SJP0tato

As someone middle-aged but new to the tattoo scene (just started the work on my first a couple weeks ago, going in for the second session tomorrow) I'm theorizing maybe it's the "social media + Instagram" popularity/bandwagon thing? People see all these awesome tattoos online, usually a zoomed in, well lit/cropped image that looks amazing. The hype starts, they rush out to get in on the awesomeness, then suddenly reality hits "wait, this isn't a nice cropped imagine online, this is on me forever and it does have some affect/impact on my daily life". Probably mostly an overblown impression that fades over time, but that first realization hits hard. Dunno, that's my worthless $0.02 on it. That feeling isn't something I share: I'm pretty sure my first one I'm getting is perceived as "dumb" by the general public (my wife gave me the 'hmmmm' response so far lol), but I'm cool with that, it makes me happy to get anyways.

Nice! Yeah I'd get that finished up, then you can re-analyze how you feel about it. I bet you just need a little more time to get used to things, be proud of what you've got!

It looks cool to me; do you still have more work pending on it, or is it completed now?

I think this is what I'm going to do for the color fill on mine: clean after a few hours at home, re-wrap with plastic overnight, next morning clean again, then saniderm application. This stuff is tenacious to remove (even after 4+ days), I'd hate to disturb things so much with only 24 hours passed.

Wanted to say thanks for the info, and also post my experience with "Smith And Nephew Flexifix" (same idea as Taga/Sani-derm): I got my outline and small amount of color fill completed last Thursday (upper arm wrapping around to bicep/tricep areas), and my artist wrapped with plastic. I wanted to wait overnight, but the wrapping was starting to come loose enough that I went ahead and removed after ~4 hours post session, washed everything with Cetaphil, applied a very thin layer of Aquaphor to the tattoo'd area, and applied the Flexifix. Since the Flexifix comes in a roll, I had to get creative with the placement in order to get enough coverage (I had plenty of overlapping pieces). I left probably a 1.5" barrier around all sides in hopes of eliminating any leakage. The Aquaphor I applied just to help insure against the Flexifix sticking too aggressively to the linework when I went to remove it later. The next morning it was pretty clear that the outline had almost no seepage whatsoever underneath the bandage, but the few areas that received color definitely looked similar to other posts here. This might explain why some people are able to apply right away the first night and leave it for 4-5 days, and why some people have too much seeping and have to wait until the next day, or change the covering after 24 hours. I left things until this morning (Monday), removed the bandage (which was tougher than I was expecting after this much time), washed up things with the Cetaphil again, and applied some unscented lotion. The lines still look great, the little bits of color are vibrant, and overall things look good. The arm feels slightly tender, but I think the majority of healing is completed now. I'll keep babying this until my next color fill session next week, the 'derm method so far has worked great for me!

It's hard to say if it's the technique, your natural healing response, or something during the healing process that's causing so much trouble, but if you've been dry healing you could try switching to the "wet" healing method with *-derm products. The main purpose of this method is to avoid the heavy scabbing that can occur. There's a good/long thread about it here: I'm trying it for my first, and so far it seems to be working as well as all the success stories listed there. Good luck!

Dunno if this helps you, but just my personal $0.02: I let myself get caught up for my whole life thinking a tattoo had to have meaning, or symbolize a life event, or have some kind of specific reason so when people ask "What's that for" you could have an immediate, understandable, relatable answer. It's only fairly recently I've come to appreciate that it's okay to get something just because you like the aesthetics: think of it like enjoying an album cover, work of art, etc. You don't have to be able to technically break it down and analyze every single aspect of it before you enjoy it, it's cool to just love it for what it is. I'm working on my first piece now, and if someone asks what it's for, or what it means, or why I got it; my answer is going to be "because I like it". Whether that's the truth or not, they don't need to be concerned with. 🙂

First session is in the books! We were able to finish up the design, complete the outline, and get some initial colors completed today. Before we started he asked "how big are you thinking?". I told him I've heard a lot of people suggest not to wimp out just cause it's the first, aka "go big or go home". It's a little odd looking with only reds (and a smidge of yellow) filled, but I think it's turning out great so far. I can't wait to get more color fill going!

I'm no doctor/psychiatrist, but I've seen/heard of similar feelings/emotions from friends and family members that had to endure a physical change (physical alteration due to cancer treatment, or a significant accident/injury). They've said the first few weeks they felt like it wasn't themselves anymore, or felt anxious/worried about the change similar to the comments posted here. They all within a few weeks became accepting, and not concerned with the passage of time. Maybe it's forcing us to examine ourselves existentially, which isn't always something we're comfortable doing? 🙂 Just musing, but it's an interesting topic for sure.

Thanks @Hands On the financial aspect is a really good point to raise too: If my 20's self could talk to my 40's self, he'd probably say "You're gonna spend WHAT on THAT?!?". Age and lessons learned really drives home the "you get what you pay for" adage. 🙂 Nice to be in good company here!

Thanks! So true!

Hi guys, first post, figured I'd give a brief intro and also say thanks for all the shared wisdom/input: I'm a middle aged guy (40) going in next week for his first tattoo (planning a small/medium-ish sized piece on the upper arm), after having a consultation with a local artist about my ideas. I let him know I may be interested in continuing/expanding on the idea later, depending how I feel about things. I've wanted to get a tattoo for a long time, but always held back due to concerns with all the usual tropes: job prospects, what friends/family/others will think, "omg what will it look like when you're older", not completely sold on an idea/implementation, etc. I've decided that I'm settled into my career and it will have 0 impact, and I don't care about what others think and I'm already "old" from some/most perspectives. 🙂 I've spent the past few weeks reading through quite a few older/archived posts from the past 3-4 years, and learning as much as I could about the whole process which I'm eternally grateful for. I didn't even know what I didn't know until reading various accounts/inputs of the process (choosing a design, finding and working with an artist about the implementation, aftercare, mental state throughout the process), so thank you to anyone who's posted a question/response here! I'll come back next week and post up a pic as things progress (it sounds like it's going to take two sessions to get everything completed), in the meantime: glad to be here!