Taking Care of Your Tattoo – 6 Tips!

So, you just got your first tattoo or are looking to get your first tattoo, and are a little clueless in knowing how to take care of it. Taking care of a tattoo is very important. Be sure to follow the guidelines in taking care of your tattoo that the tattoo artist gives to you to insure an infection free healing.

Below are 6 tips in taking care of your first tattoo:

o Keep a bandage on the area up to 24 hours. The bandage keeps dirt and harmful bacteria away from entering the open skin cells and causing infection.

o Avoid touching the tattooed area and picking off any scabs that may form, as this may also cause an infection to develop.

o Do not use hydrogen peroxide to wash the tattoo. Instead, use antibacterial soap and water… pat dry with a tower. Hydrogen peroxide (and alcohol) can cause the tattoo to dry up and fade.

o If you see any redness or swelling, place an ice pack on the area. If swelling does no
t go down in a reasonable time, consult your doctor.

o Try not to get your tattoo wet too much until it fully heals.

o Keep the tattoo out of the sun until fully healed. A tattoo is more susceptible to the suns rays. Because of this, it is highly important to wear a 30 or higher SPF sunscreen over the tattoo to protect it.

Following the tips above should keep your new tattoo healthy and bacteria free, and give you a wonderful experience in getting your first tattoo!

Tattoo Risks – Are You Aware of the Risks of Getting a Tattoo?

The popularity of tattoos has never been higher with many well-known celebrities continuing to set the trend by getting cool tattoos done. However most people do not fully understand the risks involved when you decide to get a tattoo done.

One of the main risks people are aware of is the risk of getting an infection when the tattoo is being made. Signs of an infection are redness and swelling around the area of the tattoo. To avoid this you should go to a fully licensed and professional tattoo parlour, and always make sure they use sterilized tattoo equipment and needles. You would think that every tattoo artist uses sterile equipment, but sadly it’s not always the case.

The very fact that there are tattoo artists out there who don’t use fully sterilized equipment means there is still the risk of a more serious blood-borne disease being transmitted. So it is possible that you could pick up a disease such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in extreme cases.

Another related risk is that of skin disorders or granulomas. These occur when the body rejects foreign objects being inserted into the outer skin, such as tattoo ink. As a result of which, little bumps will often appear around the area where the ink has been applied.

The recipient of the tattoo may also suffer an allergic reaction when having a tattoo done. This is extremely rare but can occur in some instances. There’s no way of knowing if you will suffer from an allergic reaction to tattoo ink until you actually get a tattoo done.

Finally there is always the risk that you will not be happy with the tattoo you have chosen in later years. If this turns out to be the case and you consider having your tattoo removed, then this brings additional health risks. Even with modern laser technology it can still be a complicated process and there is no guarantee that the procedure may be a complete success. In fact very often several treatments are required in order to successfully remove the tattoo, and even then you may be left with skin discolouration or scarring.

Overall though these risks mentioned above are very rare and most people who get a tattoo done encounter no problems at all and end up very happy with their chosen design. As long as you choose a professional licensed tattoo artist and take plenty of time to choose the perfect tattoo design, then the benefits of getting your chosen tattoo done very often outweigh the risks.

Upcoming tattoo conventions 1/7/11 - 1/9/11

January 7th - 9th 2011
Palmer Event Center
900 Barton Springs Rd,
Austin, TX 78704,
United States

Hustlin' Hustlin' Hustlin'

Redesigned the blog a little. Jammed on a few cool things lately. Got to see a bunch of friends, and make many new ones, in Erie this past weekend at the Ink Assassins 10 Year Party. I had a great time. Many thanks to those guys for showing me how Erie gets down. Here's a rather contemporary take on a Rose of No Man's Land that I did today. Holler!

Busy days are ahead...

One of the artists is out of town for about a week so it's a two-man crew at the shop, meaning things are gonna get busy. Here's some stuff I got the chance to get photos of... cause, you know, that's what this blog's all about.

Steady Grindin'

Bigger Projects...

A sneak peek at what I banged out on one of my clients earlier today (yesterday technically). I can't wait until all of these bigger pieces get finished.

Pass the Torch, Please?

Thanks Mary! This was today's fun guy.

Daggers. Geishas. Geishas with Daggers.

Alex and his girlfriend Mary came through for some nice tattoos. They both were like, "What do you have drawn up that you'd like to do?"... I love it when people come through and get those pieces. I hook them up on the price, and they leave with a bitchin' tattoo. Win all around.

Hannya's are fun. Straight up.

Had fun jamming on this one. He's gonna eventually tie in more Japanese stuff. The three-eyed Tiger and lotus is on this arm as well, high up. This was a blast.


I also finished up a quick sheet of flash. I like doing these pseudo-traditional flames on stuff... so I said fuck it, and made a whole page with it implemented somehow. I had a nifty time with it.

New Tattoos, Excited!

I got to finally finish the two-headed pegasus that I started on a while back. And once again, another fun jammer on my friend Jeff Money. Two very fun tattoos. Did I mention these were fun?

Tribal Tattoos With Image Dragon Tribal Tattoo Designs Picture

In this post I show a collection of tribal tattoos, especially the dragon tribal tattoo designs. Where is the dragon tribal tattoo designs can be used by men and women. Dragon tribal tattoo designs you can put your feet to tattoo, tattoo on the back of the neck or tattoo in hand, but can also be placed elsewhere according to your taste. Dragon tribal tattoo designs you can also combine with other tattoo designs.

Tribal Tattoos With Image Dragon Tribal Tattoo Designs Pictures

Tribal Tattoos With Image Dragon Tribal Tattoo Designs Picture 2

Finishing the week off right.

Jeff Money came through and once again, we had a blast.

Ravens and Roses

Moarrrrrr Gypseeez

Jesus Power Hour!

After doing two upside down crosses yesterday, I'm uploading two right-side up crosses in hopes that I balance out the blasphemy with memorial. Hallelujah Hollahback.