Bepanthen ok for tattoo after care?

-Vega-

Hey folks,

got some tattoos on Monday on my forearm and ribs, quite large. I had some vitamin A+D cream but I ran out.

Just went to chemist and they recommended Bepanthen.

Just wondering how often I should apply it daily? 3 times?
Is it the best choice in your opinion?


Thanks

Star Lord

If/when the tattoo is feeling dry.
I've used it on my previous three tattoos, and have been using it so far on my new one, but thinking I'll try something else for the remainder of the healing period.

SolvableKnave

I've found Bepanthen to be great. Little tip, before you apply, stick the tube into some hot water. This will help to thin the cream out a little, as it is quite a sticky cream, and can be a bit of a git to apply otherwise.

Then, with mine anyway, i moved on to E45 when the skin starts to flake. Just helps keep the moisturised. I use E45 every day on my tattoos, just to keep them looking fresh.

-Vega-

Thanks, really helpful answers

hdowney

SolvableKnave wrote: »

I've found Bepanthen to be great. Little tip, before you apply, stick the tube into some hot water. This will help to thin the cream out a little, as it is quite a sticky cream, and can be a bit of a git to apply otherwise.

Then, with mine anyway, i moved on to E45 when the skin starts to flake. Just helps keep the moisturised. I use E45 every day on my tattoos, just to keep them looking fresh.

the hot water thing i can't reccommend enough. i discovered this by accident. i used to find the cream such a bítch to apply, so tough and sticky and sometimes it hurt (having to put pressure to spread it) but one day i didn't realised i'd left the cream on the bathroom rad, and the rad was on. but it spread so easily i was chuffed

Jimmy Bottlehead

Not to hijack lads, but...

Got inked last Saturday in Wildcat. Woyt said to wash it, apply Bepanthan, and change the clingfilm 4 times a day for a week, which I've been doing since.

Anyways, it's now at the stage where the skin is starting to peel a little, and a few small bits of the ink has come out. I'm just wondering should I ditch the clingfilm and switch to E45 at this stage?
I've to head in Tuesday 17th again to finish off the background, so I'm not worried about the ink as he can touch it up then. It's also an extremely detailed and delicate tattoo so I'd say it's more open to that?

Star Lord

Personally speaking, I've only ever used clingfilm for the first few days. Some people don't use it at all, but I'd rather protect my tattoo from sticking to/getting irritated by my clothes!

Losing a little bit here and there is fairly common, nothing that can't be rectified in a subsequent session/touch-up.

Melion

Can someone please go and have a word with Wildcat, they seem to be the only shop that is telling people to keep clingfilm on for days afterwards. It doesnt make any sense at all, like someone posted here before, it just gives a greenhouse effect on your tattoo for bacteria etc to breed.

As for Bepanthan, ive always used it on my tattoos. But lately ive switched to bio oil after 3/4 days. Works a treat.

Star Lord

Melion wrote: »

Can someone please go and have a word with Wildcat, they seem to be the only shop that is telling people to keep clingfilm on for days afterwards.

They're not. Lots do.

Hellrazer

Melion wrote: »

Can someone please go and have a word with Wildcat, they seem to be the only shop that is telling people to keep clingfilm on for days afterwards. It doesnt make any sense at all, like someone posted here before, it just gives a greenhouse effect on your tattoo for bacteria etc to breed.

As for Bepanthan, ive always used it on my tattoos. But lately ive switched to bio oil after 3/4 days. Works a treat.

Ever try my method yet Melion??

And yeah shops really need to stop telling peeps to use clingfilm for days.

Since the last time this came up Ive spoken at length to a microbiologist about this and yep its definately a bad idea.The nasty bacteria are anerobic--is they dont need oxygen to breed and whats the first thing cling wrap does??
Yep create an oxygen barrier.

Hellrazer

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

Losing a little bit here and there is fairly common, nothing that can't be rectified in a subsequent session/touch-up.

But you shouldnt be loosing any ink-You know that crap that stays on the cling wrap--thats usually lymph thats trying to fight a foreign body/infection ie the ink.It pushes the ink out with it and you get loss of ink.

Thats not right in anyones book.And you also dont get doctors cling wrapping open wounds--a breathable dressing would be a better option to keep it clean.

-Vega-

The guy gave me like a large plaster to cover it for the first day, wasnt air tight, was specifically to stop the clothes irritating it. After that he said dont need to cover it unless you find your clothes are irritating it.

Just wash it, put A+D vitamin cream on it. No chemist had A+D but 2 of them recommened bepanthen.

Seems fine now, its starting to scab and bits are coming off naturally as I wash. Really want to give it a scrub cause some ink is still around the sides of the tattoo but its still a little sensitive and I dont want to rip off any scab myself.

