AFTERCARE — Studio MIBO
The tattoo is done.
Now the boring part.
Everything you need is in five lines below. The rest is only there if you have a doubt.
IF YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS
- The wrapLeave it on for as long as we told you. Then off, with lukewarm water.
- WashTwo or three times a day. Lukewarm water, unscented soap, clean hands.
- CreamA thin layer after each wash. Genuinely thin.
- Don’t scratchNever. It’s the one way to ruin it by yourself.
- No sea, pool or sunFor 3 to 4 weeks. Not ten days: four weeks.
Whoever tattooed you gave you their own instructions. Those beat this page: they saw your skin, the spot and the ink they used. What follows is the general rule.
WHAT DAY ARE YOU ON?
Wash two or three times, thin cream.
- Sea and poolsNo — 25 more days
- Direct sunNo — 25 more days
- Gym and sweatNo — 7 more days
- Tight clothesNo — 7 more days
- ScratchingNo
DAY BY DAY
THE FIRST HOURS
The wrap stays on. Transparent film: anywhere from 2 to 24 hours, as we told you. Plain cling film: a few hours. Fluid gathers underneath and it looks grim — that’s normal, it’s plasma and leftover ink.
DAY 1 — 3
Wash with lukewarm water and unscented soap, clean hands, no sponges. Pat dry with kitchen paper, never the family towel. Then a thin layer of cream — genuinely thin, the skin has to breathe. Two or three times a day.
DAY 3 — 7
It starts flaking and itching. This is where tattoos get ruined: don’t scratch, don’t pick, don’t help the scabs along. If it itches, pat it with an open hand. What falls off by itself is fine; what you pull off takes colour with it.
DAY 7 — 14
New skin has come through and the design looks dull, slightly faded, like it’s under a film. Don’t panic and don’t start smothering it again — it’s nearly done. The sharpness comes back on its own.
WEEK 2 — 4
It looks healed on the outside and isn’t on the inside. This is where people get it wrong: back to the sea, the pool, the sun, because “it’s fine now”. It isn’t. Colour lost in these weeks does not come back.
AFTER THE FOURTH WEEK
It’s yours. The only thing that really wears it down is the sun: SPF 50+ every time you expose it, forever, not just the first year. A tattoo ages well or badly almost entirely because of this.
THE NOS, WITH THEIR DEADLINES
- Sea and pools3 to 4 weeks. The longest ban, and the one everybody shortens.
- Direct sun and sunbeds4 weeks. Then SPF 50+, forever.
- Scratching or picking scabsAs long as they’re there. Never, on any day.
- Gym and sweat10 days on the tattooed area. The rest of you can do as it likes.
- Tight or synthetic clothes10 days. Loose, cotton, and clean sheets.
- Random creamsOnly the one we told you about, and not much of it.
AND THIS IS NAPLES
You got it done in June. The sea is twenty minutes away and the temptation lasts you a month.
The sea can wait
Four weeks. Salt and sand on an open wound wreck the work, and now and then add an infection.
If you sweat, wash more
Heat makes sweat sit on the skin. One extra wash a day, and a lighter cream.
Not the sand
Not even with a towel over it. It gets everywhere and it scours.
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR
It’s rare, but you should know. If any of these show up, don’t wait it out and don’t ask us first — see a doctor.
- Fever.
- Redness spreading rather than settling, after day three.
- Swelling that keeps growing, with skin hot and painful to touch.
- Pus, or a bad smell.
- Red streaks running out from the tattoo.
For the rest, message us and send a photo. A scab you don’t like the look of, a colour that seems to have gone. You’re not bothering us, it’s the job.