Tattoo Aftercare

Tattoo aftercare can be very confusing, especially for someone getting their first tattoo.  Luckily there is plenty of information available online, but with almost anything you can find online there is almost too much information.  Some of it is very contradictory, so here is my advice in regards to tattoo after care.

•  Keep it simple stupid – Your new tattoo is basically an open wound.  The less you put on it, and the more you let it breath, the better.  Only use simple antibacterial soaps and lotions.  The less ingredients the better.
•  Follow the advice of your artist – Your artist has probably been doing this for a while, and they typically know what they are talking about.
• Listen to your body – Everyone heals differently.  Something that works for you might not work for someone else.  Be aware of the products you use!  If you have had a negative reaction to A+D before, please do not use it on your new tattoo.
• Keep your tattoo moist, not drenched - Remember, less is more with tattoo.  Apply A+D or Auquaphor in a very thin layer for the first day.  Then apply any unscented gentle lotion such as Eucerin, Lubriderm, Nivea, Curel, or Aveeno.  These companies all have unscented versions of their lotion.  Use whichever one your skin likes best!
• Resist the itch! – As your tattoo is healing, it is normal for it to be itchy.  Do not succumb to the desire to scratch your tattoo as hard as it can be.  When mine get super itchy, I usually wash it gently and reapply lotion.  It helps soothe the skin and also the task helps take my mind off the itchiness.

These are some basic but very important tips:

• Do not re-bandage your tattoo
• Do not apply Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly to your tattoo
• Do not apply Neosporin to your tattoo
• Do not use rubbing alcohol or peroxide on your tattoo
• Do not apply Purell or any other antibacterial gel to your tattoo.  These are usually mostly alcohol which will dry your tattoo out.
• Always wash with warm water and a gentle antibacterial soap
• Always pat dry a freshly washed tattoo with paper towels
• Never rub, scratch or scrub your tattoo
• Do not pick at your tattoo
• Do not expose your tattoo to direct sunlight until after at least 10 days
• Do not swim or use a hot tub or sauna for at least 10 days.

The healing time is typically 10-14 days for tattoo, depending on your body and the care your tattoo receives.  It is very important not to let your tattoo to dry out completely during this time.  This can cause excessive scabbing and irritation, which can lead to loss of pigment.  It is normal for the tattoo to develop a protective layer of dry skin.  This will shed after the skin underneath has healed and it is important to let it fall off naturally.  Do not pull or cut these bits off as it may affect the skin around it.

Once your tattoo is fully healed, remember some simple long term care for it.  If it is ever exposed to the sun, make sure to use sunscreen.  This will help the color last and also in general help protect your skin.  Also keep it moisturized.  There is nothing worse than having a dulled tattoo due to dry skin.

Here is my personal after care kit.  Remember, what works for me might not work for you.

Antibacterial soap, simple paper towels, A+D ointment, and my favorite lotion, Aveeno.

You just made a pretty big investment of time and money into your tattoo, make sure to care for it correctly so it will last a lifetime.

First Sitting - Water Sleeve

Today marks the first sitting for my sleeve.  After three hours, with minimal breaks, we have a pretty fabulous start if I do say so myself!  I can not wait until it is completely colored in.

Here is a picture of the outline Mark drew up for me:

Outline/Sketch

I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.  It was just what I was wanting and luckily when he placed the stencil on my arm, it fit perfect.  The stencil was actually a little small for my arm and we ended up having a whole section we will need to fill in of empty space.  (My arm was fatter than he anticipated!)

Empty space...

Here are some pictures of the finished outline.  I will write about the actual process shortly...

Here are some detailed shots:

Butterfly Koi number one

Butterfly Koi number two

Peony one

Peony one with Peony bud

Peony two

Peony two

Mark and I decided that we would go for the full sleeve, instead of the 3/4 sleeve he had mentioned at our initial consultation.  He is confident we will be able to work my existing pieces into the sleeve without it being awkward.

Overall, the actual process of the tattooing was not nearly as bad as I had expected.  I think only sitting for three hours was the key.  I think if I had sat for four or even five hours it would have been too much.  We covered a lot of space in the three hours, all things considered.  Mark is wonderfully fast and has a fairly light hand which definitely helped!

