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The Best Balms and Lotions for New Tattoos

Help your fresh ink heal with one of these hydrating formulas.

verb body lotion, aquaphor healing ointment, aveeno daily moisturizer Courtesy

By Evan Malachosky

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When you get a new tattoo, you have to let it heal: don’t stick it directly into the sunlight, don’t itch or scratch at it and don’t skip the artist’s recommended recovery plan. Sure, you might have a million tattoos, but aftercare is no joke — just ask anyone with a horror story to share. Although there are dry healing how-tos hidden in deep, dark corners of the Internet, if you don’t moisturize the freshly-inked skin, it will dry out, drastically increasing the likelihood that the same skin will crack, and ink can come off with it when it flakes off.

What to Look for in a Lotion

It’s important that if you use a generic balm or lotion, its formula is both unscented and safe for sensitive skin. Tattooed skin is delicate, albeit even damaged, some would argue. But that’s the art of it all. Your skin is permanently altered, and if you want the ink to stick around, you’ll need to be careful with the skin it’s in.

There are plenty of lotions formulated specifically for tattooed skin, and you’ll find several below. Often, they have restorative additives within, which help heal the skin faster. Others are meant for everyday use, long after the ink dries. You’ll find those below, too.

How to Take Care of New Tattoos

According to tattoo artist and shop owner Carl Kuo from Mission Ink Tattoo and Piercing, these are the essential steps to any good recovery plan.

Let It Heal

As soon as you leave the shop, Kuo says, apply an ointment wrap — like Tegaderm. It should stay on for three to five days and should only come off if irritation occurs. That’s when you know something’s wrong.

Wash It

After the wrap comes off, it’s important to wash the tattoo. You must do so using a gentle cleanser, though — no exfoliating body washes or bars or heavily-scented liquids. Go unscented, Kuo says, as it’s the safest for sensitive skin.

Nourish It

Throughout the healing process, and long after the ink has dried, it’s important to apply hydrators, whether in balm or lotion form. Both do the job, so it’s really more about remembering to apply either daily. Repetition is your best defense against fading.

Protect It

It’s always important to wear sunscreen, but especially so after you get a new tattoo. You should steer clear of excessive sun exposure for two weeks, Kuo says, and after that, an SPF lotion (30 or 45) is your smartest bet.

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aquaphor healing ointmentAmazon

Best Overall Tattoo Lotion

Aquaphor Healing Ointment

Although Aquaphor isn’t technically a lotion, it is a powerful healing ointment with anti-inflammation properties. That makes it an ideal remedy for post-session itching or redness. Plus, it’s a serious hydrator, too, as evidenced by the countless positive online reviews. Plus, GP’s patron saint of body ink, Platforms Editor Scott Ulrich, trusts it as a part of his recovery plan.

Dr. Woo is a talented tattooer with his own shop in Los Angeles. He’s done projects for numerous celebs, from Justin Bieber and Drake to Kendall Jenner — if they’re famous and have tattoos, Woo has probably done at least one of them. Considering his celebrity, it makes sense that he’d have his own line of tattooing gear — recovery aids included. His After/Care Moisturizer features shea butter for softness, Vitamin E for recovery and antioxidants to fight off bad bacteria, while also calming irritation.

Jergens Daily Dry Skin MoisturizerAmazon

Best Affordable Tattoo Lotion

Jergens Daily Dry Skin Moisturizer

This is Ulrich’s go-to post-tattoo lotion. It’s cheap, too, and you can find it in most convenience stores. It’s not only good for tattoos but for your skin at large, making it easy to remember each day.

Kuo recommends Verb Body Lotion, because of its soothing aloe vera and barrier-creating coconut oil, which seals precious moisture inside the skin. Even long after it heals, this formula will help prevent fading.

Packaged in a quantity big enough for daily use, Mad Rabbit’s Daily Lotion is an upgrade over drugstore formulas. It’s fragrance-free, super-hydrating and anti-aging, courtesy of ingredients like shea butter, Vitamin A and sesame oil.

Aveeno’s Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion is both fragrance-free and non-greasy but also non-comedogenic, meaning it doesn’t clog pores. That’s important when healing a tattoo, so you don’t cause inconsistencies in the tattoo’s tone or texture.

Saniderm doesn’t just make wraps for new tattoos. The brand also makes lotions and balms. This one is daily driver, meaning you can apply it as often as needed — there’s no such thing as overdoing it. It’s made here in the US with a formula that comprises several oils, shea butter and citrus, delivering Omegas 3, 6, 7 and 9 as well as numerous antixodiants.

Tattoo Goo is free from all of the bad stuff but loaded with natural recovery aids. It also, the brand says, helps enhance the colors of both new and existing tattoos, making this an okay extra to use on top of your usual lotion.

Shea, mango and aloe butters, as well as coconut and Vitamin E complex, make Hustle Butter a go-to for tattoo artists everywhere. You’re likely to hear its name when soliciting recommendations for post-session recovery, and it’s wildly available, too, meaning you won’t have to look hard or long to find a tub of it. It’s petroleum free yet plenty hydrating.

As the exclusive aftercare supplier for reality TV show Ink Master, After Inked has quite the reputation. The brand makes a bunch of tattoo treatments — this daily moisturizing cream included. It’s enriched with grape seed oil, a powerful hydrator.

Sorry Mom’s Tattoo Cream not only heals and hydrates new tattoos, but it brightens old ones, too. It’s “the lotion that makes your tattoos look fresh,” the brand states. The inked agree. It’s unscented, not tested on animals and hypoallergenic, making it safe for just about everyone.

Although this is by no means an all-over lotion, Brooklyn Grooming’s powerful tattoo balm works for small tattoos. It’s also small enough to be carried with you for recovery on the go. It’d be a little weird to carry an entire bottle of Jergens with you everywhere you go.

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