outer outer skin layer bit

would this be the “exodermal layer”?

the kids these days heal their tattoos with a “second skin bandage”. it’s super thin, completely translucent, and lets the skin breathe while providing a solid moisture barrier.

i had my concerns about such things because i’ve had adhesive issues in the past. when i got my third tattoo (tribal texas band) back in 1996 i had these huge red wine colored stripes on the inside of my left bicep. i thought that skin had just been overworked or man handled with latex gloves a bit but later realized by shape and symmetry that it was where the masking tape would be and i had, apparently, inherited my mother’s aversion to adhesive on the skin.

(fun fact for gen z folks – before there were “tattoo bandages” we just used paper towels and masking tape, later amended to saran wrap and masking tape so the tattoo was more visible and folks would stop peeling up the opaque towel to show their friends on the inevitable bar run after getting the tattoo)

the first time i was offered such a thing was when i was getting the last of the family portraits done on my forearm. nate really wanted to use it. i had my concerns due to the above scenario, so i made him use saran wrap. it was the roughest healing of all the tattoos i got from him, and the only one that required a touch up, but i don’t blame the bandage for that one. we’d done the same on all of ’em, but this was the first one since he’d left atomic so i got tattooed for seven hours and then, while wrapped up, had to work the shop front of house for five hours rather than going home, pulling the bandage, and washing it off within the first two or three hours. it was also the only tattoo he ever did on me that required a touch up, and by the time we did that (lance’s wedding day, coincidentally) i had used the second skin stuff to heal a blister on my hand so i figured it was safe for a tattoo. because we only did a small touch-up, and i’m a fairly furry motherfucker he’d shaved an odd shape so when he stuck down the second skin it hit a lot of hair, causing it to peel and fall off within an hour or two, before i even got home. i just tossed it in the trash at HEB or whatever and washed and such when i got home and got ready for lance’s nuptials.

so when we did the recent one i was kinda excited to heal with this stuff. kristian initially suggested saran wrap to start, with me putting on the second skin at home later. i asked if we could just start with it since…

a. i had seen that done plenty of times with no adverse results.
b. i would be drinking later and didn’t wanna fuck it up

so, he agreed. i was originally gonna pull tuesday as that was four days (the “sweet spot” according to a couple of the artists i work with) but i pushed till wednesday as that was supposed to be yard day (nope) so i took it off in the shower as i’d been told to do, and while it wasn’t the most pleasant sensation it wasn’t nearly as bad as i’d feared, so we’ll see where it goes from here (this is being written wednesday morning about an hour after my shower).

so far (while the bandage was on) this was the lowest maintenance tattoo heal i’ve ever experienced. i was told i could put another one on after i peeled the initial one off (i actually do have a spare one in the bathroom cabinet) but opted not to and heal it “standard” from here. if that goes well we’ll stick with that, and if not i’ll do a second bandage on the next one. at least one more (which had already been paid for in artistic trade) is planned for later this year.