Some of the areas that hurt the most were the areas I least expected.  I anticipated the inside of my arm would hurt, and my elbow crease.

Elbow crease

The top of my shoulder hurt more than I anticipated, as well as the small section that went over my wrist bone:

Top of shoulder

Wrist

The section that did not hurt nearly as bad was my elbow:

Elbow waves

Now I have to wait for the healing to begin.  I am anticipating some swelling and bruising, but so far it is not that bad.  I think tomorrow will be the worse day as far as the "aftermath".  So keep an eye out for updates.  I will be posting info about tattoo aftercare, updated pictures as my work heals, and more information about upcoming pieces.  Night all!

Water sleeve

My first piece on my tattoo journey will be what I have been calling my "water sleeve".  I decided that I wanted to use the traditional style of Irezumi, but also incorporate some personal elements.  My water sleeve is also serving as a memorial tattoo.

I had a very unexpected miscarriage in July of 2010, and I have reason to believe I was carrying twins.  It was a pretty devastating experience and I found solace in a very interesting place.  At the time I was working at a pet store that had pretty well stocked aquatic department.  When I returned to work, I found myself calmed by watching the butterfly koi we had there. (I used to get anxiety attacks pretty easily in the weeks after the miscarriage.)  Because of their calming affect and their beauty I decided to incorporate butterfly koi into my water sleeve and let them serve as a memorial to the events in July.

Butterfly or longfin koi

Koi are traditionally used in Japanese Tattoo/Irezumi because they represent perseverance in adversity and the ability to overcome obstacles.  There is a Japanese legend stating that if a koi was able to swim up the Yellow River to a point called The Dragon Gate, the koi would then be transformed into a dragon.  This is one of the reasons koi are typically tattooed swimming up the body versus down.

Another aspect of my water sleeve will be the incorporation of peonies.  They are my absolute favorite flower and I had a bouquet of them for my wedding.

My bouquet of peonies.

Traditionally the peony represents wealth, prosperity, and good fortune in both Japan and China.  In tattoo, it is usually paired with lions, to help balance the ferocity of the lion with its delicate nature.  In Japanese tattoo specifically, it represents a "devil-may-care" attitude towards life.  It is also a reminder of our fleeting and fragile existence.  I chose the peony for my tattoo because of the personal link it has in my life and also its delicate timeless beauty.

I am also incorporating the traditional wave depicted in Irezumi, but I have found some non-traditional sources for my ideas.  I have done a ton of research and found various pieces of old artwork to use as inspiration.  I think this is one of the reasons my artist Mark is so excited to work on my sleeve.  Instead of using other tattoos as reference, a lot of my material is actual art work.  Here are a couple of the "wave" pieces I love.

I will be posting more as the tattooing day approaches.  I can hardly wait!

Officially official

I will be starting my next tattoo journey on February 3rd!

I will be working with Mark Corliss at Spilt Milk Tattoo for the beginning of my three quarter sleeve or schichibu ("seven tenths" of the sleeve to the forearm).  I was originally going to be getting a full sleeve or nagasode ("long sleeve") but due to my existing wrist pieces, Mark and I decided a three quarter sleeve would look best.

My existing pieces

My first tattoo, located on my lower back:

My second tattoo, on the back of my neck.  It reads "ookami" which is wolf is Japanese.

And my latest tattoo's, a matching set to my husband Tim's. A red heart, because I always wear my heart on my sleeve, and a black key to Tim's heart.

This next piece will be the beginning of some pretty extensive tattoo work I have planned.  I am very excited but also a little nervous.  I will be three quarter sleeves on both arms, and a full back piece which will be covering my existing moon piece.  I may also be getting two side pieces, but those are not finalized yet.

I have always been fascinated by tattoo, and once I started learning about Irezumi (traditional Japanese tattoo) I knew I had found my style.  It would be a dream to travel to Japan and be inked by one of the masters of Irezumi, Horiyoshi III but happily I have found an amazing artist closer to home to help me on my quest.

One of the reasons I am so nervous is my husband has a half sleeve, a beautiful flame piece that he did in one sitting (5 hours total).  The next day his arm was so swollen he looked like Popeye!  Now, I am only going for a 3 hour session this time, and part of it will be dedicated to the art/stencil and mostly the outline, but I am fairly sensitive and tend to bruise easily!  As someone once put it, I have "delicate alabaster skin".  Oh well, this is something I've wanted for several years, we will just have to wait and see how it goes.

