Hush Anesthetic Gel

This post has been a long time coming. I have been meaning to do a post about this numbing gel ever since I began my Tattoo Collection Series. After I got my Luna Lovegood tattoo the request for this post went through the roof. I'm happy that I am finally sharing it with you today.

I first heard of Hush Gel anesthetic from a tattoo artist that I was going to at the time a couple of years ago. He explained to me that it was a gel that numbs your skin during your tattoo session. I had been planning on getting a piece on my sternum and I had a feeling I would probably need this gel for it. In January of 2015, I ordered my first bottle of Hush. I had ordered it a little late so I knew it wasn't going to arrive for the first session of my sternum. This spot was a bit painful but my mind was at peace knowing that I would have the numbing gel for the next session. The tattoo artist told me that you apply it to the area you're going get worked on and then wrap it with plastic wrap for an hour before your session. I did exactly that. I was amazed at how well this stuff worked with numbing my stomach. It didn't numb my skin completely but it made the pain so much more bearable. However, by the time the artist got to the other side of my tattoo, I felt it wore off completely. Now almost two years later I think I've learned a lot more on how to use Hush and with each use I've gotten better and better at it. Today I am going to share with you guys exactly how to use this gel properly, how much product to use, how long to leave it on your skin for, and some pros to using the gel. This is all super easy but I always get tons and tons of questions from a lot of my friends. I'm always more than happy to help and now I can share this post with a lot of you guys and hopefully answer some questions anyone may have had.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional whatsoever. Everything I have learned is through personal experience and from my tattoo artist who uses it on herself and on her clients.

First I want to share some mistakes I myself made when I used Hush for the first time. Like I said above the gel had worn off before my artist even got to the other side of my piece. This happened because at the time I didn't know that for the best results you should use a thick layer of gel! That was the first mistake I made. I applied a thin layer, maybe a generous amount as you would apply lotion to the skin. That is why it wore off so soon there wasn't enough product. The second mistake I made was only leaving it on for an hour. Since the artist who introduced me to Hush told me I had to leave it on the skin for an hour and I did, I now know that you should leave it on for at least an hour and a half. Two hours would be ideal! I learned this from Chelsey and along with some other tips.

I am now going to share the steps I take on applying the gel. This may become a little repetitive so please bear with me.

Personally, before any tattoo session, I always like to shower before and make sure the area that is going to get worked on is cleaned thoroughly. Just about two hours prior to the appointment apply a thick layer of your Hush gel like you see on the photo above and below. If you are getting a bigger piece then, of course, apply much more and cover the entire area that may get worked on just to be safe. I used my arm as an example for the purpose of this post.

Next, you're going to want to wrap the entire area you just applied the gel with some kind of plastic wrap such as Saran wrap. That is what I always use and has always worked great for me. This may become a little tricky to wrap by yourself depending on where you are going to be getting tattooed. I remember when I was trying to wrap the saran wrap around my stomach when I was going to get my sternum finished it was so difficult to do on my own and a mess haha. Try to have someone help you that will be the best option and it will ensure you have it wrapped as good as possible so the gel won't move around and leak out of the wrap, which happened to me.

On the Hush website, it states to allow the gel to absorb into the skin for an hour and Amazon says thirty minutes. Completely disregard that and make sure to leave in wrapped on the skin for two hours as I stated above. The longer that the product is being absorbed to the skin the better and the numbing will be. When I got my stormtrooper and fawn piece done I had the gel on for about an hour and a half. I used a good amount of gel but not as much as I do now. I left it wrapped for a good amount of time but it wore off before the pieces were completed. (My fawn piece is also enormous!) With those pieces, I could also still feel the needle a tiny bit but it didn't hurt at all. Now when I got my Luna spectrespec piece Chelsey kept my arm wrapped for a little over two hours and I also made sure to add a little extra amount of gel since I'm extremely sensitive on the bicep area. Once Chelsey started I didn't feel a thing! I'm not even lying when I'm telling you that I couldn't feel anything at all besides my arm moving from the needle. It was absolutely amazing. Anywhere around the bicep area is super sensitive to me so I knew I was definitely going to use Hush for this spot. My arm remained numb for almost the entire session it was only towards the last I want to say ten minutes before Chelsey was finished that certain areas started to sting. I think it's mainly because like I said the bicep area is just an overall sensitive spot for me but the Hush gel stuck around for most of it. It was a complete breeze getting this piece. It is also stated that the numbness should last for about two hours after it is unwrapped but this also depends and varies from person to person.

Now for some pros on the gel. When I first heard of this product I went online and did some research as I suggest you also do after reading this post. I had seen other similar products to Hush on Amazon and a lot of people were saying that these types of products aren't good for tattoos. Some people stated that it will end up messing your tattoo especially colored pieces along with messing up the healing process. I also read that some tattoo artists are against it and won't tattoo anyone if they are using any of these kinds of gels or creams. However, that isn't the case for Hush and this gel actually offers some really good benefits. Hush Anesthetic gel will help your skin from swelling which is normal while getting a tattoo. It also helps with reducing redness and skin irritation. Hush gel is safe for people with sensitive skin and also speeds up the healing time. Just a few more things that are great to know about Hush is that it is Paraben and Epinephrine free. Hush Gel is also cruelty-free and vegan! How awesome is that, I know more and more people are becoming vegan and many people don't support companies that test on animals. This made me so happy when I saw the little cruelty free bunny on the bottle. By the way, all this information can be found on Hush Gel's website in case you don't believe any of these facts.

I absolutely agree with everything I stated above. Depending on the area of skin I'm getting tattooed and for how long it's being worked on this gel has really helped my skin from getting too irritated or super red. I think my skin heals pretty quick with tattoos and they are normally fully healed within a week give or take a few days. Since using Hush my tattoos dry up by the second day and it is starting to crack and peel a little by day three. I've also never had a problem with it messing up any of my tattoos that I used it for.

The only con I have about Hush is that the price just keeps going up! When I first purchased it I thought the amount I paid for a 4 oz bottle wasn't bad. Pretty reasonable. Then when I went to purchase a second bottle a year later the price went up by a lot. I hate this but I think I will still continue to purchase it regardless. I think it's completely worth it especially if you really want a tattoo but think or know you wouldn't be able to handle the pain or getting worked on for hours. I just hope they don't continue to raise the price.

Once it is time for your artist to remove the wrap and gel to begin placing your stencil your skin may look a little pink. This is how my skin always looks once the gel is wiped off and the skin is also a little puffy. Once again totally normal, and according to Chelsey, this is what it's supposed to look like. At this point, you can even go ahead and pinch yourself because you won't feel a thing.

Chelsey is a big fan of Hush like I mentioned she even uses it herself. When she is tattooing me she also uses the Hush foam and sprays which pretty much helps bring the numbness back, kind of like it reactivates it and it actually helps a lot. All those items can be found at Hush's website along with Amazon but I'd personally recommend purchasing the gel for sure before anything.

I think I have covered just about everything and I hope I answered anyone's questions they may have had about the gel. If not feel free to comment down below I'd be more than happy to help. Also, let me know if you guys have ever used this or plan to. Let me know how it ends up working for you.

XO
Juliana