How Tattoos Change Over Time
Tattoos are a way of decorating the body to reflect a message or an image over time. Most tattoos are permanent. They involve a needle being used to deposit ink in the dermas layer of the skin, therefore, they are permanent. Some colors will tend to fade more than others. Yellow and red tattoos tend to fade more than black or blue tattoos. Immediately after you get a tattoo, you need to take care of it, preventing infection or any other problems from developing until the tattoo is completely healed in order to prevent tattoo fading. This may take up to three weeks. Put some moisturizing lotion on it while it is healing. With proper care during the healing process, more of the ink and therefore the color and definition of the tattoo is retained.
Obviously, tattoo fading will be an issue, because the skin changes constantly over a person’s life. The skin ages and stretches and even peels sometimes so there will be changes in the tattoo as well. One of the most important things to do in order to prevent tattoo fading is to avoid excessive exposure to the sun. Wear clothing that will cover the tattoo when you are in the sun or use sun screen to help protect it. Basic skin maintenance is all that is needed to prevent excessive tattoo fading. Keeping skin clean and well hydrated will help the tattoo stay vivid for many years, as long as it was done properly and taken care of properly in the beginning.
If you have a tattoo that has been exposed to the sun or for some other reason is fading, you can get tattoo touch-ups to help redefine the image. Be sure that you go to an artist that is specially trained in doing tattoo touch-ups. However, the original tattoo may not look so bad if you find yourself in worse shape after the tattoo touch-ups, if the artist makes it even worse! If the original tattoo was not done correctly and the ink was deposited in the epidermis instead of the dermis, you are going to have a fading tattoo just from the normal process of the skin sloughing off over time. If you find out that this is happening with your original tattoo, you can have a touch-up done where the artist simply follows the original design but makes sure the ink is inserted into the dermis. Word to the wise: go to someone who specializes in doing tattoo touch-ups. If the original artist gave you a problem tattoo it’s probably not a good idea to go back to him/her again.
To recap: if over the years you are experiencing a fading tattoo you can consider having tattoo touch-ups to redefine the original one. Simply go to a tattoo artist with experience performing tattoo touch-ups. You may find that you can rejuvenate the original tattoo to look as good as new.
But don’t forget: after the tattoo touch-up process is completed be sure to follow the same aftercare procedures you did originally!
