Stella Street Tattoo
Tattoo Aftercare tips
Please take the time to read the following after care guide.
Give your new artwork the best chance to heal properly and always take special care!
The Following Days
AFTERCARE
On day 3 you may apply some light moisturiser lotion (we may have some for sale in store or you can use Vitamin E Cream and Bepanthen ) once a day or twice a day, every day apply as little as possible, Your tattoo will heal naturally on its own, the cream is more for comfort whilst it has a scab formed.
NEVER apply petroleum jelly, alcohol or other creams and lotions containing these ingredients.
Keep your tattoo clean, out of the pool/ocean/saunas/spas for 2 weeks minimum, and out of the sun for 3 weeks minimum.
Avoid wearing tight clothing over your tattoo that can cause friction, this will ruin your tattoo quickly.
And please for god sake, don’t pick at your tattoo while it’s healing!
Over all use common sense, your tattoo is an open wound so treat it accordingly and never hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns with healing.
AFTERCARE
The Basics
When you arrive home/after an hour, remove the glad wrap and with clean hands wash your tattoo with antibacterial soap, gently removing any blood and gunk build up, pat dry with a clean towel and leave to air dry.
You can repeat this step 1-2 times as needed if you notice more build up (usually before bed is best)
On day 2 repeat the steps of day one, taking care to keep your new tattoo clean (do not cover in glad wrap again)
Protecting your Tattoo from the sun
Australia for the most part is a summer country and the sun is usually shining and burning bright. If you’re a tattooed individual then conventional wisdom says you have but little choice; cover-up, apply a high SPF sun cream or risk destroying your coveted artwork.
If you can’t/won’t/don’t want to- cover-up your tattoo with thick clothing in the summer to block harmful UV rays then you only have the option of sun protection.
When considering protecting your tattoo from the sun you have a whole other consideration and that is the tattoo pigment itself that is buried in your skin has different protection needs than your rejuvenating skin does as once pigment has been damaged it cannot repair itself.
SUN CARE
What to use on your Tattoos
SUN CARE
Simple and time tested, white zine oxide/titanium dioxide cream. It is inert, does not absorb into the skin and completely blocks all spectrum UV rays from damaging your skin and your ink. The white shiny cream reflects and scatters the UV radiation away from you and keeps you safe and your ink perfect and bright every time.
It also reflects the Vitamin D so make sure you do get some sun exposure.
FAQs
summer, winter, spring or autumn?
Best time of year to get work done, big or small is of course… autumn/winter. Makes it easy to stay out of the sun, easy to stay out of the water, easy to keep covered while healing and all around a good idea. And when summer does roll around and your new tattoo is a well healed tattoo it can take some abuse from the sun and hard living without being affected much. Always use ZINC cream to reflect the UV rays if you plan getting direct sun on it. Normal sunblock does not do much to protect the pigment in your tattoo.
if your artist has a recent portfolio or great work, give them some creative license.
Chances are they knows what they are talking about. Discuss ideas and concepts in depth but don’t be scared to have faith in your artist and trust them to what they do best.
does it hurt?
Anything in life worth doing involves some physical and mental pain and/or discomfort. Some examples of this include: going to the gym and training, giving birth, mountain climbing, being in love, learning a language, learning a sport and many many other things that we all do or contemplate doing on a daily basis.
The pain of a tattoo is mild, short lasting and ceases as soon as the tattoo is complete. There is only discomfort whilst the ink is actually being put into the skin. This is not a constant process, it is many stops and starts and one usually gets used to it after only a few minutes. Your greatest enemy before getting a tattoo is your imagination running wild with the thought of it all.
Its not that bad, if it was I would not be in business and you wouldn’t be reading this. All you need to do is wrap your head around and take the plunge.. some people actually enjoy the sensation and everybody can tolerate it.
colours fade
Everything fades with time, how long depends on how much sun you expose the tattoo to, your artist and the inks they use, and of course how well you heal it initially. A properly healed good colour tattoo using high quality materials should stay bright, crisp and colourful for at least 15-20 years without a touch-up.
my friend can do it for way cheaper than that.
Sure they can. And you get what you pay for. Just remember you’ll have that tattoo a lot longer than the 100 bucks you save.
Good work ain’t cheep, and cheap work ain’t good.
i want a really really small tattoo, can you do it really small?
Anything can be done, the question is whether one should or not. Small tattoos are bad for so many reasons. Firstly, they don’t hold they’re shape after ageing for only a short time, if there are any details they will blur very quickly and more than likely you won’t be able to tell what the tattoo is from more than 2 feet away.
A tattoo should look good for at least 15-20 years! It doesn’t go away so some thought should be put into what you are marking your body with. A cute small tattoo when you are 18 becomes an unsightly blemish when you are 30. Better to get something genuine in a size that will age gracefully.
do you rework old tattoos or finish pieces started by other artists?
It really depends on the quality of work and if we think we can actually make it look better. In general though we don’t finish what someone else has started.. but you can always come and show us and if the circumstances warrant then we are happy to help.
The way around this of course is to give us a fresh area of skin to tattoo something cool, build a rapport with us and THEN hit us up for a fix up… doesn’t always work but its worth a try!