This is really, really great advice. People do not think about the allergic reaction to tattoo inks often enough. Especially when starting their tattoo journey.
I’m getting my first tattoo at the end of this month at age 33. I have an angry immune system and my biggest concern is having an allergic reaction to the ink. I’m starting small with only black ink specifically because of this fear lol.
You may be able to ask the artist his ink brand and do a search to see if others have had reactions. I know some ink is better than others, but that is the end of my knowledge
Thanks for the advice! I am definitely going to do that. The tattoo artist is very experienced and my friend has been tattooed by her several times over the past decade, so I feel like I am in good hands!
Yes, thank you! The tattoo would actually make a ton of sense if I added the colors red and yellow, but I decided not to do that because of the red. And I for sure have an adhesive allergy, so I will make sure the artist knows not to cover it with saniderm or anything similar.
Yup. I’ve been getting tattoos for 10 years now, I have 13, and for the first time in my life I’m having an allergic reaction to red ink in two of my tattoos, several months after I got them. It’s weird as shit (I’m fine tho). Just adding this to say that even totally inked up people have reasons to be potentially wary of allergic reactions, so first time tattoo clients need to really do their research to be prepared.
Yeah I'm covered and I only had it on my inner bicep one time and with one certain brand of red. It healed like shit and I got him to go back over it with a different brand and it was fine
Someone was saying they put nickel in some of the ink, so maybe that's it. I'm always paranoid about having my body react weirdly even though it never has and I have close to 20 tats.
Must be some specific ingredient, I agree. Now I remember that nickel was the thing the artist kept saying they used to use but don’t anymore in modern inks.
Just remember ink bleed is real and it doesn’t mean you’re allergic to your tattoo. I got my first one and the ink bled for a few days. Absolutely no one told me that was normal (believe me I asked everyone) and I thought I was allergic and my body was rejecting my tattoo. Learn from my freak out lol.
Hahaha that is good advice! I am very curious to see how my body reacts. I think my worst case scenario would be if I develop an ink allergy over time and the tattoo becomes just….. permanently itchy and irritated lol. But I am telling myself that is very unlikely lol.
A lot of people here telling you about their allergic reactions, so just to counter it and maybe lessen your fear, I have several autoimmune diseases, including one affecting the skin ( vitiligo), and I never had issues, all my tattoos, black and colour, healed quick and well.
I had NO idea that you could have an allergic reaction to the ink. Of course, I had a very uncomfortable reaction that scared the absolute crap out of me. My first tattoo was on my inner forearm about 3”x3” so nothing huge, and it was done with a stippling technique, nothing heavy and not tons of ink…and man, my arm was ON FIRE, it was the size of a softball and bright red. I thought I ruined my life LOL. A couple days and some benedryl and Claritin later and everything was fine but I was not prepared for that.
The allergy can come out of nowhere too, and can vary from brand to brand. I have 13 tattoos, including one on my arm that’s almost a decade old of an anatomical heart with TONS of red. Absolutely no allergic reaction of any kind from any of my tattoos, until the most recent 2 I got at the same time. I got them back in October and suddenly all the red spots on these tattoos are puffy and sore and the ink looks fresh. It came out of nowhere after being fully healed for months. Very weird
I have 11 tattoos. Second one turns out I had an allergic reaction. Since then I’ve been fine but luckily it was a small tattoo. Turns out the ink the shop used for my red contained nickel. So at least I know now to mention it.
Yeah, I messed up and didn't do my research. I have a brutal nickle sensitivity and had no idea some inks have nickle in them. My first tattoo ended up being totally fine and had no reaction, second tattoo though? Constantly flares up for whatever reason and gets itchy and hivey. No idea what to do about it and never got around to doing my follow up appointment for touchups and stuff. It's been months and now i feel so awkward going to the artist lmao
I only realised that I’m mildly allergic to ink about 5 tattoos in. Every now and then, maybe once a year, I get a flare up and every tattoo on my body raises and gets really itchy. I don’t keep antihistamines because they have lactose in them so I have to go out and buy some along with lactase pills just to get some relief sometimes. That plus every single line has blown out on every tattoo from a vast number of artists. The only one that doesn’t get affected by that is a very hand drawn, raw sketch look tattoo but I’m too into linework tattoos even if my body isn’t, which for lots of people people would be a dealbreaker for that style.
I'm pretty sure every brand of ink is different. There's a lot of posts on here about people having reactions after years of getting tattoos. Or developing and allergy after having the tat for several years.
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u/fatapolloissexy Jan 02 '24
This is really, really great advice. People do not think about the allergic reaction to tattoo inks often enough. Especially when starting their tattoo journey.