A few months back I booked into Legacy Ink for a new tattoo and while I counted down the days I found myself wondering about what sort of products might now be available to help care for and maintain my new ink with. Trends seem to change over the years for after care and the last few tattoos I’ve had I’ve been recommended to use Bepanthen cream, and more recently cocoa butter. I was viewing one of Lucy Molloy’s latest vlogs however, and saw her recommending Hustle Butter…
I figured for someone as heavily inked as Lucy – who’s also married to a tattoo artist – this had to be worth a try. Hustle Butter Deluxe is a rich balm made by a couple of tattoo artists in America who first created it around four years ago. Cruelty free and vegan friendly it’s packed with some pretty tasty ingredients: Shea, Mango and Aloe Butters, Coconut, Sunflower and Rice Bran Oils, Rosemary Oleoresin, Green Tea, Vitamin E Complex & Mint Arvenis Essential Oil. With Essence of Papaya and Coconut.
With a balm-meets-oil consistency it’s super easy to rub in without distressing the sore skin too much, but is also thick enough to provide long-lasting moisturisation – plus I found a little went a long way! I kept my new rose tattoos under cling film – having applied the Hustle Butter – for a good 4-5 days while they were healing as I find it stops them rubbing on your clothes and the skin heals nice and flat.
When your tattoo is new, it’s so important to follow the guidance of your artist and take note of any tips they give you. After a few hours or once you get back home you’ll want to take the cling film off and wash the gunky plasma gently away from your tattoo with tepid water. My ink came up nicely straight away so once I’d kitchen-roll-dried it down, I was able to use a thin layer of Hustle Butter before wrapping in cling again. I repeated the process a couple more times that day before wrapping them for bed.
In the morning you’ll probably find tons more plasma has oozed out under the cling, so again wash it down and repeat the process. After the second day it should pretty much stop any oozing which means it’s time to go to town with your moisturiser. It’s super important not to let the design dry out, and even more important not to let it scab up if you can help it, which is why washing the gunk away is key.
These pictures were taken just under one week on from getting my new tattoos and as you can see they’re healing amazingly! In comparison to Bepanthen I found the Hustle Butter so much nicer to use. For one it smells amazing, sweet and coconutty and it also feels balmy and nourishing, not sticky and clogging. To compare it to cocoa butter it wins hands down for long lasting moisturisation. In the past if I’ve been at work all day it’s tricky to grab the time to smother yourself in cream in the bathrooms – so the fact that I’m only having to reapply a couple of times a day with this is just so awesome!
I got my 141g pot from Amazon Prime, which cost £20.24. Certainly more expensive that a bottle of Palmers but in my opinion was well worth it – plus a little really does go a long way so you won’t be running out in a hurry. As a side note, I’ve also been using this on my elbows, lips and my French Bulldog’s dry little nose!