How do I look after a new tattoo?

Why it matters

How a tattoo looks in five years is decided in its first two weeks. Good aftercare keeps the colour saturated and the lines crisp, and keeps the skin from getting infected while it is still an open wound.

Your artist will talk you through all of this before you leave, and you can ask us anything at any point afterwards.

Day one

Leave the wrap on for as long as your artist tells you · usually two to five hours, though some films stay on far longer. Follow what they told you rather than what you read elsewhere.

• Wash your hands with soap before you touch it, every single time.
• For the first wash, use warm water and a mild unscented soap to take off the blood and excess ink. Be gentle.
• Pat it dry with clean kitchen roll. Do not rub it, and do not use a bath towel · towels hold bacteria and catch on the skin.
• Leave it uncovered for the first night so the skin can breathe.

Days two to seven

This is when most people go wrong by doing too much rather than too little.

• Apply a paper-thin layer of unscented lotion or aftercare balm, two or three times a day.
• Do not over-moisturise. Thick cream smothers the skin, traps bacteria and can lift the ink.
• Wear loose, soft clothing. Friction on healing skin is the enemy.
• Give the gym a few days. Sweat irritates it, and shared equipment is not clean.

Peeling and itching, days seven to fourteen

It will peel like sunburn and it will itch. Both are normal and both pass.

Do not scratch it and never pick the scabs or peeling skin. Pulling a scab off takes the ink underneath with it and leaves a blank patch that has to be tattooed again. If the itching is bad, tap the skin gently through clothing rather than scratching.

Keep drinking water. Skin rebuilds better when you are hydrated.

From week three

The surface heals long before the deeper skin does, so a few habits carry on past the point where it looks finished.

• No swimming pools, hot tubs, baths, lakes or the sea until every scab and flake has gone.
• Once it is fully healed, use SPF 30 or higher on it. Sun is the single biggest cause of a faded tattoo.

When to get it looked at

Some redness, swelling and warmth in the first few days is normal. What is not normal is pain that gets worse rather than better after the first few days, spreading redness, a green or yellow discharge, a bad smell, or a fever.

If you see any of those, see a pharmacist, your GP or NHS 111 rather than waiting · and tell us too, so we know. We would always rather you asked and it turned out to be nothing.