We’ve all heard how to take care of a temporary airbrush tattoo a thousand times. “Do not rub or scrub the tat. After showering, pat the tat dry and apply powder to it. If clothing rubs against the tat, it will have a tendency to wear off faster.” But do these techniques really work, or do they just take the blame off the ink manufacturers? This is my experiment:

I received two tats in one day. They were done by the same person, with the same equipment, on the same place on my body (opposite sides), and with the same ink. Here are the pictures of the newly-finished tats:

For the next week, I maintained a regular schedule. I got normal amounts of sleep, exercised regularly, and showered nearly every day.

However, I did not treat these two tats the same. I sleep on my right side (the side with the sun), so I chose the butterfly to take proper care of. With the butterfly, I patted it with the washcloth in the shower, patted it dry with the towel, put baby powder on it afterward, and made a special effort to not drag my clothing over it when I dressed.

The sun was not so lucky. I dragged washcloths and towels and clothing over it, and I slept on it for 8 hours a night. One week later, these are the results:

Clearly, the sun is not doing so well. My conclusion? Not taking care of your tat does affect it. And consciously taking care of it has positive repercussions. Obviously, they both are much lighter than they were a week prior, but after being battered with daily exercise and showers, we cannot expect much better.

This is my testimonial to proper airbrush tattoo care. Do not rub it, do not scrub it, keep it dry, and you should have a long-lasting tat.