I've spent a fair chunk of my life in the chair. Enough tattoos now that the routine is muscle memory. But I still remember the early ones, when I had no real clue what I was doing and just crossed my fingers and hoped it turned out alright.
Here's what nobody tells you properly: the tattoo isn't finished when you walk out of the studio. What you do over the next few weeks decides how it sits for the rest of your life. Crisp and solid, or patchy and flat. That gap comes down almost entirely to aftercare, and aftercare is the one part that's completely in your hands.
This is the full guide - what to expect, what to do, what to avoid, and when to get someone to look at it.
One caveat up front: your artist's instructions beat anything on this page. They've seen your skin and the work they put in it.
Why it matters more than people think
A fresh tattoo is a wound. The artist has been driving pigment into your dermis thousands of times an hour, and the surface needs a few weeks to close over properly.
It's never the dramatic mistakes that cause problems. It's the small stuff. Smothering it in too much product. Catching a bit too much sun. Having a pick at the peeling because it's driving you mad. None of it feels like a big deal at the time, and all of it can show up in the final result.
Good aftercare isn't doing more. It's giving your skin a clean run at something it already knows how to do.
The three-stage routine
Almost every argument about tattoo aftercare comes from treating it as one continuous thing. It isn't. There are three distinct stages and they want different things.
Stage one, the first 24 hours. Wrap stays on exactly as long as your artist said. That might be two hours for cling film or three days for an adhesive film. When it comes off, wash gently and start the routine.
Stage two, days 1 to 14. Wash twice daily, pat dry, thin layer of a lightweight cream. That's the whole routine and it doesn't change for a fortnight.
Stage three, week two onward. Once the surface has closed over, switch to a richer balm and drop to once a day. Then keep going, more or less forever.
For the stage-by-stage detail - what each week actually looks and feels like - there's a full breakdown in Tattoo Aftercare Day by Day.
Washing
Cleaning is the most important habit of the first fortnight, and the one people most often get wrong by treating it like a normal shower.
Wash your hands first. Every time, no exceptions. Lukewarm water, never hot. Work a mild, fragrance-free cleanser over the area with your fingertips - no cloths, no loofahs, no scrubbing. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with clean paper towel, not the bath towel that's been hanging up all week.
Twice a day is the standard. Some artists say three times early on. Either is fine.
The thing to avoid is ordinary body wash and bar soap. Most body wash is fragranced, and bar soap is alkaline and strips more than you want. This is exactly what we built Line Work Tattoo Wash for - mild, soap-free, fragrance-free and vegan, so it lifts surface build-up without leaving skin tight.
There's more on timing in How Long After a Tattoo Can You Wash It With Soap?
Moisturising
Once it's clean and dry, a thin layer over the top. The goal is lightly moisturised, not drowned. Too much traps warmth and moisture against skin that's trying to close over.
For the first fortnight, Stand Fast Aftercare Cream is what I reach for. Lightweight, sinks in rather than sitting on top, fragrance-free. If you grew up reaching for Bepanthen, this is the swap - same stage of the process, formulated for tattoos rather than nappy rash. We went through exactly what's in both in Can You Use Bepanthen on a Tattoo?
If it's sorbolene, paw paw ointment or something else already in the bathroom cupboard you're wondering about, we went through those one by one in Can You Use Sorbolene on a Tattoo?
Twice a day, or any time it feels tight and dry. Thin layer, kept up consistently. That's genuinely all there is to it.
Once it's through peeling and settling, I move to Hold Fast Tattoo Balm for the long game. Richer, seals moisture in, and holds up through heat, humidity and chlorine. Dry skin makes ink look dull - old work that's been kept moisturised reads sharper than old work that's been left to dry out.
The first two together are the Fresh Ink Kit. All three are The Full Ritual Kit.
What to avoid
Picking and scratching. It itches, and you mustn't. Skin pulled off before it's ready can take pigment with it, and that's what leaves patchy spots needing a touch-up. A light tap through clean clothing takes the edge off.
Soaking it. No baths, pools, spas or ocean until the surface has fully closed. Soaking softens everything and lifts flakes early. Quick showers are fine, just don't let it sit under the water.
Sun. Fresh ink and UV don't get along, and in Australia this one isn't optional. Keep it covered while it's settling. Long term, sunscreen over your tattoos is the single best thing you can do to keep them looking sharp.
Tight clothing. Anything rubbing on fresh work drags at it and can lift flakes before they're ready. Loose and breathable for a few weeks.
Anything fragranced. Freshly tattooed skin has temporarily lost its barrier, and added perfume is the most common trigger for contact reactions in skincare. Check labels rather than assuming.
Peeling, and what's normal
Peeling starts around day four for most people and is done by day fourteen. The flakes come off the colour of your ink, which panics everyone, and shouldn't - that's surface skin carrying surface pigment. The ink that matters sits deeper.
Around week two you'll often hit the cloudy or silver stage, where the tattoo looks slightly hazy under new skin. It clears on its own.
The full version of this, including peeling versus scabbing, is in Why Is My New Tattoo Peeling So Much?
When to get it looked at
Normal is a bit of redness for the first couple of days, some light peeling, itching, and dryness. All of that is ordinary.
See a GP if you get:
- Redness spreading outward beyond the tattoo's edges
- Swelling that's worse on day four than it was on day two
- Thick yellow or green discharge
- Fever, chills, or feeling unwell generally
- Pain that's building rather than easing
Short of that, message your artist with a photo. They've watched thousands of tattoos through this stage and can usually tell you in a minute whether it's routine.
After it's settled
Once you're past the first month, your tattoo is just part of your skin, and it ages like the rest of your skin does. Two things keep it looking sharp: moisture and staying out of the sun.
That means balm through summer and after swimming, sunscreen on exposed work, and not much else. It's a low-effort habit that compounds over years.
What we make
Everything in the range is fragrance-free, free from parabens, petroleum and fillers, and made in Australia at a TGA-registered facility.
Every ingredient is listed and explained on our ingredients page, including the ones that sound like they need explaining. We'd rather you check than take our word for it.
FAQ
How long does a tattoo take to settle?
The surface usually closes over within about two weeks. Deeper layers keep going for a month or more, though the intensive part of the routine is over well before that.
How often should I wash a new tattoo?
Twice a day for the first two weeks, with a mild fragrance-free cleanser and lukewarm water. Some artists recommend three times a day early on.
What should I put on a new tattoo?
A thin layer of a lightweight, fragrance-free cream for the first fortnight. Save richer balms for once the skin has closed over.
When can I swim after getting a tattoo?
Not until the surface has fully closed, generally around two weeks. That covers pools, spas, baths and the ocean.
Can I go to the gym with a new tattoo?
Light training is usually fine, but avoid anything that soaks the area in sweat or drags clothing across it. Check with your artist, especially for larger pieces.
When can I put sunscreen on a new tattoo?
Once it's fully settled, not before. While it's healing, keep it covered instead. After that, sunscreen is the best long-term protection there is.
Do I need tattoo-specific products?
Not strictly. What matters most is fragrance-free, lightweight, and applied thinly. Tattoo-specific products are formulated around those stages rather than borrowed from another purpose.
