What Tattoo Artists Actually Want You to Do After Your Session

Leave the Wrap Alone

Your artist wrapped your tattoo for a reason. Whether it's Dr Pickles very own second skin tattoo film or similar, it's doing a job: keeping bacteria out during the most vulnerable window.

The number one thing artists wish clients wouldn't do is peel the wrap back to look at it. The urge is real — you just got tattooed and you want to see it. But every time that seal breaks, you're opening the fresh wound to whatever's in the air, on your hands, and on every surface you touch.

Follow your artist's specific instructions on timing (24hrs minimum recommended).

Wash It Once, Properly — Not Six Times a Day

After removing the initial wrap, a gentle wash is necessary. Warm water, an antibacterial fragrance-free soap, clean hands. That's it.

What artists see constantly is over-washing — people convinced that cleaner is safer. It isn't. Your skin has a natural microbiome that helps it heal. Strip that repeatedly with soap and you're slowing the process down, not speeding it up.

Once in the morning, once at night. Pat dry with a clean paper towel — not a bathroom towel that's been hanging there for a week absorbing everything in the room.

Moisturise — But Barely

Here's the one that causes the most arguments. Tattoo artists are almost universally against heavy moisturising in the first few days, and especially against products that weren't designed for healing skin.

A thin layer of the right product, applied two to three times a day, is enough. You want the skin to breathe. You don't want it drowning in thick cream that clogs the surface and traps heat.

The product matters too. Fragranced lotions, petroleum-heavy products, and general-purpose moisturisers weren't formulated with fresh tattoo skin in mind — they can pull colour, cause reactions, and slow healing. Your artist recommends specific products for a reason.

Keep Your Hands Off It

Tattoos itch when they heal. This is normal. It's also the phase where most damage happens.

The instinct to scratch, pick, or peel flaking skin is almost impossible to ignore — but it has real consequences. Picking pulls ink out of the dermis before it's settled. It creates scarring. It produces patchy healed results that require touch-ups that could have been avoided entirely.

If it itches, tap it lightly with a clean fingertip. If it's peeling, leave it. The skin knows what it's doing. The only thing you're achieving by picking is making your artist's work look worse than it actually is.

And keep other people's hands off it too. "Can I touch it?" is a question tattoo artists would happily ban. No. You can't. Not while it's healing.

Rethink Your Routine for Two Weeks

This is the part that catches people off guard. Tattoo aftercare isn't just about what you put on the skin — it's about what you expose it to.

Pools, oceans, and baths are off-limits during healing. Submerging a fresh tattoo means prolonged exposure to water, bacteria, and in the case of chlorinated pools, chemicals that actively damage healing skin. Showers are fine; soaking isn't.

Sun exposure is the big one people underestimate. UV light fades ink — not just in the long term, but acutely in fresh tattoos. Keep it covered or out of direct sun while it heals. Sunscreen can come later, once the skin has fully closed.

If Something Looks Wrong, Talk to Your Artist First

Some redness and swelling in the first 48 hours is normal. Some weeping of clear or slightly coloured fluid is normal. Itching during the peeling phase is normal.

What's not normal: spreading redness, hot skin, increasing swelling after day two, pus, or a fever. These are signs of infection and need medical attention — not a Reddit thread.

But before you spiral, contact your artist. They've seen thousands of healed tattoos and know the difference between "this is healing fine" and "this needs a doctor." Most artists are happy to look at a photo and give you an honest read. Use that resource — they'd rather hear from you than see a messed-up heal.

The Best Aftercare Is the Boring Kind

There's no secret hack to heal a tattoo faster or make the colour pop more. The artists who've been in the industry for decades all say the same thing: keep it clean, keep it lightly moisturised, keep your hands off it, and stay out of the sun.

The difference between a tattoo that heals beautifully and one that needs fixing almost always comes down to what happened in those first two weeks. Your artist put serious skill and time into that piece. The aftercare is the last step — and it's your job to do it right.

If you want to make it easier, start with the right products. Shop the Dr Pickles aftercare range — built specifically for healing skin, not adapted from something else.