Ever wonder why it takes at least 3 to 4 weeks for a tattoo to heal?
It is because the tattoo needle breaks the outer layer of your skin i.e. the epidermis. While it shapes the tattoo on the underlying layer called the dermis, you become vulnerable to scars and infections, until your skin has fully healed.
You can think of a new tattoo like a good looking but superficial cut on your skin that needs protection and watchful aftercare.
Fortunately, post-tattoo skincare isn’t very difficult or complicated.
How to take care of your tattoo and your skin?
As long as you maintain cleanliness, avoid unnecessary exposure, and keep your skin nourished and hydrated, your recovery period will pass by with ease.
You can ask your tattoo artist and other tattoo enthusiasts for guidance, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to your own self-awareness about your skin and body.
It is easier to seek their advice after you have explored all the dependable information that is readily available online.
What’s better: Creams, Lotions, or Naturally occurring remedies?
Well, it is all a matter of preference and convenience.
After all, science has come a long way in developing industrially manufactured alternatives to many traditional medicines of skin treatment, often with the same ingredients. Many cream and lotions promise to protect your tattoo while healing your skin and they also double up with some special features for tackling cellulite, wrinkles, or inflammation.
Then again, you can never be sure of the quantity or quality of the natural ingredients, and whether a mixture of multiple additives may contain something that may make you allergic. Other concerns may relate to your preference for vegan products or those with a low carbon footprint. If you feel confused, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Moreover, naturally occurring butter and oils can be more economical in the long run because you get a better price per unit of weight or volume, and you can opt for food-grade items that can also be utilized in food preparation after your tattoo has healed.
In fact, you can use the same high-quality product as a part of your skin treatment as well as your skin-friendly diet plan.
Why Cocoa Butter?
Today, you can buy a variety of specialized creams and lotions for your recently tattooed skin.
When you go through their active ingredients, you will discover that most of these creams and lotions contain cocoa butter. Hence, the answer to choosing cocoa butter becomes obvious. In terms of health benefits, cocoa butter has a high amount of anti-oxidants and its moisturizing fatty acids that keep your skin hydrated.
Moreover, it melts at body temperature, gives you a denser feel, reduces itchiness, and does not pose many allergic risks. Most dermatologists suggest that you apply cocoa butter after your tattoo starts to peel or scab over in a day or two after you get the tattoo. This is to prevent the occurrence of rashes because cocoa butter is more potent than most kinds of butter and your skin may be over-sensitized after carrying a fresh tattoo. A good option would be to try “hustle butter” for the first few days and upgrading to cocoa butter for the following weeks.
If you can bear the strong smell of chocolate, you can try any of the unrefined or raw forms of cocoa butter, else you can opt for the deodorized or refined versions.
Top Cocoa Butter Brands for Tattoos
The following list can act as a credible guide for selecting the right cocoa butter.
Unrefined Cocoa Butter by Better Shea Butter
This food-grade cocoa butter is a popular recommendation by many tattoo artists and dermatologists. Although it isn’t marketed as a tattoo-friendly product, its quality can be assessed from the fact that it is known for soothing burns, rashes, and post-pregnancy stretch marks. Moreover, you also get a complimentary e-guide for concocting home-made DIY skincare remedies.
Plant Guru’s Raw Cocoa Butter
If you believe in the maxim, “the butter is only as good as the bean it comes from”, you can try Plant Guru’s Raw Cocoa Butter. Sourced from the famous Arriba Nacional bean, it is 100% vegan and without any GMO contents. The only concern is the fact that it is more pungent than most unrefined kinds of butter and the application of a small amount may make you smell like chocolate for an entire day. It is advisable that once you get bored with the aromas, you can deodorize it yourself or add it to some natural oils before applying it to the tattoo.
Organic Cocoa Butter Wafers by Wild Foods
New users of cocoa butter may find it cumbersome to shave off small pieces for daily use. In this case, you might want to go for the Butter Wafers by Wild Foods, because you can save yourself the hassle of shaving off a big brick and using the readymade wafers, as and when required. Moreover, this butter is made from the finest beans from Peru and you will be helping small farmers who cultivate premium variants of this cocoa. When you apply this butter, you may be using something that is also part of Mayan traditions for skincare, who also applied it on their tattoos.
Cococare Butter Stick
For mobile and active consumers, a butter stick can be a convenient product. You can carry it around and apply it anywhere, anytime and not feel the need to reaching out to refrigerator, whenever you want to butter-up your tattoo. Another advantage of a butter stick is the fact that you can use a tiny quantity of the butter and heal your skin without excessive smells. Since cocoa butter melts at body temperature, you will not feel greasy after using this stick, especially in skin tissue which is in and around your tattoo.
Raw Cocoa Butter by Hansi
OK, so you want an aromatic and mild smelling butter. In this case, try the Raw Cocoa Butter by Hansi. When it comes to healing properties, it can be as good as any other food-grade butter and it has a mild and pleasing smell. In fact, it is highly possible that you begin to like the smell and make it a part of your daily routine, way beyond your recovery period. If you do, everyday use of cocoa butter can be very good for your old tattoos too. Moreover, you do not have to worry about shaving wafers or their storage because you get the entire delivery in the form of small pieces that are packed in a good quality food-grade container.