Star Lord

Hellrazer wrote: »

But you shouldnt be loosing any ink

It's not unheard of for there to be little patches where it may have been missed/grazed over, that when healing looks bare though.

Marty McFly

Yeh have to say ive never understood people keeping there tattoo covered in clingfilm personally after two or three hours thats it no more clingfilm for me and all mine have healed perfectly, I always thought it was best to let the tattoo breath as they say? Ive always used bepanthen in the first week or so then moved onto e45.

As for heating up the bepathen yes big time I figured it out by mistake myself left the bepanthen sitting on top the sky box but it makes is so much easier to apply especially the first few days when the area is still feeling a lil bit tender.

Melion

Hellrazer wrote: »

Ever try my method yet Melion??

Actually doing it on my latest piece. Working a treat so far, i really want the colours to stay bright on this one and its working.

Marty McFly

Hellrazer wrote: »

Ever try my method yet Melion??

If you dont mind me asking whats your method? Im hopefully going in for another session on my arm on Monday depending if i like the drawing, but if someone has a better method id be more than willing to try it.

McChubbin

I was recommended Bepantine cream for my tat last year. I slattered the stuff on 3 times a day seven days a week and didn't get a single scab. Granted, my tattoo is only a small thing on my left wrist but it worked for me...

Star Lord

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

If you dont mind me asking whats your method? Im hopefully going in for another session on my arm on Monday depending if i like the drawing, but if someone has a better method id be more than willing to try it.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77197543&postcount=28

I actually got some E45 cream to try on mine, but only after opening the tub did I realize it contains lanolin too, so may as well be the Bepanthen... >_<

Please Kill Me

Funny how tattooists are different. My guy tells me to not let water near it for at least four days, and to use Bepanthen on the tatt 4 times a day.

Hellrazer

Please Kill Me wrote: »

Funny how tattooists are different. My guy tells me to not let water near it for at least four days, and to use Bepanthen on the tatt 4 times a day.

Its constantly changing...years ago when I got my first it was savlon or preparation h that was recommended.

Now its bepanthen that most artists recommend.

Melion

Please Kill Me wrote: »

Funny how tattooists are different. My guy tells me to not let water near it for at least four days, and to use Bepanthen on the tatt 4 times a day.

So he tells you not to wash it after 2-3 hours?

FoxyVixen

Please Kill Me wrote: »

Funny how tattooists are different. My guy tells me to not let water near it for at least four days, and to use Bepanthen on the tatt 4 times a day.

No water for four days?!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems a bit silly. I mean it's an open wound, it needs cleaning before applying bepanthen.

Jimmy Bottlehead

It's funny, you would genuinely think that at this point, there would be a universal and agreed-upon method of tattoo aftercare. It's unsettling that so many artists and studios have such contrasting and opposing opinions.

Please Kill Me

Hellrazer wrote: »

Its constantly changing...years ago when I got my first it was savlon or preparation h that was recommended.

Now its bepanthen that most artists recommend.

Yep, Yonks ago when I got my forst one I was told to use Savalon.

Melion wrote: »

So he tells you not to wash it after 2-3 hours?

Yep.

FoxyVixen wrote: »

No water for four days?!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems a bit silly. I mean it's an open wound, it needs cleaning before applying bepanthen.

Yeah, true, and no disrespect to the lad, I just give it a quick wash and a dab with a towel before I put on the Bepanthen anyway, based on what my previous tattooist told me, where I had to wash it a couple of times a day.

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

It's funny, you would genuinely think that at this point, there would be a universal and agreed-upon method of tattoo aftercare. It's unsettling that so many artists and studios have such contrasting and opposing opinions.

You would think! But yeah, it's odd alright.

Reku

Hellrazer wrote: »

But you shouldnt be loosing any ink-You know that crap that stays on the cling wrap--thats usually lymph thats trying to fight a foreign body/infection ie the ink.It pushes the ink out with it and you get loss of ink.

Thats not right in anyones book.And you also dont get doctors cling wrapping open wounds--a breathable dressing would be a better option to keep it clean.

Trapping fluid from a weeping wound, and probably sweat from your skin, that cocktail would be just begging bacteria to set up shop, so I'd definitely say that a good sterile and breathable bandage/dressing would be far better than cling film.


This is why for me I usually strip off the cling film and plaster once I get home (typically ~ 1 hour after the tattoo is finished). Every time I've found stopped bleeding and there's little weeping from the tattoo at this point so I give it a very gentle rinse with water and then put on the cream.
The tape for holding the film on tends to irritate my skin quite a bit so as i discovered from my first tattoo it's better to get it off as soon as the tattoo's stopped weeping to any significant level. The first time I got a tattoo I stuck with the instructions I was given "leave it on for a few hours" and ended up with some very sore and broken patches of skin where the tape had been.

