TATTOO AGING
Skin is a living organ that ages and changes over the years. Along with it, your tattoo will also change.
Tattooing is a process in which the superficial layer of the skin is punctured rapidly with needles to introduce tattoo ink into the dermis. “Tattoo healing” actually means that a new layer of skin is formed over the tattoo ink (the epidermis heals where it was damaged). Skin is not transparent; it has its natural pigment. Some people have lighter skin, while others have darker skin. After getting a tattoo, the tattoo ink appears very intense, but over time, it fades or loses its intensity. This happens because new skin begins to cover the tattoo, and during the healing period, it becomes firmer. As a result, the natural skin pigment visually “mixes” with the tattoo ink. A good example is white tattoo ink, which can be very faint after the healing period (if a person has darker skin) or takes on a yellow/brown shade in individuals with lighter skin who tan in the sun. Colors that are similar to your skin color can also become “invisible” more quickly (in Caucasians, these are lighter shades of yellow, pink, orange, brown, gray).
The final appearance of a tattoo is influenced by many factors: whether it was tattooed in an appropriate size considering the level of detail, whether the ink was injected deep enough into the skin, which colors were used, how the tattoo was maintained during healing, whether it is protected from sun exposure, and so on.
In the gallery, there are some examples of tattoos taken from the Internet (they are not our work) on which you can see different types of tattoos photographed immediately after they were done and after they have healed. Tattoo artists usually take pictures of the tattoo right after it is completed, so the skin in those pictures is red, and the colors are very intense. Sometimes, before taking pictures, products for the care of fresh tattoos are used, which give the skin an extra shine. You must be aware that this is not the realistic final appearance of the tattoo. Some tattoo artists process the tattoo pictures before posting them on social media for better promotion. We do this as well – we remove the background to make the tattoo stand out more, and our social media feed looks better. However, we NEVER edit the tattoo itself or use filters when posting. Nowadays, image editing programs are so sophisticated that it’s difficult to distinguish an edited picture from the original. So keep in mind that not everything you see on the internet is real or achievable.
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