This is Tim's half sleeve, right after he got home:

Tim's piece currently:

I will be posting in the next couple days what my first sleeve, my water sleeve will consist of, and the aftermath once I get the work done.  It will be a painful but exciting journey, and I hope you will join me during the process.  Until then, this is me as I am now, next week I will be somewhat different.

Photo Copyright Cary Klein Photography

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The Begining

I have always been drawn to the art of tattooing.  It had always been something slightly… naughty when I was a kid, so it came to no surprise that the summer I turned 18 I went out and got my first tattoo.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I wandered into a local tattoo shop and spent nearly an hour examining the free examples or "flash" that adorned the walls.

I ended up picking out a crescent moon colored in grey scale and decided to place it on my lower back.  This was before the “tramp stamp” and thought it a sexy location, and easily hidden from my parents (whom I was still living with at the time). 

All I remember of the actual process of getting my first tattoo was being very uncomfortable in the position the tattoo artist had placed me in, sitting upright and leaning forward unto another chair.  Other than that, the tattoo was not very painful or uncomfortable.  As odd as it will sound, it was actually somewhat relaxing.

The worse part for me, had been the healing process.  In hind sight, I had picked a bad location for my first tattoo, as my pants always rubbed or irritated it as it was healing.  It was very unpleasant, almost like an incredibly bad sunburn.  I made a lot of mistakes with that first tattoo and it definitely did not heal correctly and to this day is raised in some parts.

I had always thought that my moon would always be my one and only tattoo, but a year or so later I ended up getting a kanji piece on the back of my neck.  This time I did a bit more research and had a friend from school that was very familiar with kanji help me pick my piece.  It stands for “ookami” which means “wolf” in Japanese.

My kanji piece was a very easy tattoo; I do not remember any undue pain or being very uncomfortable during the tattooing process.  The healing was very easy as well and it seemed like it healed in a matter of days.

My parents, of course were not incredibly happy about my tattoos.  I remember the day my grandma saw my lower back piece and expected my family to honestly freak out.   But happily and almost shockingly, they did not make a big deal out of it.  They were disappointed of course, but they were not about to disown me or kick me out of the house.  I think the fact that my older brother had gotten a few tattoos by then had definitely helped. 

Fast forward a couple of years and I soon realized that having tattoos were somewhat like eating potato chips.  You can not really just have one.  So began my list of tattoos I wanted to get.  Thankfully, I never ended up getting any of the miscellaneous tattoos I had been wanting, or it would definitely put a damper on my current journey.

In 2002 I read a book by Jacqueline Carey that changed my view on tattoo and how it could be not only a form of expression but also a personal and individual piece of art.  Thus began my research into the various types of tattoo through various time periods and cultures.  It was around this time that I was also was introduced to the arena of alternative modeling.  Specifically the work of Lithium Picnic  AKA Phillip Warner, among many others.

Alternative models and photographers have helped change the stigma many people attach with tattoos.  These images highlight each girl as an individual.  And there are no pigeon holes with alternative modeling.  Every size, shape and color is accepted.  Not only are these girls tattooed and pierced, these girls are beautiful in their own right.

Model: Benni      Photographer: Lithium Picnic

Model: Suzi      Photographer: Tim Klingert

Model: Suzi     Photographer: Kaylene Kligert

Because of the popularity of websites like SuicideGirls, Deviant Nation, and influences in the media with shows like Miami Ink, and Prison Break, the art of tattoo has become more mainstream and accepted.  More and more employers are willing to accept “non-offensive” tattoos on their employees.  Some like HotTopic unofficially encourage their employees to live in this alternative lifestyle.

All of this has helped influence me as an individual, and helped me expand personally and artistically.  Because of the draw tattooing has had for me, I have found myself as a makeup artist and photographer.  Indirectly, the art of tattooing has also led me to my soul mate and husband.

So it is no surprise that now that I am finally in a position to do so, I am starting my own journey through the art of tattoo.  My body will become the tapestry to the story off my life.  This blog will act as witness to my journey.  Join me as I go from your average nondescript girl to something more.

-Kay