Dan

welcome fellow old guy ! LOL I'm 58 and have been getting tattooed since the 80's and still getting work done and I am as addicted as ever ! I will say I have gotten more tattoos in the last 10 years than ever as well. welcome to the addiction.

looks great so far !

This is my saniderm method,I have used it for several years now and several tattoos. 1)in the first 24 hours,I leave the artist applied saran on for about 4 hours,then wash it with warm water and anti-microbial soap scrubbing with the clean palm of my hand,pat dry with a clean paper towel,then add a very light coat of palmers cocoa butter,then cover with fresh saran. I repeat this every 3 or 4 hours for that 24 hour period.waiting 24 hours is enough time IMO for all the fluids to come out. 2) wash one more time,pat dry with clean paper towel,apply saniderm being careful to not have any bubbles.Make sure there is about a 2" overlap around the tattoo.leave it on for 4 to 6 days. BAM ! done ! here is a pic of that method on my last one a few weeks ago. (of course my wife helped with this one) I buy the 10.2" X 2 yd roll ($16.95 directly from Saniderm.com) and I like lots of overlap.

don't worry,I have both elbows tattooed and it was low on my pain scale,don't let it build up in your head. Actually my knees,elbows,hands,fingers,were all ok,my inner thighs were way tender though.

well, if your arm is down at your side, it's not upside down, you don't walk around with your arm up in the air do you ?

what @Gingerninja said, and I have all my fingers tattooed and that was a very easy spot for me,many people say knees and elbows are really bad and my knees and elbows were also easy for me, and @Donnelly1991 ,no offense but it sounds like your sister really doesn't have too much to compare pain levels to with only 2 small tattoos, don't let the pain discourage you,it's not as bad as you think,and if you are that worried,then maybe don't get tattooed.

I have a really cool story related to Freddy Corbin,I just have to make time to write it here. and @Boiled Dove I love that tall ship tattoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it looks great, like was said, leave it alone and plan the next one, and remember "tattooing/tattoos" is not a "perfect" art form, imperfections help make it what it is.

I second the aveeno for sure.

so the other day at my work(maximum security jail) they had a blackhawk land and the crew talked to the residents. it was really f&*^%$# cool.

here is some more. a few legends, and one I saw on the way back :(

maybe to be safe,check with your doctor for infection. but please don't panic.

sounds ok to me.everyone heals differently.I have used it many times ,and I have noticed that full color tattoos seem to ooze more than B&G.

IMO you should apply it to your elbow crease with your arm stretched out straight. also I wash with a good anti-microbial soap using the clean palm of my hand,and clean the few inches all around the tattoo,then pat dry with clean paper towels,very dry ! then apply the saniderm/tagederm.you want all the natural skin oils and whatever off the skin.I just too my saniderm off tonight after 5 days,and it's pretty much healed. at least that's how I would do it.

ya ! it was a good day meeting you 2,and I am looking forward to your pics.

yep ! I swear by this stuff, life is so much easier with it.

Hi and welcome. I usually don't apply Saniderm until about 24 hours after getting the tattoo, in that 24 hours I remove the saran wrap, wash with anti-microbial soap, put aquafor or cocoa butter on lightly, and re-wrap, I do this 3 or 4 times in that 24 hours, then I wash and dry one more time and apply the saniderm over clean dry skin, IMO you should be fine if you keep a light coat of something on it, you could wait 36 hours or so to apply the saniderm,it would be ok to do that.(I wouldn't let it dry or scab before you put on the saniderm) I leave the saniderm on after that for 4 to 6 days, I have it on still from a tattoo I got last Saturday(10/21), I put it on sunday(10/22) I plan on removing it tomorrow(10/28)

this is worth bringing back up, because these 3 words really annoy me when someone is talking about tattoos. I can also add that it's called a "tattoo machine", not a "tattoo gun", it does not shoot bullets, or paint balls, or bb's. (disclaimer: this post is not aimed at any individual here)

ya,it was cool,Tim Hendricks was taking walk-ups,but there were too many people on the list when I got done with greg. :(

really nice,I love the eye in the headlight.

a few misc shots from the day

I just got back from the SF convention ,it was a beautiful day in the bay area,got this from Greg Christian. I met up with Zetroc and Hands On,both really nice guys.

Hi and welcome,there is nothing wrong IMO with having multiple similar tattoos,many people here have them,I do too,I have several "skull" related tattoos in different styles,sizes,and locations,I also have a few different tattoos with anchors in them.

so my wife said for my birthday present she would pay for today's little Friday the 13th tattoo and next week's Oni from Greg Christian at the SF show. today is my birthday. :) (10/13)