Greetings dear Tattoo World Community, today I want to share with you information and personal reflections about the aging of tattoos, because as you read it, tattoos also age, this idea must be clarified because there are people who believe that once a tattoo is done it will stay the same for life and it is not like that, this will depend on many factors but in general tattoos are alive because they are on the skin and it never stops moving like the rest of our body.
Yo me tatúe hace un poco más de cuatro años, elegí un tatuaje negro de estilo ilustrativo en mi antebrazo, el artista fue mi gran amigo Daniel Erazo, el es un excelente dibujante, ilustrador y tatuador, así que confío plenamente en su trabajo. Mi tatuaje como pueden observar en la fotografía se ha conservado muy bien, a pesar de que mi piel es un poco seca y yo olvido aplicarme cremas humectantes, solo lo hago de vez en cuando (no me juzguen 🤭), pero también tengo muchos cuidados que otra personas a veces pasan por algo, la principal es que yo no expongo mi tatuaje al sol, esto ya es una decisión personal, cada quien es libre lucir sus tatuajes llevando sol en la playa si es su deseo, pero debe saber que aunque no tengas tatuajes llevar sol sin protección es dañino, así que yo me protejo siempre son sueter manga larga si salgo a la calle en pleno sol, pero si no tienen otra opción es bueno que usen protector solar, más adelante hablaré de eso, pero en esencia yo no llevo sol, otro factor que creo importantes es que yo afeito mis brazos porque tengo mucho vello 😄, pero eso lo que hace es que exfolia mi piel, luego de tal exfoliación humecto con cremas, se que esto también contribuye a mi tatuaje se vea mejor, yo no tengo cuidados especiales pero solo con evitar sol y humectar mi piel de vez en cuando creo que ha envejecido muy bien el tatauje. Me gustaría ahora hablarles de los factores que intervienen en la apariencia del tatuaje con el pasar del tiempo.
I got a tattoo a little over four years ago, I chose a black illustrative style tattoo on my forearm, the artist was my great friend Daniel Erazo, he is an excellent cartoonist, illustrator and tattoo artist, so I fully trust his work. My tattoo, as you can see in the photograph, has preserved itself very well, even though my skin is a bit dry and I forget to apply moisturizers, I only do it from time to time (don't judge me 🤭), but I'm also very careful that other people sometimes go through something, the main one is that I do not expose my tattoo to the sun, this is already a personal decision, everyone is free to show off their tattoos wearing sun on the beach if they wish, but you should know that although don't have tattoos wearing the sun without protection is harmful, so I always protect myself by wearing a long-sleeved sweater if I go out in the sun, but if you have no other option it's good to use sunscreen, I'll talk about that later, but in Essentially, I don't wear sun, another factor that I think is important is that I shave my arms because I have a lot of hair 😄, but what it does is that it exfoliates my skin, after such exfoliation I moisturize with creams, I know that this also contributes to my tattoo It looks better, I don't take special care but just avoiding the sun and moisturizing my skin from time to time I think the tattoo has aged very well. Now I would like to talk about the factors that intervene in the appearance of the tattoo over time.
Nuestro sistema inmune / Our immune system
All people have an immune system, this is in charge of keeping bad elements out of the body, with viruses and bacteria for example, they are practically our defenses, it happens that everyone has their own, there are people whose immune system is like a great wall that tries to expel any strange thing that enters the body this includes tattoo ink, this also happens with piercings but I could talk about that in another post, what I mean is that each person heals in their own way, so You cannot determine exactly how a body will react to a tattoo.
El otro día leí en un artículo web que hicieron un estudio de la tinta de tatuaje en el cuerpo y resulta que esta tinta siempre está en movimiento aunque no lo veamos, pues las células del cuerpo como no pueden expulsar la tinta se la comen, cuando la célula muere expulsa la tinta que inmediatamente es comida con una célula nueva, porque si no lo sabían nuestras células mueren siempre y asi debe ser, de hecho cuando no mueren es que surge el cáncer, para que tengan una idea nuestro cuerpo siempre está muriendo y renovándose, mueren células y nacen otras, por lo que las células de la piel son así, entonces cada cuerpo tiene su propia manera, hay personas que simplemente no pueden tolerar la tinta, es decir el cuerpo reacciona agresivamente, por eso aunque un tatuador tenga todo el cuidado del mundo el tatuaje puede no cicatrizar bien si el sistema inmune la persona no desea tener tinta en el cuerpo, así que habrá personas cuyas líneas de su tatuaje se tornen más anchas con el tiempo y eso nadie lo puede predecir, aunque una bueno forma de evitar que pase eso, como por ejemplo buscar un buen tatuador que no lastime la piel a profundidad. Mi tatuador fue muy bueno y en ningún momento lastimó la piel, eso sumado a que tengo buena cicatrización contribuyó a que mi tatuaje cicatrizara bien y se conserve bien en estos 4 años, espero que siga así.
