Why is Your New Tattoo Fading Rapidly, and What Can You do to Prevent it From Happening?

Tattoos are supposed to be everlasting symbols of hope. Yes, they do fade out, but you certainly do not expect them to lose sheen days after getting done. Most tattoo discoloration cycles follow a set pattern where they start blurring out after a few years, only to settle down as something less bright but aesthetic.

Yet, these patterns and fading spells aren’t bothersome. What’s irritating is when a brand new tattoo starts fading, especially the ones with the best set of colors and blacks added to them. Trust me, nothing breaks your heart faster than the design you choose getting lighter by the day, and that too without giving any quantifiable cause.

This discussion takes such accidental tattoo fading instances into consideration, eventually finding the direct and indirect reasons for the same and finally suggesting solutions to scale beyond this issue.

The Biggest Reason: Neglect

 A newly inked tattoo is like your baby. You must allocate every bit of your attention to it. Instead, most unwitting individuals end up going out in the sun, fail to follow the right aftercare regime, and under or over-wash the tattooed area— causing the same to fade over time. 

Also, some individuals do not respect the process of scabbing and start picking at the tattoo artist or the design if and when that happens. Just to make you aware, scabbing is a natural phenomenon and an important part of a tattoo’s lifecycle.

If you start encountering scabs, you must let them fall off naturally. Never ever try to pick out the scabs on your own, as you would then be compromising the ink strength. 

Yet, there can be some other reasons for a new tattoo to fade out. Let us dig deeper to know more!

Bad Choice of Spot

Yes, there can be some areas that cause a tattoo design to get decolored faster than usual. And if you have already got inked, there isn’t much you can do to reverse the process. However, if you are still in the ‘Consideration’ phase, try and stay away from armpits, inner thighs, ankles, hands, and buttocks. 

The mentioned areas do not come forward as prime real estate for your tattoos, as most of them tend to rub against clothes or end up attracting gallons of sweat. Now imagine how hard it is for those who get full-body designs inked on them to take care of their tattoos. 

Questionable Ink Quality

Choosing a random tattoo artist might not be good for your design, especially its robustness. Artists with no or less prior experience might not be able to pick the right tattoo ink for you, especially by first gauging your skin complexion, texture, and type. 

It is important to pick dark or light color inks or even both based on the complexion. Semi-professionals tend to use basic starter kits with poor quality ink reserves. And some do not even have the right color for your design, but they still go ahead and start designing.

Therefore, if you are on the receiving end of a tattoo design, try and check if the tattoo artist is using one of the products from this list of the best tattoo starter kits. If they are using something from the list, it is safe to assume that you are in good hands and the ink quality will not be a reason for the fade.

Salty Aftercare

Aftercare regimes are anything but set in stone. They vary, depending on the skin type, existing complications, if any, allergies, and other factors. Therefore, if you as a person ‘A’ are planning to follow the aftercare regime prescribed to a person ‘B,’ be ready for the tattoo to experience issues.

There are no standardized instructions when aftercare is concerned. The creams might vary, the lotions might be the same, and things can be oddly dissimilar between two people getting different or even similar tattoos.

However, a few things never change when the aftercare routine is concerned. Regardless of the skin and tattoo type, never ever pick the scabs yourself. Plus, keep drinking water generously. And just so you know, smoking and drinking aren’t advised while the tattoo is healing. 

Also, if your tattoo artist hasn’t given a clear direction, there are a few standard steps that you can follow to keep the tattoo from fading away into oblivion. First of all, never scrub the surface. Next, try and stay away from water soaking. And yes, if you plan on using ointments to speed up healing, use the organic and odorless ones.

Be Mindful of The Sun

Yes, I understand that you need your share of Vitamin D, and thus, sunlight is important. Yet, if you have recently got yourself inked, it is advised to pop the Vitamin D pills for now instead of heading out. Exposure to the sun can blur out the new tattoos more stringently than any other factor as the UV rays penetrate deep and aren’t exactly color friendly. 

In case you have to go out, an organic, light, yet potent sunscreen might help you out, followed by a UV-resistant choice of clothing. And if you are picking clothes now, make sure that they aren’t body-hugging. 

And that concludes our disconcerting picks that might play a role in getting your tattoos discolored way before it is normal. 

But I wouldn’t conclude the piece yet. Instead, here are some of the strategies to quickly fix a fading tattoo before it ends up looking the same as your skin:

1. Keep touching up
2. Recolor the tattoo as the darker areas tend to lose shine faster
3. If the tattoo isn’t working for you, consider covering it up with a new and better one.
4. Once the tattoo has healed a lot, try exfoliating the surface once a week to periodically remove the dead cell accumulation, to help you reveal the true nature of the ink. 

And that’s it for now. It is important to note that every tattoo fades, some time or the other. Therefore, if you see the design getting discolored a tad bit over time, there is no reason to get disheartened. The only thing that you must aim for is to prolong the life expectancy of your tattoo while making sure that the color stays close to new for as long as possible. I am sure following the steps and guidelines mentioned above will help you in that regard.