Cocoa Butter by Sky Organics
This butter is explicitly vegan and it assures skin healing properties as well as a radiant look. Even though it is a raw butter, user ratings and consumer reviews mention it as a mild smelling butter that eases onto the tattooed skin. Furthermore, the manufacturer also promises a denser texture because this butter isn’t subject to whipping, before packaging.
Rock Hard Cocoa Butter by Green Leaf Naturals
This is the densest type of cocoa butter in the entire list. True to its name, it is rock hard and needs to be melted before use. Indeed, extracting small amounts of it may be a problem, but this butter has higher amounts of anti-oxidants and moisturizing properties, owing to its density. You may find it too strong for newly tattooed skin, and yet it serves as a popular balm for embellishing old tattoo, making them shine and deepen with more color and texture.
Non Deodorized Organic Cocoa Butter by Mary Tylor Naturals
There are many types of natural butter in the market, but few can claim to be organic in content, supply, and packaging. Mary Tylor Naturals is a USDA certified cocoa butter that is free from the use of any chemicals, pesticides, or artificial additives. It also claims to have much higher antioxidant content than blueberries, making for a good balm that aids your skin recover from a fresh tattoo. Buying this butter is a way of promoting products that have a low carbon footprint.
Terrasoul Superfoods Organic Cacao Butter Wafers
You might have heard of Cleopatra bathing in milk and using the tastiest berries and grapes as a lotion and wanted to tempt yourself with such experiences. When such a temptation feels alluring, you might as well try a gourmet food cacao butter on your tattoo. Herein Cacao is another name for raw cocoa butter. The exquisite quality of this vegan butter makes it very special and you will not find a single unit of Terrasoul Superfoods Organic Cacao Butter Wafers in beauty products. Instead, it is available in the food section, even though it is more potent than most skincare butter.
100% Vegan and Halal Natural Cocoa Butter by Kyabo
Many Muslim consumers tend to prefer Halal products. Even though all forms of cocoa butter are halal and vegan products are halal, Kyabo claims ensure halal practices for the entire value chain of delivering the cocoa butter to you. On the other hand, even if you disregard the fact that it is a halal product, this vegan butter is a very good moisturizer and anti-oxidant for your tattoo.
Deodorized Food Grade Cocoa Butter by Zatural
If you find the aromas of unrefined cocoa butter to be highly repulsive, you can try a deodorized cocoa butter. Generally, deodorized butter does not have as many antioxidants as raw butter, unless it is food grade butter. Fortunately, Zatural offers one of the few Deodorized Food Grade Cocoa Butters and you can avail the best qualities of raw butter along with a fragrant smell. Furthermore, this vegan butter is also known to be very useful in treating damaged and aging skin, including newly tattooed skin patches. It is available in conveniently sized flakes and claims to be safe enough for all kinds of skin types.
Deodorized Butter Wafers by Maker and Merchant
These butter wafers are certified for purity and environment-friendly sourcing, by Fair Trade USA. Shaped into conveniently sized wafers, this cocoa butter manages to retain a slight light yellow tinge, often lost by raw butter when it gets deodorized. Although it is not food-grade butter, it sufficient to serve your skincare needs and works as a good ingredient for tattoo friendly creams, lotions, and soaps.
Raw, Allergen Free Food Grade Cocoa Butter by Oslove
Generally speaking, all raw cocoa butter is known to be a product that does not cause allergies, but the manufacturing process may infuse it with negligibly small amounts of allergens. In case you are prone to developing allergies, you may want a cocoa butter that isolates itself from the possibility of carrying allergens and contaminating your tattoo. As such, Oslove Cocoa Butter is the only raw butter in the market that claims to be free of 8 kinds of major allergens i.e. Wheat, Peanuts, Shellfish, Soybean, Fish, Tree Nuts, Milk, and Eggs. Oslove also tries to retain higher quantities of anti-oxidants by avoiding or minimizing the melt and pour processes that can dilute the potency of the cocoa butter.
Deodorized Cocoa Butter sourced from a USDA and ISO 9001 Certified Organic Supplier
This is the only deodorized cocoa butter that is certified by the USDA for purity, along with an ISO 9001 accreditation of quality management. Sold by Wild Herb, it isn’t one of the popular or branded products, but it beats the competition in terms of pricing. It is deodorized by the use of a steam method, which immunizes the butter from contamination by harsh chemicals. If you like a deodorant infused aroma that does not suppress the underlying smell of chocolate, this butter can be an affordable skincare product for application on your tattoo.
Hansi Naturals White Cocoa Butter
Deodorized butter tends to lose some of the potency of its raw inputs due to melt and pour processes, and the Hansi Naturals White Cocoa Butter is no different. Then again, this cocoa butter comes in a heat-sealed pouch and preserves the remaining anti-oxidants and fatty acids, making for a fragrant remedy that can be applied like an ointment on your tattoo.
Conclusion
Cocoa butter is the least controversial, naturally occurring remedy for your tattoo. It is a definite answer to your aftercare worries because it aids in the healing of the tattooed epidermis and it can also help you condition the tattoos to reveal the depth and color of the ink.