Long-Term Tattoo Maintenance: Routine, Products, and Tips It’s very important to take care of your newly inked tattoo, but it’s equally important to continue caring for it over time by following a few simple guidelines. First and foremost, think of your tattoo as a piece of art drawn on your skin. Your skin is like the canvas of a painting: it shouldn’t get wrinkled; it must stay smooth and in good condition. At the same time, the colors and brightness of the design need protection from fading. You must therefore protect both your skin (the canvas of the painting) from dehydration and aging, and your tattoo (the artwork) from the deterioration of its pigments. How to Properly Care for and Maintain a Tattoo? In a very simple way: just make sure to choose the right products that you normally use to take care of your skin (for cleaning, protecting it from the sun, moisturizing, shaving, etc.), preferring those that, in addition to their primary function (skin care), have the secondary function of protecting the tattoo pigments, and have been scientifically tested and proven to work. What Are the Skin Care Practices to Pay Attention to? Tattoo care involves some skin care practices that should be given extra attention: