Aftercare in one page

We hand you this on paper as you leave. It is here as well so you can find it at eleven at night when the paper is in a coat pocket somewhere.

Keep the wrap on for the first few hours. Take it off over a sink, wash your hands first, and wash the tattoo with lukewarm water and unscented soap. Pat it dry with kitchen roll, not a towel.

Wash it twice a day for two weeks and put on a thin layer of the balm we give you afterwards. Thin is the word that matters. A thick layer traps moisture, the skin stays soft, and soft skin sheds ink.

For those two weeks: no swimming pools, no baths, no saunas, no direct sun. Showers are fine. A gym session is fine if you wash it afterwards.

It will flake and it will itch around day four. Do not pick it and do not scratch it — tap it through a sleeve if you have to. Some ink comes off on the sheets in the first couple of nights and that is normal.

Touch-ups within six months are free, as long as the aftercare was followed. Come and show us rather than guessing. If the skin is hot, swollen and getting worse rather than better after three days, that is one for a GP, not for us.