When your tattoo is healing it is key to make sure you do all the right things to make sure that tattoo heals properly and looks awesome for years to come! Follow Mike’s step by step guide on what to do during the three stages of your new tattoo’s healing process in the video below.
Video Transcript:
When it comes to tattoo healing it can be a pretty interesting and very scary process especially, if this is your first tattoo. Eighty percent of how your new tattoo will look is based off of how well you heal it and what a lot of people don’t know is that when your tattoo is healing your skin is going through three different stages trying to repair itself. And each one of those tattoo healing stages you need to do specific things to make sure that tattoo heals up nice bright and looks awesome for years to come. Trust me I know some of these healing stages they could be pretty alarming. But don’t worry i got you because in today’s video we’re going to be going into a deep dive of the three stages of the tattoo healing process and go over everything that you need to do to make sure you have the best looking tattoo possible, so you are not going to want to miss it.
Leave a comment below on what your future tattoo is going to be because I love to hear. But hey welcome back or welcome to EvolveINK my name’s mike and on this channel I help educate you in the world of tattoos So if that’s the kind of stuff you’re looking for consider subscribing and don’t forget to hit the bell notification just so you don’t miss a thing. I do want to start off by saying that once your tattoo starts to go into each one of these stages, your routine is gonna have to change up a little bit because the skin at these different stages needs specific things to aid to a quick and healthy recovery.
Now that we got that out of the way let’s get on to the first stage of tattoo healing. Once your tattoo is finished it is considered an open wound.
Your tattoo artist will clean off that tattooed area and then wrap it up with some clean plastic wrap before leaving the shop. Now once you get home I always recommend to remove that plastic wrap and then allow your tattoo to air out for a little bit. From your skin being put under so much trauma from the needles and everything that happened during that tattoo session, it is key to make sure that skin airs out for a little bit before doing anything else. During stage one of the tattoo healing process, your tattoo is going to be at its most vulnerable state. You really need to be on your a-game to make sure you’re washing it at least three times a day to remove any harmful bacteria that can cause you or your tattoo harm.
When washing that tattooed area be sure to remove all the blood plasma and ink that may be left onto that tattoo because you do not want it to linger on there because it can cause tattoo infection.
When washing that tattoo make sure to use warm water, nothing too hot that could be really harmful to your tattoo but pro tip at the very end be sure to rinse it off with cold water. When you rinse off with that cold water this is gonna allow your pores to close up, trapping that ink in your skin even more and it also helps prevent ink blotting and ink loss which makes your tattoo just look all around brighter in the long run. Also I do want to add during stage one your tattoo usually feels like really hot and almost like a sunburn, so rinsing off with that cold water, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. If you know you know.
Now once that tattooed area is nice and clean you’re gonna want to apply some sort of healing ointment to that tattooed area. I always recommend either Aquaphor or a d ointment. Now when you’re applying the healing ointment make sure you’re putting a thin layer across the tattooed area, you don’t want to do too much and clog those pores because that could just cause all types of problems that you do not want to go through.
Now I do want to add with the first stage of the tattoo healing process you might witness oozing, swelling of the tattoo and redness but this is nothing to be alarmed about and it should get better as the days go on. Now depending on the size and location of where that tattoo is on your body, the first stage of the healing process can last anywhere between one to six days.
But again everybody is different. So don’t be alarmed if your tattoo is healing a little bit slower. Now after that six day mark, that tattooed area the skin it’s gonna start to tighten up preparing itself to go into the second stage of the healing process. And the second stage of the tattoo healing process is the dreaded peeling stage. Now this is where most people begin to freak out and think that something is wrong with their tattoo but in reality it is just the normal healing process of your tattoo.
But there are some specific things that you need to make sure you’re doing. I spoke on this topic a little bit in a recent video but the reason why new tattoos peel is because of the top layer of skin dying off.
The reason why that skin dies is because of all the trauma it was put through during that tattooed session. During the second stage of healing that dead skin is going to peel off but underneath new skin cells are going to start to form. Due to your tattoo peeling, it’s not going to look good it’s going to look dull, it’s going to look cloudy, it’s going to look nasty but do not worry this is only temporary.
Oh and the itching, when you hear people complain about itchy tattoos they’re referring to this stage of the tattoo healing process.
Like I always say, do not scratch, pick or peel those skin flakes. This is only going to cause your tattoo to look all around horrible and nobody wants that. Now just like the first stage of the tattoo healing process you still want to be washing your tattoo three times a day. But instead of using the Aquaphor, you want to switch over to an unscented lotion after washing that tattoo.
Now I do want to say that when your tattoo is peeling and you go to wash that tattoo, skin flakes, they’re going to fall off.
I know a lot of people freak out about it but there’s really nothing that we could do. You just want to wash that tattooed area as gently as possible, you don’t want to rip the flakes off but when you gently wash it the flakes are going to come off, there’s nothing we could really do about it and that is perfectly normal. Just wanted to say that get it asked it all the time. Now Aquaphor is a perfect product for stage one of the healing process, but when it comes to stage two and that tattoo is peeling, the product itself is a little bit too thick and if you apply it to a peeling tattoo, it’s gonna tug and rip off those skin flakes and you do not want that.
Aquaphor, it’s like really really thick like two c’s thick. Like damn she thick. The whole stage two of the tattoo healing process, the peeling; it continues till all of the dead skin cells and flakes are completely gone. This can take up to seven to fourteen days but again everybody’s different and don’t worry your tattoo will peel.
Well hey you made it welcome to the third and final stage of the tattoo healing process you are nearly there. The third stage of the tattoo healing process is where the ink that is in your tattoo is starting to settle into your skin. Even though the top layer of your skin is all nice and healed and pretty much fully peeled, underneath that tattoo is still healing.
During this stage, your tattoo is going to continue to look slightly cloudy and dull but don’t worry this is completely normal and it’s only temporary. With stage 3 of tattoo healing, you want to limit any type of stretching and pulling to that tattooed area. Because like i said the ink it’s trying to settle into your skin and you do not want to disturb that process. Because if you do, your tattoo it could fade much quickly over time. And with stage three you could start to cut back with washing the tattoo three times a day, that top layer it’s all healed up so you could go now into your shower and just wash your body normally.
But I still would recommend not using any kind of wash rags or any shower essentials because again, tattoo’s still healing and you don’t want to do anything too rough to it. And you still want to make sure that you’re applying that body moisturizer whenever the tattoo looks or feels dry. As the days go on and your tattoo heals up more and more, you’re gonna notice that it’s gonna become more darker and vibrant and just look all around awesome as long as you took all the steps into consideration and did them properly and were on your a-game with the whole tattoo healing process in all of the stages.
Now with stage three the tattoo healing process it usually takes anywhere from 15 to 30 days to fully complete. Now that your tattoo is fully healed, it’s time for you to enjoy that sucker but with that being said, You still want to make sure that you have some kind of daily tattoo routine to make sure that tattoo stays awesome for days, months and years to come.
You can check out this video right here on my daily tattoo routine that I personally use to make my tattoos look awesome.
And if you enjoyed this video be sure to subscribe and don’t forget to hit the bell notification just so you don’t miss future videos and i will see you in the next video so peace.
