Tattoo healing - does this sound normal?

[jacquettalux]

I had a tattoo 8 days ago. I took the advice I was given and went to a reputable tattoo place that had been recommended by friends. I looked at the guys work beforehand and it was very good. He was really confident and reassuring.

It's a small fine line piece on the inside of my lower leg. It looked great when he first did it. It currently looks so crap! The scabs have started falling off and the lines look all uneven - on one place the line looks a bit thick and almost blurred? On the other side it looks thin and almost gappy. I feel really down looking at it.

Is this normal? I keep reading online that tattoos always look crap at this point of healing, but shouldn't it look at least equal all over as it's all the same line work?

Please reassure me

Hard to say without seeing it. At this stage, usually your scabs/dead skin is falling off pretty heavily so it can be quite hard to see what's going on.

But at the end of the day, nothing can be done to fix it until it's fully healed anyway, so you might as well just wait another week or two before you worry too much.

What was your aftercare routine from day of the tattoo until now? Out of curiosity!

@JacksonPillock Thanks for taking the time to reply. I would post a picture but I feel so anxious about it at the moment and I'm not sure I could deal with any negative comments!

I followed the aftercare as advised which was to gently wash twice per day with a mild antibacterial soap and then pat dry. I have been moisturising about 5 times a day with Palmers cocoa butter (advised by tattooist).

I think I'd be fine if it was patchy all over, or milky all over, or blurred all over, but it's just so inconsistent! I just can't see how skin on the same part of the leg (about a three inch piece of skin) can heal in such different ways