After-care

Tattoo After Care

  1. Keep bandage on for 2 hours.
  2. After removing the bandage, with clean hands, wash the tattoo with mild soap and water. NO WASHCLOTH!!
  3. Apply Aquaphor for the first week. Wait for the tattoo to be dry before applying Aquaphor.
  4. After the first week, you can switch to a white, fragrant free lotion, such as Curel or Lubriderm.
  5. The tattoo may scab or flake. DO NOT pick or scratch at it. When it itches, apply a thin layer of lotion.
  6. No swimming, tanning, or taking baths until the tattoo is healed. This usually takes around 2 weeks.
  7. Once the tattoo is healed, make sure to use sunscreen on the healed tattoo every time you are in the sun!
  8. DO NOT listen to friends, family members, or others who think they know better! We are the professionals and we know what we are doing!

Piercing After Care

CLEANING

  • Always wash your hands thoroughly prior to cleaning or touching your piercing for any reason.
  • Clean around your piercing 2-3 times a day with a Q-tip using H2Ocean or a packaged sterile saline solution with no additives.
  • Dry by gently patting with clean, disposable paper products. Cloth towels can harbor bacteria and snag on jewelry, causing injury.
  • Keep in mind that it is NOT necessary to spin or rotate jewelry. However, if the jewelry is not sitting in the correct place and needs to be moved or turned, it is important to clean your piercing/jewelry before hand to avoid pulling crusties or bacteria into you new piercing.
  • Some types of jewelry need to be tightened. Always do this with clean hands (remember Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey).

CLEANING FOR ORAL PIERCINGS

  • Rinse with an alcohol free mouth rinse after eating or drinking. Aim for 4-5 times daily.
  • Avoid other people’s bodily fluids. This includes open mouth kissing, oral sex, sharing eating utensils/food, and drinking after others during heal time.
  • Avoid alcoholic beverages and smoking.

NORMAL DURING HEAL TIME

  • Initially, you may have some bleeding, swelling, tenderness, and/or bruisingWhile you’re healing, some discoloration, itching, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid and a crust may build up around your piercing.
  • A piercing may seem healed before the date on your aftercare sheet. What you need to remember is that piercings heal from the outside in, so please take care of your piercing during your suggested heal time.
  • All piercings can close or shrink if jewelry is not worn (no matter how long you’ve had it) so please keep your jewelry in or think about buying a quality retainer.