Moisturise: Apply Vaseline based products, Dermol cream or Aquaphor 3 – 4 times a day for the first 3 days after treatment to promote healing and reduce itching and irritation. Continue to moisturize regularly to keep the site soft and supple.
Apply Vaseline® Jelly
Your skin may bleed slightly before it starts to scab. The American Association of Dermatology recommends using a clean cotton bud to apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the area (when clean), as it will keep the skin nice and moist.
Caring for the treated area
The area treated may look red or inflamed for the next 24-48hours. When blistering or scabbing appears in the next couple of days, apply Vaseline to the area regularly to keep the skin moist. This will also encourage the scab to fall off after 7-14 days.
Why Vaseline and petroleum-based jelly aren't great for a new tattoo. Petroleum-based products can cause ink to fade and may trap moisture and bacteria on top of the tattoo, increasing your risk of developing an infection. Use water-based moisturizers on new tattoos instead.
Older tattoos tend to be more faded because of direct exposure to sunlight. The sun breaks down the ink particles slowly over many years. This also makes unwanted tattoos easier to remove in fewer laser sessions.
Your skin is comprised of protein and requires it to produce antibodies and reduce inflammation. If your protein intake is low, your skin's recovery time may slow down, impeding the tattoo removal process.
Salt and Lemon Juice Cream
This homemade tattoo removal cream lightens the skin and the unwanted tattoo, as the lemon acts as bleach. The coarse salt acts as an exfoliator - to scrub off layers of skin and those with tattoo ink.
In lieu of applying a tattoo lotion after your tattoo is completed, try a thin layer of Vaseline® Healing Jelly. The triple-purified white petrolatum can protect skin by creating a sealing barrier, locking in moisture which can help your skin's natural recovery process.
Tattoo artists use Vaseline when tattooing because the needle and ink are creating a wound. The wound needs something to help heal, and Vaseline can act as a protector for your skin. While it may not prevent scarring and other changes, it can help keep your skin healthy.
Another homemade tattoo removing solution is made up of honey, aloe vera gel, salt, and yogurt. Combine these ingredients to make a thick paste and apply it four times a day over your unwanted tattoo. This solution works faster than plain aloe vera, and by using this method, you will have clear skin in no time.
After your laser tattoo removal treatment, you must use Bepanthen cream and a soothing agent like Lira Clinical repair balm for 24-48 hours on the treatment area. A non-stick dressing will be applied by your therapist after your treatment and must be kept in place for the first 24-48 hours after treatment.
Apply Aloe Vera gel regularly (twice per day) for at least 48 hours immediately after treatment. This will soothe the area whilst letting it breathe and help to prevent any itchiness.
Occlusive moisturisers – ones that form a barrier layer over your skin – like Vaseline and Aquaphor can help to soothe the area at this stage. However, we'd recommend using aloe vera to soothe and hydrate the skin. Vitamin E ointment can also be useful, as it can encourage cell rejuvenation and speed skin healing.
It is difficult to give a one-size-fits-all answer to this often asked question, but broadly speaking, yes a tattoo can be 100% removed so long as your immune system is working effectively and you follow our sun-safe aftercare guidelines.
So what product should you use? You may have heard some rumours that Bepanthen shouldn't be used on new tattoos, but this absolutely isn't the case. Bepanthen is by far one of the most highly recommended tattoo aftercare products and is the go-to ointment for most tattoo artists and studios.
Continue applying the petroleum jelly until the wound has fully healed. Open wounds heal more slowly. A large wound can take 4 weeks or more to heal. A dressing (e.g. a plaster or gauze & tape) can be applied to protect the wound and keep it clean.
If you immediately regret your new tattoo you may be wondering 'can a new tattoo be removed' and the answer is yes. Tattoos are removed using lasers which break up the pigment colours.
Saline treatment lightens tattoos and, when done as a series of treatments, can remove them. We use a manual tool or machine to inject saline solution into the areas of unwanted ink. Saline tattoo removal uses osmosis to persuade the cells to release the ink or pigment and to draw it out from under the skin.
One of the most common home tattoo removal methods we see talked about is salabrasion or rubbing the skin away with salt. It's an old method, and it does technically work, provided you rub enough skin off to reach the layer where the ink is held. You could also achieve the same effect with coarse sand or sandpaper.
Q-switched lasers — which release energy in a single, powerful pulse — are often the treatment of choice for tattoo removal. A special type of laser — called a Q-switched Nd:YAG — might be used on darker skin to avoid changing the skin's pigment permanently.
Laser tattoo removal not fading can be caused by several factors. Some of which are the type of laser used, laser wavelength and ink colour, the laser technicians experience, recovery time between each session, and your immune system. Tattoo removal using laser treatment is not magic.