One of the biggest questions I get about tattoo and piercing aftercare is "Are there any special products I should use?" I started getting body art in the late 1980s and early 1990s when there weren't any specific products made for tattoo or piercing aftercare, and I have successfully healed many square inches of ink and nearly three dozen body piercings without the use of any such products. However, people continue to ask and companies continue to request reviews of their items, so in this article, I'm going to review the product line from the company Love My Piercings. Here I'll take a look at their Piercing Spray, Ink Seal and After Care Lotion.

The After Care Lotion and Ink Seal contain almost the same ingredients. The first ingredient is water, which means that's the bulk of what you're actually paying for. Second is olive oil. Then there's 1-hexadecanol (aka cetyl alcohol), centrimonium bromide (a synthetic antibacterial which is actually spelled "cetrimonium"), hydrolyzed keratin protein (yep, that's hair protein), polymethoxy (some sort of fruit compound) and bicyclic oxazolidine (preservative). The After Care lotion also has colloidal silver and the Ink Seal has Ag (silver) and Piper methysticum (the plant known as Kava). The piercing spray is just a suspension of colloidal silver in water.

What you're actually paying for with the lotions is a mix of water and olive oil with a touch of a synthetic antibacterial and some chemicals to keep them mixed and unspoiled. For anyone who has an allergy to pepper, the use of a product containing Piper methysticum could trigger an allergic reaction as it's a related plant, but this fact goes unmentioned anywhere. And where things really get sketchy is the colloidal silver. The info sheets I was sent claim that there are "no known adverse reactions" and the web site states the FDA has approved this ingredient as an antibiotic, and yet if you look it up online you'll find that the FDA has issued warnings to anyone selling this product claiming any antibiotic or medical benefits, as it has not been tested for such, with colloidal silver actually being classified as a dietary supplement not a valid drug. Also there have been cases of argyria, a discoloration of the skin, in some instances of people who have used or ingested colloidal silver, which directly contradicts the LMP's claims that there are no known side effects.

I don't feel this product line offers any significant benefit or more antibacterial protection than what you'd ordinarily get from using a nice, simple natural soap and water, followed by a natural lotion. I think the idea of Ink Seal "to keep your colors bright" is slightly deceptive, as any moisturizer applied to tattoo skin makes it appear brighter. I didn't feel the colloidal silver benefit angle was appropriately explained or backed-up with viable proof. It might exist out there, but Love My Piercings didn't provide enough specific references and citations to convince me. In the end, I wouldn't use these products for my own tattoo or piercing aftercare.