Aftercare is the part of a tattoo the studio does not perform and still answers for. The client leaves with a wound, a sheet of instructions and whatever was put on the skin in the chair. Three weeks later the result is judged, and the studio's name is on it. This note is about the part a studio controls: the protocol it hands over, the wrap it uses, and the materials it chooses to put its name behind. It is not medical advice; where your local health authority or a client's practitioner says otherwise, they win.
Three phases, one sheet of paper
Most studio protocols describe the same three phases, and the differences between them are mostly about wrap type and timing. Writing them down once, printing them, and handing the same sheet to every client removes the most common failure, which is a client repeating what a friend said instead of what the artist said.
| Phase | What the client does | What the studio supplies |
|---|---|---|
| First hours | Keeps the wrap on for the time the artist wrote down, then removes it and washes with clean hands and a mild, unscented soap | The wrap, the written time, the soap recommendation |
| First days | Washes and pats dry two or three times a day; applies a thin layer of the product the artist named; no soaking, no sun, no picking | The product name, or the product itself |
| Weeks two to four | Lets the peel happen, keeps moisturising lightly, keeps it out of the sun until fully healed | A date to come back if anything looks wrong |
Film or wrap
Adhesive healing film has become the default in many studios because it does two things a cling wrap cannot: it stays on for days and it keeps the wound closed to the outside while it weeps. The trade-off is that it needs a clean, dry application and a client who will not peel it early. Cling wrap costs almost nothing and forgives a rushed application, but it comes off in hours and the client is on their own from there. Which one a studio uses is a protocol decision, not a product decision, and the protocol should say it explicitly: how long, how to remove, what to do if it lifts.
What goes on the skin
The honest position is that a studio should only hand over, or recommend, a product whose ingredients it has read. That sounds obvious and is rarely done. Aftercare products are cosmetics in most jurisdictions, which means the ingredient list is on the label and nothing else is guaranteed. If a studio sells or gives out aftercare, it becomes part of the chain that answers for it.
Why our Cure system is closed
We list six systems and sell four. Cure is aftercare, and it is closed because we have not finished documenting what we would put our name on: what is in it, where it is made, and what the label has to say in the United States, Canada and Europe. We open a material when the documents exist, not before. Until then this note is what we have on aftercare, and the studios we supply keep using the products they already trust.
What to write on the sheet
- The wrap type and the exact time to remove it.
- The washing routine, with the soap named.
- The product to apply, how thin, how often.
- What not to do: soak, sun, scratch, gym for the first days.
- What a problem looks like and who to call.
Keep the sheet to one page and date it. When the protocol changes, the date changes, and the old sheets go in the bin.