Tattoo 101 Part 7: The Aging Process

The Aging Process in tattoo is generally a slow one; occurring over the course of many years, the tattoo pigments will begin to spread out slightly. With this eventual spreading, time will turn what was once a beautiful crisp line, to being a little fuzzy along its edges after 10-20 years. For this reason it is extremely important to be sure that you are not getting your tattoos done too small, especially when it comes to script tattoos. This eventual spreading can cause a script tattoo to become completely illegible over time.

The reason this slight spreading occurs is because the body sees tattoo pigments as a "foreign body material". Your body will spend the rest of your life continually breaking down the inks and expelling it through your urine. Yes, you are technically peeing out your tattoo over the years...hahaha, but seriously, you really are :0

When you get laser tattoo removal, your are essentially just speeding up the natural process and helping the body to break down the ink pigments faster. When the laser hits pigments (tattoo ink or natural skin pigments), the laser breaks the pigments up. Imagine it like this, the dynamite (laser) explodes a big rock (tattoo pigment) and now you can easily move a mountain much more quickly than if a crew were to sit there chipping away at a mountain using a pick axe. I will go into more detail on laser tattoo removal in the future.

Just like most other things in life, your tattoos also require some maintenance throughout the years if you want to slow the aging process and get the best life out of your body art. First things first, Never cook your fresh tattoo in the sun!!! The sun will bleach your fresh tattoo extremely fast.
After your tattoo is fully healed, it is important to protect your tattoos from the sun. Using some sunscreen or covering your art with clothing or sitting in the shade more often can make all the difference in your tattoo still looking great when your enjoying retirement.
As with most things in life, your tattoos will need eventual maintenance as well, so if you truly want your tattoo to look amazing for life, then you can't be afraid to invest some extra time/money into your tattoo every 10-20 years to get everything freshened up.

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