The other day I read in a web article that they did a study of tattoo ink on the body and it turns out that this ink is always in motion even if we don't see it, because the cells of the body cannot expel the ink and eat it, when the cell dies expels the ink that is immediately eaten with a new cell, because if you didn't know it our cells always die and that's how it should be, in fact when they don't die cancer arises, so you have an idea our body is always dying and renewing itself, cells die and new ones are born, so skin cells are like that, so each body has its own way, there are people who simply cannot tolerate ink, that is, the body reacts aggressively, that's why even if a tattoo artist be all the care in the world the tattoo may not heal well if the immune system the person does not want to have ink on the body so there will be people whose tattoo lines become wider over time and no one can predict that though a good way to prevent that from happening, such as looking for a good tattoo artist who does not hurt the skin deeply. My tattoo artist was very good and at no time did he hurt the skin, that added to the fact that I have good healing contributed to my tattoo healing well and keeping it well in these 4 years, I hope it continues like this.
Mantenimiento y cuidado de la piel / Skin care and maintenance
Currently there are moisturizing creams that have been created specifically for tattoos, it is good that most of these brands are professional tattoo artist ventures that have found a good business alternative in this need, since the demand is present, however if there is no a special cream for tattoos, just keeping the skin moisturized is enough to prevent the tattoo from aging badly, since it is part of the skin and if you have dry and flaky skin, the same will happen with the appearance of the tattoo, use sunscreen or avoid the sun direct also helps, the tattoo will never be the same as the first day but our skin will not be the same as the day we get tattooed, everything is in the general care that is taken, something that is not talked about much is food, although it is not The diet greatly influences the skin, eating plenty of fresh and raw vegetables helps the skin to be beautiful and therefore the tattoo will also look beautiful.
Tipo de tinta y color / ink type and color
A tattoo will never be black forever, even if it has been done with the best quality black ink, tattoos will always look blue or green over time, this is reality and you have to accept it, once a friend told me that He doesn't like tattoos because over time they all turn green, this amused me because it is supposed to be what is normal in a tattoo, now, it is not the same to be tattooed with Chinese ink and a sewing needle, than to be tattooed with a professional using special quality ink for tattooing, likewise an ink is not the same today as it was 20 years ago, so now there is more research and testing of the components that guarantee greater durability of the color, so as they could see in the photo of my recent skating and a current photo, my tattoo no longer looks black and that's completely normal, you also have to take into account that black is always a little more durable than colors, so if they are done or color tattoo should know that not all colors will age the same.
When I studied arts at the university we saw a matter of restoration or conservation of art, there we saw how to restore and maintain a work requires a great knowledge of both the pigment used in the work and the material used for support, this means that for example a pigment based on vegetable inks will have a different type of oxidation than a pigment that was taken from a mineral, it also happens that the supports have acidity levels and also the temperature, moisture retention and light absorption are important, if we see the tattoo as a work of art is even more complicated because the support is alive, our body has changes and has cells that move and live, the pigments will also react depending on their components and the body support, so you can imagine that Even if they apply the same amount of pink ink to my skin, it may not look the same in a few years, but it may also look better on someone else, we have to accept that they will never look like the first day.
Penetración de la aguja / needle penetration
Have you ever seen tattoos that look raised? This happens for two reasons, the first is that the person's immune system tends to form scarring of this type, the second is that the tattoo artist penetrated further into the dermis, was very aggressive and cut the skin so to speak, so These two factors influence the fact that the tattoo does not look exactly like the first day.
Estilo del tatuaje y lugar del cuerpo / Tattoo style and place on the body
There are tattoo styles that age better than others, everything will depend on the design itself, if it has thin lines they are more likely to fade over time because the needle used is thin and we know that we are constantly shedding the epidermis in a natural way, it also happens that there are designs that have very close lines and when they widen from a natural mono as they age they change the appearance of the tattoo, for this reason a tattoo without small details lasts more faithfully to the original design, many people are against of microrealism for this very reason, because doing such small details would only look good at first but over time they won't even be noticed, some love the traditional style because it has thicker lines and saturated shadows that tend to be better preserved, that's why It also obviously depends on the part of the body where the tattoo is made, it is obvious that if a tattoo is made with very small details in an area of constant friction and skin change, such as the hands, it will not remain the same with As the years go by, in my case my tattoo is illustrative and has small line details, but they are also in an area of the arm with little wear and tear and that helps a bit to maintain it, although obviously the pointillism that It had in a part it is not currently perceived because the points have been joined.
Aceptación y renovación / Acceptance and renewal
Tattoos are part of our personal history, they age just like us, so we have two options, accept aging and appreciate the beauty of the tattoo even when it is many years old and its lines and colors are not the same, the second option is to refresh the tattoo, do a restoration with a professional and return to have a more defined tattoo for a while knowing that it will still age over the years, this is their own decision, just like there are people who paint their gray hair and inject themselves Botox, there are people who prefer to show their gray hair and wrinkles, it is something that is in the freedom of each individual, but what cannot be avoided is that tattoos become as old as we are because it is a living and ephemeral art , they are not forever, they are until our body breathes on this planet 😉
Espero les haya gustado. Les invito a leer mis próximas publicaciones y siempre estaré dispuesta a responder sus preguntas y comentarios, también pueden seguirme y contactarme en cualquiera de mis redes sociales. ¡Muchas gracias!
I hope you liked it. I invite you to read my next publications and I will always be willing to answer your questions and comments, you can also follow me and contact me on any of my social networks. Thank you!