Before your appointment:

• Hydrate! (starting ~a week or so before your appointment)

• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and other blood thinners (24 - 48 hours prior to your appointment)

• EAT a solid meal; we’ll have snacks on hand, but a hearty meal will help you sit well (within a few hours of your appointment)

• bonus points for exfoliating and moisturizing the area you want the tattoo in (starting ~a week or so before your appointment)

After your appointment:

• If you got Saniderm/second skin (clear, adhesive bandage):

  • leave your second skin on for 24-48 hours (unless it’s irritating your skin, leaking, or peeling up), and remove at the tail end of a hot shower

  • remove the same way you’d remove a command strip from a wall: pulling down slowly from the bottom. If you have multiple pieces, remove the top piece first.

  • once the bandage is removed, wash your new tattoo twice daily with liquid, antibacterial soap. Air dry or use a clean paper towel to dry. Apply a thin layer of the most boring lotion/moisturizer you own. Rock with this routine for 2-3 weeks, or until the tattoo has healed (no longer flaking, peeling, etc).

  • avoid: scratching, submerging, sneezing on, rubbing dirt in your new tattoo. remember, it’s an open wound! treat it like one :)

• If you got a traditional bandage (absorbent pad + sensi wrap):

  • leave the bandage on for 6-8 hours (overnight if possible/applicable)

  • once the bandage is removed, wash your new tattoo twice daily with liquid, antibacterial soap. Air dry or use a clean paper towel to dry. Apply a thin layer of the most boring lotion/moisturizer you own. Rock with this routine for 2-3 weeks, or until the tattoo has healed (no longer flaking, peeling, etc).

  • avoid: scratching, submerging, sneezing on, rubbing dirt in your new tattoo. remember, it’s an open wound! treat it like one :)