Do you think there is any truth to the claim that it pulls ink from the skin? Personally, I am a little skeptical. Ive seen some excellent results with nothing but Vaseline for the first week of a tattoo.

I know some people have had allergic reactions to petroleum based anti-bacterial ointments that can lead to discoloration....

I suppose every body's skin is different, but is there any medical science behind the claim that it will make your tattoo lose color?

never heard of it happen, i've used it before for the first day after it's been done, then onto bepanthen (nappy rash cream). seems to be fine. :)

If your artist says not to then thats should be good enough just fallow the after care they give you and everything should be fine. Personaly I use A&D the first few days then switch to lotion.

Yeah, Vaseline has some drawbacks. First of all its sticky and can ruin your cloths. Second, it can trap bacteria....infection has never been a concern for me since I have a super immune system and healing time for a 5 hour session is usually 9 days for complete recovery, which I hear is unusually short. Its really messy though, and its probably not good for your pores.

I just wonder where this folk legend started that it will make your tattoo look more dull. I dont really see why it would, unless its gets infected and scabbing increases, but I see it posted on all kinds of websites.


Personally, I prefer natural vegetable oil based products with anti-bacterial stuff added for the first 3 days then switch to lotion.

Lotion by itself was really inconvenient without help when I came to my back piece. I have naturally dry skin so the lotion wouldnt last, and my shirt would suck it up also. Without somebody putting lotion on my back for me 5x a day it would get dry and increase scabbing. I switched to an oil based product, and while it might have been clogging my pores a bit it stayed moist through the day with hardly any scabbing at all, and the color ended up looking even better.....thats just me though. Maybe somebody else has had a different experience. 

Im the same way. If I dont use an oil based product the tattoo drys out too fast and I scab more, which is the real reason people lose color.

I think a lot of it has to do with skin type. I never break out and my skin is usually dry, but maybe somebody with oily skin, who is prone to infection might have different results.