Active peel · Days 7–14
Day 14: two weeks, peel done
For most people the peel is over by the end of week two. The usual advice is no swimming or soaking for the first two weeks, and contact sports or heavy lifting near the tattoo can usually resume around now. If anything still looks open or scabbed, give it longer.
What to do today
- Switch from balm to a plain unscented lotion if the peel is done
- Ask your artist before swimming if anything still looks open
- Keep it out of direct sun
Normal in the active peel stage
Thin flakes come off, often tinted with ink, and the tattoo looks patchy and dull. Itching usually peaks. The pigment sits below the peeling layer and is intact.
- Thin, translucent flakes like a sunburn peel, tinted with your ink color
- Patchy, dull or "missing" looking spots
- Thin, soft, light amber scabs over linework or dense color
- Peak itch, often somewhere around days 6–10
Care for this stage
- Do not pick or pull flakes. Let them come off in the shower or under moisturizer
- Keep moisturizing thinly
- No swimming, no shaving the area
Go deeper: Can you swim after a tattoo?