Gabriella Diesendorf is a freelance writer from Australia and a devoted mother. She loves badgering about beauty, green lifestyle choices and parenting techniques at High Style Life. If you mention attachment parenting or natural makeup she will bore you to death.

Guest Post by Gabriella Diesendorf for Anna Susanne * The Travelling Pixie

It is no secret that everything changes. In fact, change is probably the only constant thing in the world. As we get older we tend to lose our glorious hair, start having back problems and our skin sags. But what to do with your tattoos when you skin starts showing signs of aging? I was desperate to find the answers to this question and I finally have some. Of course, our tattoos cannot stay absolutely the same as they were before but there are some things we can do in order to keep them beautiful.

Keep Tattoos Away From the Sun

Depending on the quality of the ink used for your tattoos, they might turn green or blue after some time. As your skin ages, the pigment underneath the top layer of your skin starts to thicken and blot. And if they are frequently exposed to the sun, they will do so even more. When you tan, the top layer of your skin gets burned and the more skin gets burned, the more tattoo ink is going to fade. I do my best to cover up my tattoos when I know I will be exposed to sun. I also always carry an umbrella around noon when the sun is high.

Take Proper Care of Your Skin

If you want your tattoos to be long-lasting, you should also take proper care of them. This means applying sunscreen whenever you are exposed to sun as well as using some other skin care products. Your diet can also have a big impact on how your skin is going to age. Talking to the experts I came to realize that Vitamins D, C and E are of huge importance for our skin. So adding a lot of vegetables to your diet seems obvious. Staying hydrated is also good for skin, so make sure you drink a lot of water as well.

Accept that Tattoos Age

No matter what you do, eventually your skin will start to wrinkle and loosen due to aging. And this is surely going to affect how your tattoos look like. Not only this, but tattoos will age as well, no matter how care you take of them. Not only might they fade, but some tattoos can also get blotted lines and imagery might start to distort. This is simply something you have to admit. If your tattoo changes so much you cannot even recognize it anymore, you can always opt for tattoo removal.

Retouching Might Be Able to Help

Retouching your tattoos from time to time is also an option suggested by a big number of people. But the truth is, too much retouching will only mess your tattoos up. The healed top layer of the skin will be different from the one your original tattoo is on. Touching it once again will only damage your skin more. It is also important to have in mind that aging skin might not be able to put up with more ink so retouching might not be a good idea.

We have to admit that we age and that our bodies change quite a lot. Our tattoos will surely not stay the same after 10 years but trying to maintain them properly is something we should all strive to do.