Maintaining a Tattoo
- Livia Michael
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Greetings, internet! It’s Livia Michael. During my time at Speakeasy so far, I’ve been soaking up so much information about tattoo history, culture, and mechanics. But it’s also worthwhile to learn about the maintenance and proper care for one’s tattoo at various stages, in order to keep it healthy and looking beautiful for years down the line. Once your tattoo has healed completely, it is important to prolong the life of your tattoo through sun protection, hydration, healthy lifestyle choices, gentle exfoliation, and regular moisturization. Of course, tattoo touch-ups are needed periodically over a long period of time, but caring for one’s tattoo is crucial to how the piece will look over the course of one’s lifetime.
The first and arguably most important aspect of tattoo longevity is sun protection. While it is crucial to use spf to reduce the risk of skin cancer, UV rays also significantly fade tattoo ink over time. It is important to use sunscreen daily, with at least spf 30. UV rays can also permeate through some clothing, so it’s also prudent to consider wearing clothing that is UV resistant during prolonged sun exposure.
The largest organ in the human body isn’t the heart or the liver - it’s the skin covering the entire body. Therefore, we must treat our bodies with care and keep them hydrated to ensure the overall health of all of our vital organs, especially our skin. Sleep is crucial to the health of the skin, as cell regeneration occurs during this process.
Exfoliation is something that should be utilized in order to remove layers of dead skin cells that pile on top of a tattoo, making the tattoo look duller and moisturizers less effective. However, it is important that any exfoliation should be gentle, like a sugar/salt scrub or a gentle salicylic acid scrub and practiced sparingly in one's hygiene routine.
Finally, moisturization is key. Your tattoo needs the hydration, as dry skin can lead to the fading of a tattoo as well. It’s best to stick to natural lotions, without fragrance or harsh chemicals, which can make skin even drier. Moisturization should not just be limited to the healing period of a tattoo, it should be moisturized at least once daily in order for the tattoo to stay looking fresh and beautiful.
Tattoo artistry is a unique art form as its archival longevity is not in the hands of the tattoo artist, but of the client receiving the tattoo. Following these steps is going to make one’s tattoo looking its best for years to come.
Until next week…
-Livia Michael
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