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Nice! Good clean work, and a cool design too. Enjoy!

Cheers,
Loonette

p.s. On Saturday, I'll be getting some rework on an existing (14-year-old) tattoo. Pics will follow shortly after.

A question for people who have had tattoos for a while:

Is it normal for it fade a little, and for little (very small) pieces of skin with ink on it to rub off?

The artist who did mine said if it fades alot, or if parts of it come off, then to come back in and he'd touch it up for free, so I'm wondering if I should take him up on that, or is it normal?

After three weeks, you will be able to see whether or not there are spots that "didn't take the ink". Remember... it's a matter of each hit of the needle pushing the ink into your skin to a certain depth (I believe it's like 1 mm). But then new skin needs to grow over all those open holes in the skin. Sometimes, during the healing process, some of the ink is pushed back out, but it doesn't happen to any considerable degree. If you see "ink" flaking off, it's actually just the dead skin - part of the scabbing process. You don't get a usual looking scab - think of how a snake looks when it sheds a layer of its skin. It's more like that. And it will never look as sharp and brilliant as it does in the first couple of days, simply because you'll have a thin layer of skin on top of it. If you're fair skinned, it will look pretty good for a long time - if you're darker skinned, it will look a bit more muted after healing.

This page gives a little graphic demo of the process - you'll have to scroll down a bit... http://www.howstuffworks.com/tattoo.htm

Don't worry about finding color on your bed sheets or in your clothes - you aren't loosing the tattoo. It's just more of that dead skin stuff. Keep it in the open air as much as possible. If you have Tattoo Goo, that's the best product to use for healing. Just never use Neosporin!! A water-based lotion (like unscented Lubriderm) will work in a pinch. When the three weeks pass, if you notice spots where the color isn't as bold as in other spots, then go back for your touchup.

Anyway... no worries. Keep it clean, then dry, and covered with a light layer of your healing ointment (a few times a day). Keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers,
Loonette

Ok, that's about what I figured.

Why do you say "don't use neosporin"? The artist recommended stuff called Aquaphor, but I couldn't find it, but it sounded similar to neosporin, so I put some of that on wednesday night and thursday night. I'll definitely stop using it if it's bad for some reason, I'm just curious why it's bad.

And if I'm not supposed to use neosporin, what can I use that's easy to find?

Neosporin has some extra ingredient (not sure which it is - but it's whatever they add for "fast" healing) that will actually draw out the color and make it look hazy. You can use Bacitracin. Some people use A&D ointment. I'd still go with the Lubriderm lotion if you can't get the Tattoo Goo. There are as many recommended healing treatments as there are tattoo artists. After trying several, I stand by the Tattoo Goo 100%. If you plan on having more work done, order some up and keep it handy. http://www.tattoogoostore.com/?Click=2106 They also carry a nice soap and some SPF products as well.

Cheers,
Loonette

Yeah, I'll either get some of that tattoo goo, or some of the aquaphor. Do you think it would have done alot of damage to the tattoo by putting neosporin on it twice?

I'll let Loonette reply to this when she gets back (she's out for a ride) but I think "what's done is done", so try to get a good habit going as soon as possible. If you can get the Goo, it is what has worked well on my now two week old tattoo.

Well, the artist said he'd touch it up for free, and there are some spots (the fading inside the arms of the cross, and the fading in the circle) that need to be touched up.

Alright everyone I've got the second-to-last draft of my Tattoos essay done and I am looking for some criticism and suggestions. Please PM me your email so I can send it to you or if you just wanna read it over.

camthepyro wrote:Do you think it would have done alot of damage to the tattoo by putting neosporin on it twice?

Well... just don't use it anymore. Chronic use would be worse, so don't stress over what is done. Besides, you'll get a touchup in the near future and it will fix anything that may have faded.

Cheers,
Loonette