So, summer is truly around the corner, and the preparations for your favorite summer outfits are going smoothly, but…there’s one thing that all of us, dear inked friends, tend to forget; we can’t really wax everything except the hair on our tattoos, right? Hair removal and tattoos have always been an interesting topic, and waxing over tattoos is definitely one of the most asked questions for tattoo care, especially with the summer holidays getting closer.

So, what should you do? Should you wax over a tattoo or not? Well, you may be surprised that the answer to this is a bit more nuanced than the question itself. So, without further ado, let’s jump right in and see how you can deal with hair removal on your tattoed skin.

Waxing Over Tattoos

First, Let’s Talk About the Science Behind Tattoos

We all know what waxing is, more or less. But, to understand the issues of waxing and tattoos, we need to understand how tattooing actually works. Now, the science behind tattoos and skin is very interesting.

There are three layers of our skin. The first layer is the top layer, also referred to as the outer, waterproof barrier which contains skin pigmentations; this layer is called the epidermis. The layer under the epidermis is the dermis, also known as the layer that contains sweat glands and hair follicles (where your hair grows from). And the third, final layer is called the hypodermis. Now here is where we have fat layers and lots of connective tissues to keep us warm when it’s cold or to cool us when it’s warm.

Now, when your tattoo artist is inking your skin, the needle penetrates the skin only into the dermis layer. The needle creates a vacuum where it transfers the ink and continues to do so until the tattoo is done. By placing the ink into the second skin layer, the tattoo artist makes sure the ink actually stays in the skin and doesn’t just bleed out.