sketchin

So after about a week and a half after my calf tattoo i started to get some ingrown hairs, now i put this down to the fact that my leg had just been shaved and i didn't ex-foliate it before hand (new to tattoos). I accepted this but they're not just localised in that area where the hair was shaved, they're up on my knee some are ingrown hairs others a just little red spots, some of them kinda hurt and have gotten a bit of white puss in them. Should i be worried? I used bepanthen to moisture the tattoo for the first week or so then when they came up i did a little googling didn't find much a part from some say A&D creams can do this so i switched to coco-butter. They're still there and have started getting dark red around them. I have a pretty pale leg so they look quite bad. Anyone have any ideas what i can do and why these have come up?

I've been using Bepanthen and my tattoo is healing really nicely though i had a few late nights and long sleeps so on slight areas of line work feel a little rough and scabby nothing serious though. But anyway i started getting little red spots so stopped the bepanthen and have just been using coco-butter. C ould get the recipe for the ointment you were given i've heard of a people using coco-butter and beeswax. I'd like to try something new when i go for my next session, also how thin do you mean, i've been heating my bepanthen so its really runny and using what would most likely be just over the size of a pea for my whole calf and rub it in until its not greasy.

I'm not black btw, some may have assumed this which. I obviously have it in me, i have some of the features as you'd expect. Maybe i will just get some dreads, always wanted dreads anyway.

cheers for the reply gave me some stuff to think about etc.

Yeah i guess that makes sense, to be honest i know of people getting longer than 6hours sessions but yeah that was how long the artist felt he could work for well, i literally said "look im happy to sit here as long as your happy to work you're the one doing the tattoo" i reckon i could have sat there at got it finished though, impatiens helps ;D

Nah she hates tattoos i could tell she was disappointed when she saw my first. The Red hot chilli pepper logo on my ankle. Also she got a scar when she was very young It has meaning behind it but she hates that also, wasn't her choice to get it done nor her ears pierced and she hates them. Hasn't noticed the solid neo-traditional dragon on my calf yet. Not finished but all the line-work is done and a lot of the dragon is coloured, she is getting older now though heh.

It's why i was a little surprised to find nothing, maybe i wasn't looking in the right places.

So my nan is from Ghana so i have a lot of African relatives and 1/4 African. I am very proud of my African heritage and would love sometimes African, i have had a good look on pintrest (if you don't know pintrest its a great app go download it, completely free and great) and a few google searches but i couldn't think of a better place to post this. Pretty much all i found was scarification which im sure a lot on here are into but personally not me, never say never but no, lol. However i really want something African done, now this won't be for a while, hell i've only just had my first proper tattoo. Saying that i've always loved them and always known i would be getting some ink, planned my first when i was about 14 (more about that in my introduction thread) I'm basically here to ask if anyway knows of any African styles. I did think about getting the African continent on me, somewhere lol, again this wont be for a while i still have 10 hours left on my 'first' and i even have plans to expand on that later in the year when i have the funds. But yeah is there any African specific style i could look at and get some ideas from? Anything would help right now i haven't found much myself. (i have thought of an African animal but im unsure as the thread)

Love it mate! Seriously really good stuff!

Here is my personal opinion and im new to tattoos and healing and it speculation. If you give it a good clean and are very careful, i mean clean hands brand new kitchen roll to dab dry after a quick wash or at least not using the first few sheets etc there should hopefully be no bacteria on the tattoo to fester, and if you wrap it correctly so it is air tight as it were and fully covered so no clothing or outside objects can even touch the tattoo i don't think there is a massive risk for it to get infected. Yes you will get more of a plasma build up and it will be moist and depending on the placement sweat slightly (maybe sweat wouldn't be good though right now lets say im talking about my current placement which is on the calf), but this is just white blood cells, wouldn't that also aid the fresh wound a little bit? at least if you did this for a day or two? Now if white blood cells being on the fresh wound wouldn't do anything but then i guess it is pointless and will just slow down the healing process and if you impatient like me and eager to that next session them 3 days longer are too long... LOL! Now this would, i'd assume slow the process of healing a little but i've only heard of people being told to re-wrap for a maximum of 3days. My stepsister has used this method for all her tattoos and she hasn't had any problems with the healing process. I went to a different studio, and personally i think a better one. Now i was told be to keep it wrapped for 24hours; (this was a large and long session on my first he said leave for around 4hours though that was small) then wet slightly making sure you don't soak the tattoo and use luke warm water; wash with a non-fragrance gentle soap such as sanex zero which is what i use; dab it dry with kitchen roll; i make sure to not use the first few sheets; heat some water leave my tube of Bapenthen in the hot water to give it an oiler consistency (again large tattoo makes for easier coverage) and then just be very careful with what you let touch the tattoo. I am very careful, it's my first real tattoo so i've been rolling up my trousers or wearing shorts, if im resting my leg on something i put a clean towel down first etc. Yes this may be a little OCD but it's my first real tattoo and well i sat for 6hours with one break to pee and like 3 cigs while he was changing needles or getting colour, and i paid a far amount of money for the days work so im not risking it. Not only does this faster method mean faster healing it also means the faster it heals the sooner i get my next session. I reckon i need another 10 hours of work. This would include background work. It's a 90s traditional oriental Dragon. (no you aint getting any pics until it is complete) Only question i have is has anyone used Bapenthen and found something better? This is the one thing that definitely varies, what lotion to use to keep sure it doesn't dry out too much and prevent bad scabbing. Oh and i forget this is an american site im a brit, Bapenthen is again a pure fragrance free none petroleum nappy cream. I'm sure anyone posting in here knows this but i will say it anyway just in case someone has been given bad advice don't use anything petroleum based such as Vaseline it will draw out some of the ink. Seriously though what do you guys think of my method and also my theory on wrapped tattoos, im a tattoo noob so give me all your knowledge :D though i aint stupid, i think. Also 10th post, thank you, thank you. *bows to applause*

6hour session what i like to hear. Is that kinda the limit most artist are willing to do, at least ones with sense? Also the only reason for my thread title was to put my mind at ease so i could sleep. And i will definitely start that thread, wish i could do it now. I'm going to have a ganders through the forum a little bit before i hit the hay. Went for a walk today just to get out a bit, big mistake, went a little to far. My leg started to hurt so to make sure i didn't 'stress' it out further i had to limp about a mile / mile and a half now my other leg is aching lol how counter-productive i am!

I'd love to maybe just start a thread about this but i can't yet (i'm on about African tattoos). There may be a thread on this subject already but i'm going to post here anyway; at least a few people are watching this thread. I haven't been able to find any real African styles, only scarification, anyone know any links / styles i could look at, specifically Ghanaian? Anyway it's pretty damn late (early) in the UK i need to rest. Peace. - Sketch

True, but im not in work at the moment and im about to be going back into college in September too. But at least i'll be going with this phat tattoo lol. Worth all the money no doubt just im paying £350 per day which is about 6hours. Pretty much the same as all the local / slightly non local studios i've spoken with but to me at least it' not a cheap thing. Though im happy to pay to these guys, they are really safe. Fuck they're in my home town also so it's nice to support them. And we do a lot of the same things if you catch my drift.

It has a little. Can't wait until this heals up then end of january going for my second session again im sitting for 6hours, then i will probs need at least another 4-6hours. Expensive things tattoos aye.

I was going by what my stepsister suggested she has experience with tattoos. Last tattoo i got from him i done exactly what he said and i healed pretty well, there is still a slight scab on it though everywhere else i fully healed. Also every now and then it just suddenly kills for a few seconds then goes. This normal? Im relatively new to tattoos and this one is rather large too. Whole calf.