Keep Your Ink At Peak Brightness This Summer
A tattoo is a significant investment in terms of money and time (not to mention pain). So if you’ve got one, you want to do all you can to keep it looking brand new. But summer sun can be brutal on your art.
While your tattoo is permanent, over time, things like UV exposure and degradation of skin structure cause the ink to fade and lose definition.
The top line of defense against fading and structural changes is sunscreen. SPF will help prevent fading and photodamage like collagen loss, which can cause ink to spread. Since UV also initiates melanin production, you’ll be keeping your ink from being obscured by UV induced-pigmentation.
To preserve your investment, a broad-spectrum, physical sunscreen that reflects UVA and UVB rays is a must. But there’s more that you can do.
Brighteners and exfoliators can help keep your tattoo at its peak condition. Once your tattoo has settled into the deeper layers of your skin (after about week three), it resides in an intermediary layer of tissue that joins the outer (epidermal) and inner (dermal) layers of skin, known as the dermo-epidermal junction. At that point, exfoliators, which work on the outer layers of skin to remove the accumulation of dead cells, will not harm your tattoo.
Products with alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) clear dead skin cells, making skin looking fresh and bright. Glycolic acid, mandelic acid, and lactic acid are AHAs that block the production of melanocytes (melanin cells) in the skin. Using these provides a one-two punch of exfoliating dulling cellular debris while blocking excess pigment.
Vitamin A is another prime ingredient for tattoo preservation. This cell-regulator promotes collagen production to help retain the definition of your art and removes unwanted pigmentation from the skin.
Typically used for the face, Vivant’s Exfol-A or 8% Mandelic Acid 3-In-1 Serum can do double-duty to protect body art as well. Skin Nourishing Toner with mandelic acid and niacinamide boosts brightness and protects skin’s structure and tone from environmental stressors.
We’re also huge proponents of topical vitamins C & E. Vitamin C blocks the melanin-producing enzyme tyrosinase and is essential to collagen production. Vitamin E is a cellular repair specialist.
Together, vitamins C and E are an antioxidant power couple that boosts the photoprotective effects of sunscreen. Vivant’s Pure C + E leverages this potent combination in a concentrated daily serum to keep skin looking bright and your art sharp.
Pure C + E in the morning, sunscreen during the day, brightening acids and vitamin A at night for the ultimate tattoo preservation.
Comments
Hello Melissa,
Thank you for your question, Melissa. Tyrosinase inhibitors are considered brighteners rather than lighteners because they don’t bleach skin. Instead, they interrupt the pigment production process. It’s important to understand the difference between the skin’s natural melanin pigment and the pigment in tattoo ink. Melanin pigment is produced by melanocyte cells in the basal (deepest) layer of the skin. These are the cells that are targeted by tyrosinase inhibitors. The pigment in tattoo ink is made up of large particles that reside in fibroblast cells concentrated just below the epidermis. The body recognizes ink as foreign matter. When the ink is introduced into the skin, it creates inflammation, which the body deals with by sending macrophage cells to the site that essentially eat up the ink that. As macrophage cells die, they transfer the ink to fibroblast cells. Additionally, the ink particles are too large to be broken down by the body. Ink does, however, fade over time because some of it rises to the upper layers of skin where it is shed along with dead skin cells. UV exposure is also a significant factor in ink fading over time, because sun exposure causes upper layer cells to undergo apoptosis, a type of cell death that breaks the cells into many small fragments.
Hi there,
How can you be sure that the tyrosinaise inhibitor won’t fade the tattoo long term as it is a skin lightening agent?
Thanks, Melissa :)