Suggest Safe Ingredients To Make A Tattoo Cream

Posted on Fri, 7 Feb 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 7 Feb 2014 Answered on

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm looking to make a tattoo cream to use while tattooing similar to how A&D is used. I'm interested in making my own to keep the product as natural as possible. My ingredient list is possibly going to include olive oil, unrefined coconut oil, unrefined XXXXXXX butter, sweet almond oil, vitamin E, and beeswax. Please let me know if any of these would be unsafe to use on open skin DURING the process of getting a tattoo. Also, do unrefined compared to refined oils make a difference? Thanks!

Answered by Dr. Johny Chacko (30 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Foreign body reactions Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome to healthcare magic. I understand that you intend to make a cream for use during and immediately after tattooing as an after care cream. Among the ingredients you have listed, there are reports of bees wax causing a reaction called as " Foreign body Granuloma" when injected into the skin for tissue augmentation. It was one of the ingredients used in the past for augmentation of breast, chin, buttocks,etc which has now been replaced by dermal fillers. Thought the reports involve injection of the bees wax and liquified paraffin wax into the dermis part of the skin, I suggest that you need to take precaution when you are using it during the process of tattooing on raw skin as tattooing involves injecting a XXXXXXX which could also introduce the wax into the dermis layer of the skin. I would also advise you to use refined oils for the same reason. Unrefined oils can contain impurities (including dirt or dust particles) which, if introduced into the dermis could elicit a foreign body reaction. Hope this answers your query. Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Johny Chacko (3 days later)

Thanks so much! That response was very helpful. Would mango butter be something that would be okay to use? Do you have any suggestions of ingredients that would be helpful to your skin to use in this situation? How would hemp oil and tea tree oil affect your skin? The hemp oil and sweet almond oil are labeled "cosmetic grade". Would food grade be safer? Do you think any of these ingredients would clog your pores causing in-grown hairs or pimples? Some people who use Aquafor experience that.

Answered by Dr. Johny Chacko (3 days later)

Brief Answer: Clarifications Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome back, Mango butter would be okay. Hemp oil is not so great for this purpose. Tea tree has an antiseptic action and should not be used for its emollient action. Food grade is safer but in this case cosmetic grade is just fine. Make it simple. Don't use too many products. Any oil for that matter are comedogenic and cause pimples except tea tree oil which is used as a treatment for pimples at a low concentration of 5 %. These creams should not be used during tattooing on raw wound. Tattoo cream should be applied once the wound heals. Use only a thin layer. Hope this helped, Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar