Tattoo Care?

[TheEschaton]

Alright, just got my first one today. The guy said something about rubbing (what I thought he said) "A and E lotion on it" for a coupla weeks. Went to the store, looked for this damn lotion, and have no idea what I'm looking for since I'm not really the kind of guy who's into skin products.

Anyone have any idea wtf this guy is talking about?

And, uh, it's on my back, and hard to reach, so I'm gonna need hot wimmins to rub the lotion on my back. Applications with nude photos can be PMed to me. ;)

-TheE-

[Jenisi]

A&D lotion (found in baby care section) It should be in a little white box with goldish writing on it.

[TheEschaton]

wtf, now I have to go back out and find this damn lotion.


-TheE-

[Sean of the Thread]

You will not be buried with the Jews heathen.

[Jenisi]

I got a new one a few days ago ... You can easily find A&D at any drug store or target etc. Make sure to wash it with unscented and liquid soap. Pat dry with towel (do not rub) and you only gotta keep the constant lotion/goo put on for the first weekish.

[Back]

I was told any Vitamin E lotion product. I used one with aloe.

And yeah, don’t scrub it when washing or drying, or pick the scabs and eat them.

[EmpressBtch]

They used to tell you to slather it up with A&D and cover it up in the shower with plastic wrap.

[Wezas]

Doctor recommended A&D on my kid's diaper rash.

Just something to think about.

[ElanthianSiren]

The chlorine in the water dries skin, I believe, is why they tell you to cover and moisturize it while you shower. I kept mine covered with the oil against it in and out of the shower (but I have very very sensitive skin).

-M

[Bobmuhthol]

A 100% isopropyl alcohol solution works wonders.

[Miss X]

Vit E cream and Aloe Vera is great, I just rubbed that on with some savlon until it all scabbed and flaked.

I'll need pics to confirm the above advice though. ;)

[Sean of the Thread]

Tanning booths and public pools work best I hear.

[TheEschaton]

So, wait, all these measures are just for 1 week? Should I bother covering it in the shower, my showerhead is pretty strong? Otis didn't say nothin' about that.

Pics forthcoming in a week or two.

-TheE-

[ElanthianSiren]

I employed the measures for at least month. I'm not sure because eventually, I got so used to bandaging myself, I realized one day ... oh yeah, I don't need to do that anymore.

Watch what kind of tape you use too. I used water tight plastic/medical tape (the kind they use for IVs), as I was on the insulin pump at the time, and it was readily available. I definitely recommend it over cloth tape (cloth tape sucks).


-M

[Jazuela]

Also, A&D is an ointment, not a lotion. So you won't find it in the skin care section. You'll find it in the baby aisle with other diaper-rash ointments. Dirt cheap, lasts long, the smell is unimpressive but not offensive. Just dab it right over the ink a couple times a day, plus after you shower. No need to do anything else to the tattoo really, the point is to prevent it from scabbing. Scab = quickly-faded ink. If it -does- scab, do NOT peel it, or do anything to help it peel itself. Just leave it the hell alone except for dabbing on the ointment.

I have 2 tattoos, one on my ankle and the other on my thigh, and both are as colorful as they were when I got them. The first I got in 1983, the second in the mid 1990's.

Summary: Dab a light coating of A&D Ointment, available in any supermarket or pharmacy baby-care aisle. 2x per day, in addition to right after showering. Do nothing else to it for around a week. By then you should be fine.

[Stretch]

You got a tramp stamp...?

[TheEschaton]

haha, no lower back tats for me. It's between the shoulder blades.


-TheE-

[FinallyDomesticated]

Was it particularly painful? I have only one and its on a nicely padded area - my outer thigh. I've thought of one on my shoulder/back but there's no padding there and just seems like it would hurt worse.

[Goretawn]

I have one on my shoulder and chest. Neither really hurt till the needle got close to the nipple. I used an antibacterial ointment on mine and they are fine. Like it was stated before, don't pick the scabs. Not only will it cause the ink to fade, you may pull off the skin and the ink with it, leaving you with a bit of a scar and no ink. Going to get a third here soon. Enjoy it, it is yours forever.

[Tsa`ah]

Hemroid ointment.

[TheEschaton]

It was painful on the back of my ribs, but, oddly enough, not on the spine. It didn't hurt on the spaces between the ribs, heh. Plus, it was my first one, so maybe I have no frame of reference.

This whole tattoo thing was a lot more maintainance than I thought it would be. I thought people got these things one drunken Saturday and then lived to regret it forever? How so, if they're supposedly so delicate this first week or two? Lotioning my upper back twice every day? Everyone knows that's the hardest spot on your body to reach. Argh.

Luckily, I'm good about not picking scabs.

