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You've got past those first days of serious Tattoo After Care when all you want to do is scratch and pick at it or take the bandages off too soon to show your friends. What next? If you want that tattoo to stay bright and vibrant you have to care for it. It's a piece of art and should be treated as such.

Most Tattoo Artists are highly regarded and their devotees will travel across Countries and Continents to have work done by their idols, gone are the days when they were regarded as sleazy back alley practitioners of a suspect trade. You only have to look at the Artists present at Tattoo Conventions - and the queues of people wanting to take advantage of their services. TV shows such as Miami Ink, LA Ink and London Ink have exposed the work of some superb artists to a much wider audience and raised expectations in terms of the quality of the work.

Good Tattoo after care practice needs to become a part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth - something you do without thinking about it. They key thing you must do to stop your tattoo from sinking into dull wrinkles is maintain the 'canvas' the Artist worked on, your skin. Keep it clean, nourished and healthy and you'll have no problems. Your best friend is a good moisturiser - apply it gently and it will keep the skin soft and supple - especially important if you have your tattoo in places where there isn't so much 'padding' - head, hands and feet. The lack of body fat under the skin in these areas can leave the skin very vulnerable to dryness and cracking - fatal to the maintenance of your tattoo. Particular care is needed if you have a foot tattoo, the rubbing of shoes and socks can soon cause damage. Even if you go barefoot the proximity to all the dust and dirt can cause problems if you don*t take sensible precautions.

The most important thing to protect the color is to keep it well protected from ultra violet so a good quality high SPF sun block is your tattoo's best friend - at least factor 30. One thing it's easy to forget is that you must reapply that sun block several times a day if your tattoo is exposed for any length of time. We all remember to do it after we've been surfing or for a swim, but what about if you are just 'out' - it still needs to be reapplied regularly or you'll find those lovely blues, greens and reds fading to monochrome blue-grey which is not attractive!

When you have tattoos, especially by the great Tattoo Artists who are working today, you are a walking work of Art and you want to show off your body art at it's best so it's worth taking time to set up a quick and simple regime of care so that heads turn when you walk by for all the right reasons.