, and it's already starting to flake a bit. It kinda itches some. I thought it would be a little soon for it to peel... I read somewhere that bright colors peel sooner though.

What the hell kind of bandage did they put on you?

And wearing white makes no sense. You'll ruin all your shirts because your body is going to be pushing the ink out while it's healing.

You should be putting A&D ointment (or an equivalent of that) on multiple times a day.

I'm not sure when you'll start peeling, but if you're peeling, that's when you need to be putting lotion on it a bajillion times a day. And that's not much of an exaggeration. Once you're done with ointment, you're supposed to put lotion on it like at least 5 times a day.

You're going to get extremely itchy - DO NOT SCRATCH IT!! Just slap it or something, but if you want it to look the best it can, don't scratch it, put ointment on it, don't soak it, and put lotion on it as many times a day as you can.

[udontno]

It was a regular gauze bandage thing, but whatever he put on me afterward he tattooed me he told me that it would make me bleed. The bandage would stick to me and wouldn't be able to be gotten off unless I soaked it off. Well I soaked it off and it was still hard to get off. He said if I took it off without soaking it that I'd end up pulling some of the ink out because it would be stuck to the dang bandage. Idk.

I have no idea why he told me to wear white. I went out to a nice dinner last night with my grandma in a white t-shirt because I own like nothing white. Today I wore a gray shirt, close enough.

I've been putting lotion on like crazy, but he told me not to put on too much. He showed me a SMALL amount that I should be putting on, but that just won't cutting it. I've had to put on more. Everytime it starts itching, I slap on some more lotion. I haven't scratched but it sure issues. Other than the fact that it looks like it's peeling, it looks great.

[Maloo]

Originally Posted by udontno

It was a regular gauze bandage thing, but whatever he put on me afterward he tattooed me he told me that it would make me bleed. The bandage would stick to me and wouldn't be able to be gotten off unless I soaked it off. Well I soaked it off and it was still hard to get off. He said if I took it off without soaking it that I'd end up pulling some of the ink out because it would be stuck to the dang bandage. Idk.

I have no idea why he told me to wear white. I went out to a nice dinner last night with my grandma in a white t-shirt because I own like nothing white. Today I wore a gray shirt, close enough.

I've been putting lotion on like crazy, but he told me not to put on too much. He showed me a SMALL amount that I should be putting on, but that just won't cutting it. I've had to put on more. Everytime it starts itching, I slap on some more lotion. I haven't scratched but it sure issues. Other than the fact that it looks like it's peeling, it looks great.

He may be a good tattoo artist, but it doesn't seem like he knows what he's talking about when it comes to after-care. It doesn't make sense to put a bandage on that's going to stick to you.. and there's no reason whatsoever that you have to wear white. You'll really just end up ruining all your shirts.

It's great that you're putting on more lotion every time you get itchy though. It's really good for it.

[udontno]

The more I read on the internet, the more I think that he might be a little bit off his rocker. I don't want to reveal the name of the shop because of course, it will reveal my location. The guy has been tattooing for years, a member of all of these tattoo associations, has awards, etc. He even tattooed in LA for a while. Has made a lot of money doing it, he owns a Dale Earnhardt racecar that won one of those big races...

[Maloo]

I'm sure he's good at tattooing, but that doesn't mean he knows how to take care of them. Because most of the things he told you to do were completely wrong.

[udontno]

I'd definitely go back to him for another one, but... listening to his aftercare stuff. I think not.

[Maloo]

Listen to my after-care advice instead