How I Keep My Tattoos Bright

I'm constantly getting questions regarding my tattoos from who does my work, whether it hurt, and what they mean. The most common thing people tell me is how bright and vibrant my tattoos look. I take such pride in trying to maintain the appearance of my tattoos and today I wanted to share with you some tips and tricks. Some of these steps may seem pretty obvious or maybe even something you'd never think of. They are very easy and I swear by them. I don't do this routine on a daily basis, I do this one to two times a week especially in warmer months. Let's start!

Exfoliate: The first step I like to take when it comes to my tattoos is to exfoliate my skin. Exfoliating your skin helps get rid of dry and dead skin you may have. I've been using Lush's Dark Angels face and body cleanser to exfoliate my skin. I've talked about this product countless times so I will skip going into detail in this post. I enjoy that this scrub is very gentle on the skin and it also brightens the skin. Perfect for my tattoos. When I'm in the shower and exfoliating my body I like to focus the scrub on areas where I have tattoos. For the most part my arms and legs. Once I'm done with this step my skin feels incredibly soft and I also notice that my tattoos look a lot more colorful. If I'm not using the Dark Angels cleanser, I've been also using a sugar scrub from B&BW but this one I find to be a little harsher. It's been about a month that I included this step into my routine and I'm so pleased with the result. I also consider this exfoliating step as a prep for this next step.

Shave: I know some people may find this weird but I like to shave most areas where I have tattoos, such as my arms, knuckles, and legs. I've always been one to shave my arms pre-tattoos because I don't like the look of having any hair on my arms. Now with tattoos, I don't like having any hair on them even more. I don't have dark hair, it's more of a golden blonde but I feel that it covers up my tattoos and makes them look a little ashy, darker, or dusty. With shaving my tattoos I feel that it brightens up the tattoos right away because there is no hair to hide them. A simple step like this I feel makes such a difference. I like using D'Fluff from Lush, you guys already know haha. I like this shaving cream because it's filled with moisture and that's ideal for my sensitive skin. Anything that really hydrates and moisturizes my skin especially if I'm shaving is exactly what I need since shaving can irritate my skin, especially in warmer months when I'm shaving one to two times a week. Any moisture enriched shaving cream is very good for hydrating your tattoos as well.

Moisturize: If you have tattoos and you aren't moisturizing them you are basically begging for them to fade. Keeping your skin let alone your tattoos hydrated and moisturized is so important. If you skip this you are letting your skin (tattoos) dry out and when your skin is dry it flakes. This means your tattoos will begin to fade. I'm horrible at moisturizing my body but I try to make it top priority to always moisturize my tattoos. I love using Lush's Charity Pot because it is so hydrating! I love to slather this all over my body especially my tattoos because it immediately brightens the color of my tattoos. Another product I found that intensifies my tattoos a lot more is body oil. For the past two months, I have skipped my charity pot body lotion and have been using this Collagen Vitamin C oil religiously. Vitamin C works wonders for your skin and gives the skin a youthful glow. This oil also helps to brighten and tighten the skin along with helping with anti-aging. I don't like the feeling of feeling sticky or greasy from moisturizer or in this case from an oil. This oil is very fast absorbing and after about five minutes I don't even feel the slipperiness on my skin. I highly recommend that everyone should use an oil to moisturize their skin it really intensifies the color of your tattoos.

Sunblock: My final step is one I don't even have to mention. I spoke a lot about this in a previous post, but once again if you have tattoos especially you need to use SPF. The sun will fade and discolor the appearance of your tattoo. You do not want all that money you spent on them to go to waste especially if you are exposed to the sun long-term. Another thing you might want to think about is if you are the type of person who freckles. I never realized that I get freckles because of the sun. I was never one to have freckles as a child but the older I get I noticed I get a few freckles on my arms when I'm more exposed to the sun. This isn't necessarily a problem except if you have tattoos. Your freckles can bunch with making your tattoo look muddy. I never really put as much sunblock on my right arm since I had barely any tattoos on that arm and my sleeve of tattoos is on my left arm. It was last year when I read somewhere about tattoos and freckling that I noticed my right arm has a lot more freckles than my left. On my Luna Lovegood spectrespecs, I found that I have two small freckles on the blue lens and I don't remember having them before. Now I make sure to apply as much SPF to all of my tattoos and of course my entire body that will be exposed to the sun.

I hope you found how I keep my tattoos looking fresh and bright helpful, and hopefully, you learned a thing or two from this post. I kind of want to start doing more tattoo related posts on my blog leave me some ideas as to what you'd like to see.