-TheE-

[Jazuela]

To apply it on the upper back:

Grab an old hand-towel (bigger than a washcloth, smaller than a bath towel, the kind your mom always kept in the kitchen). Wet it with cold water, wring it out really good. Fold it length-wise in half twice. Draw a thick line of ointment in the middle, fairly close to the size of your tattoo from one shoulderblade to the other. Bring it over your neck and over the tattoo area. Pull your arms forward *slowly* until the ointment is in contact with the tattoo. Lift and move higher, or lower, until you've connected some ointment with the entire tattoo. No reaching necessary. Wash the towel between uses using a mild NON-antibacterial soap or dishwashing detergent.

[Wezas]

So which does yours say, TheE?

"Dude" or "Sweet"?

[TheEschaton]

It says "Wezas is a fucking punk" ;)

Actually, it looks exactly like my avatar, which is, of course, my name, in Sanskrit.

-TheE-

[ElanthianSiren]

Never get a tattoo drunk/high. The lore is that the ink won't settle correctly because your skin is contaminated. I think perhaps you underestimated what you were getting into :)

Cool tattoo.

-M

[TheEschaton]

I wasn't drunk or high. ;)


-TheE-

[ElanthianSiren]

Didn't mean you were; I was responding to your comment about the level of care. I was pretty careful with my tattoos though -- you don't want them pealing or discoloring. Lots more money to fix.


-M

[Killer Kitten]

I have 7 tattoos, 8 if you count the one I had covered up.

I always washed with an unscented soap, like Basis, until the scabs were gone. I also used A & D on them, just a light smear. I never bandaged unless I was going to work, and then only because my job can be a bit rough and unsanitary.

I got the first one in 1980. It looks just like when I first had it put on.

[Shari]

It says "Wezas is a fucking punk" ;)

Actually, it looks exactly like my avatar, which is, of course, my name, in Sanskrit.

-TheE-


;LAKAJWER;OAWIERJ

OMG....I want my name written out in Sanskrit. Uh...I'm not guessing you wrote that, so how did you come across where to get your name at?

[TheEschaton]

Ummmm........I'm Indian, and my name is Hindi already. Therefore, it was in Sanskrit a long time before it was ever in English. ;)

-TheE-

[Shari]

That is very, very cool.

And I'm kinda clueless on everyone's cultural backgrounds unless they outright tell me like you did.

[TheEschaton]

Well, if your name is Shari....the first symbole, the thing that looks like a 3, attached to the straight vertical line, is the symbol for A.

As for the rest, you'd have to look it up

-TheE-

[Skeeter]

It says "Wezas is a fucking punk" ;)

Actually, it looks exactly like my avatar, which is, of course, my name, in Sanskrit.

-TheE-

Sanskrit. You are majoring in a 5000 year old dead language?

[Celephais]

Sanskrit. You are majoring in a 5000 year old dead language?

Sorry, Connecticut blue laws. (aah, fantastic, I may find myself watching that today thanks to you)

[TheEschaton]

I feel like I know where this quote comes from, but I can't place it currently.

(And, no, I don't major in Sanskrit)

-TheE-

[Skeeter]

http://melva.blogspot.com/pcu.gif

[The Goddess Pele]

I actually watched that today as well. I giggle like a school girl everytime. Thankfully its just as funny sober.

[TheEschaton]

Woot, time for tattoo pics, but they're still healing a bit.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m21/alokpinto/aaa9352c.jpg

Like the detailing on this one:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m21/alokpinto/08a5e3f0.jpg

[The Goddess Pele]

nice! I really dig the shading. But I must warn you, that won't be your last. Tats can be very addicting.

[TheEschaton]

I'm already looking at new designs. Addicting indeed. :(

Edited to add: Is it wrong to be sitting in Church and thinking "Hey, that would be a really good design on the nape of the neck..." See for yourself (without the pink, of course):

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m21/alokpinto/logo2006_sm.gif

-TheE-

[Artha]

That looks pretty sweet. You should get something on your lower back, it's all the rage.

[TheEschaton]

I'm pretty sure you're being sarcastic on the second part, what I'm trying to figure out is if the sarcasm also applies to the first sentence. ;)

And the symbol is the symbol of the Paulist center - so not only is it a cool looking symbol, but it's the symbol of liberal Catholicism. Yay.

-TheE-

[Augie]

Nice pics of the tatt! They definitely are addicting. I have 4 and want at least 2 more minimum.

Plus I've been thinking of getting a half sleeve so I can at least cover it up for work, but still get the artwork that I want.

::twitch:: Definitely addicting!!!

[Sean]

I like it man, well everything but the shading.

[TheEschaton]

artistic license. I was thinking a border, but Otis and I agreed it would probably be too much going on all at once, so he said "Why don't I design something with shading", I said, sure, why not, you're the professional, so he did, and that's how it came out. I like it, personally, gives it almost a graffiti style to it which I dig.

-TheE-

[Artha]

I'm pretty sure you're being sarcastic on the second part, what I'm trying to figure out is if the sarcasm also applies to the first sentence.
Yes and no, in that order :)