Tattooed skin when tanned looks gorgeous but watch out, tanning lotions may ruin your plans. Also, if freshly tattooed, you may find tanning to affect your healing process. Tattooing pierces your skin, and it needs proper healing before you subject it to tanning.
Image: Trailertrashtattoo.net
Healing Expectations
It needs 2-3 weeks of caring before you can call it healed. If the skin is not repaired correctly, it may be prone to infections leading to other complications. Keeping the skin moisturized is the key to heal pierced skin successfully. When you tan, your body will lose moisture and irritate the tattooed place.
The UV rays will be irritating your inked skin, urging you to scratch it, leading to more cuts into already damaged skin. Even though you have your best sunscreens for the tattoo to protect you from the sun, it is best to avoid the sun as much as possible.
After Healing
You need to maintain your tattoos even after healing as they may get dull if you use specific skincare products. There are tanning lotions that are custom made for the tattooed body, which does not cause any harm to your tattoo. Finding one of the best tanning lotions for tattoos that don’t fade your tattoos is essential.
Natural or Manufactured Tanning Lotion?
Tanning lotion should moisturize your skin enough to compensate for moisture loss. Dehydration occurs due to the heat of the sun, which rapidly pulls out the moisture from your skin. If this moisture is not saved or replenished using lotions, your tanned skin will look lifeless.
Natural tanning lotions are never bad for your skin, but they may not be effective in protecting your tattoos. Ingredients like aloe vera, shea butter, raspberries, or beeswax provide max protection of 20-30 minutes. Another downside with these is you need an excess amount of lotion to achieve good results.
But the manufactured lotion has some of the best tanning lotions for tattoos, and they come loaded with other advantages as well. They have high moisturizing concentration, skin rejuvenating compounds, and anti-inflammatory properties, to name a few. Also, the ingredients used in these lotions do not affect the ink helping it to be intact without fading.
Best Remedy
Skin specialists deem it better to avoid exposure to UV rays, for the first month of a new tattoo, in both indoor and outdoor tanning methods. Spray tanning, which does not involve UV rays might be your lifesaver here. The only thing you will need to take care of is to check the chemical composition and verify if it affects the ink. Then you are good to go with the spray tan even when you are freshly tattooed.
Sunscreen Lotions
Tanning lotions are used once in a while, but sunscreens are essential for daily life. Without them, you will not be protected from the harmful UV rays, and your skin encounters countless issues. Hence, finding the best sunscreens for tattoo is also necessary once you have a tattoo.
Sunscreens containing the below ingredients, at least one of them will be effective for your tattooed skin.
- Avobenzone
- Example
- Oxybenzone
- Sulisibenzone
- Titanium dioxide
- Zinc oxide
Advantages of Using a Sunscreen
Sunscreens not only effectively block UV rays but also nourish your skin and provide your tattoo that required a clean and bold look. They protect you from harmful skin cancer that occurs due to the harmful rays of the sun. Aid in slowing down the aging process by preventing signs of aging like wrinkles and fine lines.
Get protection from the sunspots, skin thickening, and such similar issues if you apply sunscreen. Just remember to apply it at least 15 minutes before you face the sun to activate the ingredients and keep reapplying as required frequently.
