Proper sun exposure for tattoos?

Question

Its been 3 weeks since i got my tattoo. I hear that after 3 weeks its okay to swim and be in the sun. I am a big fan of swimming ranging to pools and fresh water. My question is...whats the best way to protect it from water let it be chlorine water or fresh water and from the sun? Do i just wear sunblock or apply some coat of vaseline on my tattoo?

Answer 1

sunblock is all you need, leave the vaseline alone!

Answer 2

Yikes, you should never put vaseline on your tattoo - especially if it's still healing. That's just asking for trouble.

You need to have a high spf sunblock on your tattoos... Even if you've had them for 5 years, the sun can still leach the color from them and you'll eventually have to get them touched up.

I stay out of the sun a lot but when I do go to the beach or something, I wear spf 70 sunblock on my tattoos... I've had most of them for 5 years now and haven't had to touch up any- they're still bright and colorful.  

Answer 3

I instruct clients to wait at least four weeks to go in the sun, you still have a very fresh epidermis and it is very sensitive to sun exposure - it takes young skin a full 30 days to renew itself.  I understand many cannot always stay away but if you can avoid it, please do so. Sunblock is essential and has to be applied frequently.  If you only use an SPF 15, you need to apply it every 15 minutes for protection so get the highest available.

I have no problem at all with you using Vaseline if you are in an indoor pool and wish to protect your skin from the chlorine, but sun and Vaseline don't do well together.  There has been a lot of discussion lately about the use of lip gloss in the sun - they say nothing with petroleum products, just balms.