Once the film's off and the skin has has a little rinse to remove the gunk (clotted blood and lymph with some tiny amounts of ink) I typically leave it naked, but throw on a bandage if (and when) it's somewhere that might suffer friction in the near future (e.g. due to tossing in my sleep).


Once the film's off and the area cleaned I use the bepanthen for a couple of days (used to stick to the instructions but found the last time that even after about 2 days the area was less irritated than just tended and in need of healing so switched to E45 after 3 days).

Reality is there's never going to be a standard answer for how long to do things for because we all heal at different rates and even different areas on one person's body can heal differently, throw in the impact of how run down you might be at one time, relative to another, and you can surely understand why most tattooists might err on the side of caution and give clients a long estimate for each stage? The last thing they want is to guess too short a duration and have the tattoo ruined because of bad aftercare (which they would then get blamed for if the person was only following the supplied instructions).


P.S. - thanks for the heads up about heating bepanthen folks, that stuff is a bit of a pain to use in its normal state.

mummymoo

lanolin could be a good one too its not cheap (also its nipple cream) but its so thick and really good for dry skin, and its natural so i would imagine it would be good, you have to heat it on a rad before you use it tho because its really hard to get out of the tube , hot water might also work, its in a purple tube and called lansinoh (sp?)

you could prob also heat bepanthin on a rad, i just leave it on the rad all day so usually if i need to use it its already gone soft

Hellrazer

Lanolin products in my opinion are not the best option for healing a tattoo.

Boiled sheeps wool??Oil based.Leeches the ink out and some people can have an allergy to lanolin.

Killer_banana

I've heard of people using Lush Dream Cream and Ultra Balm as aftercare for tattoos. I've never used either myself but they're meant to be really good and I know if they're a terrible idea someone here who knows more than me will correct me. I'll just post up the ingredients for anyone interested.

Dream Cream
Oat Milk, Rose Water, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Cocoa Butter, Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, Tincture of Benzoin, Rose Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

Ultrabalm
Organic Jojoba Oil, Candelilla Wax, Rose Wax

Also they're vegan and I'm sure anyone who has gone to the trouble of finding an artist who either uses vegan tattoo ink or was willing to use if if they bought it would like vegan aftercare as well.

Themadhouse

I've been following this thread with interest as I always keep my new ink covered with clingfilm for a few days. I allow it to breathe in the evening for a few hrs. I found no scabs or loss of colour personally.
I can see where people are coming from with the no cling film but my problem is my job. If I get a tattoo on my lower arm I need it completely covered while I am in work. I'm a barber and I am terrified that a hair might get into the wound, they go everywhere so its a genuine worry.
What would people recommend I use or do instead of the cling film? A melolin dressing is not sufficient as the hairs travel through.

Reku

Themadhouse wrote: »

What would people recommend I use or do instead of the cling film? A melolin dressing is not sufficient as the hairs travel through.

Perhaps it might be worth putting cling film over the dressing, that way the skin can still breath while healing and the dressing can absorb any fluid that might weep out rather than hold it against the skin, but the cling film would keep away the hair (and anything nasty that might be in that hair, whether it be chemical or biological). Do you think that would work?

Killer_banana wrote: »

Also they're vegan and I'm sure anyone who has gone to the trouble of finding an artist who either uses vegan tattoo ink or was willing to use if if they bought it would like vegan aftercare as well.

It had never even dawned on me that there might be non-vegan inks since most pigments are metal oxides.
At least from what I've found the components that might be derived of animals shouldn't be likely to cause a bad reaction (I know that's not what you were worried about but it was what worried me upon finding out there were animal products in some inks). I would've thought that most black inks would be based off wood based charcoal since it would be far easier and cheaper to get/produce?

Killer_banana

Reku wrote: »

It had never even dawned on me that there might be non-vegan inks since most pigments are metal oxides.
At least from what I've found the components that might be derived of animals shouldn't be likely to cause a bad reaction (I know that's not what you were worried about but it was what worried me upon finding out there were animal products in some inks). I would've thought that most black inks would be based off wood based charcoal since it would be far easier and cheaper to get/produce?

The most common used animal derived ingredient as far as I'm aware is glycerin which is a carrier fluid for the pigments if I'm not mistaken.

As for charcoal, I'm not sure why they would choose bone char over wooden charcoal. Perhaps it produces a darker black or something? I've never seen any information on why bone char is chosen over other options just that it's fairly common.

Themadhouse

Reku wrote: »

Perhaps it might be worth putting cling film over the dressing, that way the skin can still breath while healing and the dressing can absorb any fluid that might weep out rather than hold it against the skin, but the cling film would keep away the hair (and anything nasty that might be in that hair, whether it be chemical or biological). Do you think that would work?

Yes, I'm sure that would. Thank you I will try that out next time!