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You’ve been to the Studio, you have a wonderful new piece of artwork adorning your body but who is responsible for the Tattoo After Care.  Today’s society is only too keen to pass on the responsibility for everything and anything to someone else and Tattooing is no exception.

Your Tattoo Artist has a responsibility to ensure that you are in a clean and well kept environment, to use sterile equipment and protective clothing to ensure that there is no risk of infection whilst you are having your tattoo done.  It can be argued that he or she also has a responsibility to give you full instructions on the general principles of Tattoo after care - in fact most reputable artists will give you a sheet of guidelines which, if followed correctly, will make sure your tattoo heals cleanly and with the minimum of trouble.

The key is in those few words ‘if followed correctly’.  So many people always think they know best and either don’t read the instructions or ignore them because they think they know better.  The responsibility for your Tattoo after care lies firmly with you - it’s a simple and easy process if you follow the basic rules and your tattoo will glow brightly for many years if you  keep to the rules. Leave the bandage on for the recommended time period, don’t be tempted to show off your new acquisition if you want it to stay looking good.  Wash it gently, just use your hands - nothing rough or abrasive, and pat it dry.  Use a good, gentle moisturising ointment - but be careful about antibacterial ones, they can cause allergic reactions.  Don’t let your tattoo get wet - a quick shower is OK but nothing else.  Above all don’t pick - it may itch and the desire to scratch is almost unbearable but don’t.  Use good quality products that are specially designed for good Tattoo After Care. That’s all.

It’s funny what triggers you to think about something totally unconnected from the original subject. I ended up being caught in a train of though about the positions on the body of Tattoos for women after I came across a forum post about tattoos on, would you believe, a Physics Forum! The debate was about the style of tattoo the forum moderator was going to choose and rambled on until one of the contributors posted the following comment having added a picture of a stunning Samoan Tribal Tattoo:-

“I think these are nice because they have real meaning to them. There not barb wire or some cheap thing on a girls lower back. I think these tattoos are nice, provided that your a Samoan”

I’m fully aware that this is a sweeping generalisation but, generally speaking, most women do tend to favor smaller tattoos, maybe just on the shoulder blade, wrists or ankles or even round the belly button, especially for those who favor hip hugger style jeans or crop tops. But what if you do want a larger tattoo - the choices are very limited, especially if you factor in that women are most likely to want to pick an area for a larger tattoo that won’t be affected by possible pregnancy, causing distortion. It leaves you with really only one choice - the lower back. That lays you open to comments like the one from the no doubt ‘learned gentleman’ quoted above, even though his grammar leaves a lot to be desired. Where did this social stigma come from, the so-called ‘Tramp Stamp’? Is it the reason Geri Halliwell had the Panther removed from her lower back last summer - despite the fact that the removal appears to have left surgical scarring, you can see the photos on Celebrity Warship.

The origins of the lower back tattoos are lost in the dim and distant past, just like the origins of tattooing itself but I’m reasonably certain that no one actually said ‘let’s put a lower back tattoo on easy women’! Where else could you put those luscious large tattoos for women and …forgive me for this final passing thought, but why does the same connotation not apply to men who have a lower back tattoo?

Getting Inked is one of the most important decisions you can make - it’s permanent, it’s a statement of who and what you are. It presents to the outside world a statement of self that cannot be argued with, it tells much of how you perceive yourself and how you want to be perceived by the wider world. At Body Tattoos I want to bring together every aspects of Tattoos and Inking, a one-stop Tattoo Studio online, let me know what you want and how you want to see it…but first, Welcome to Body Tattoos