Can you drink alcohol after a tattoo?
Leave it for at least 24 hours. Alcohol thins the blood, and a tattoo that has just been finished is still weeping plasma into the surface. Drinking that evening makes it weep more, which means more scabbing and a longer heal.
The first day
The session is over but the wound is not closed. Thinner blood means more fluid coming to the surface, heavier scabbing as it dries, and a heal that takes longer than it needed to.
It also dehydrates you, and skin that is short of water heals slower. You have just sat through several hours for this piece; a night off is a small price.
Why we are stricter about the day before
We will not tattoo somebody who has been drinking, and that is not the same conversation as this one. Beforehand, thinned blood pushes ink back out as it goes in, so the tattoo you get is not the one that was drawn. Afterwards the ink is already in and you are only affecting the heal.
After the first day
Normal, within reason. What matters more for the next fortnight is keeping the tattoo clean, keeping it out of the sun and not letting it dry out.
If you are on any medication, follow what you were told about it rather than this page.
Related frequently asked questions
How do I look after a new tattoo?
Keep it clean, moisturise it lightly, and leave it alone. Wash it gently with unscented soap, apply a thin layer of unscented lotion two or three times a day, and never pick at it. Most tattoos heal on the surface in two to four weeks.
Read the full answer › How should I prepare for a tattoo?
Turn up rested, fed and hydrated, and do not drink alcohol beforehand. Good preparation genuinely reduces how much it hurts, cuts down bleeding and helps the skin take the ink cleanly.
Read the full answer › How long after a tattoo can you swim?
Wait until it has fully closed, which is usually two to four weeks. Pools, the sea, hot tubs and baths all mean soaking an open wound, and that is how tattoos get infected and how ink gets pulled out before it has settled.
Still want to ask somebody? That is what the first conversation is for.
- Written and checked by
THRONE , a tattoo studio in Northampton.
Last checked 28 August 2026 .