Eight tats in, I’ve worked out a failsafe way to ensure they are healed and glorious in a fortnight

Like one in four people in Britain, I have a tattoo. Eight of them, in fact, and their visibility means people frequently ask me, before embarking on their first, how to care for a fresh one. This interest in aftercare must be soaring, because a number of good-quality dedicated tattoo-skincare brands (like Stories & Ink, from £15) are popping up, as are tattoo-specific products within mainstream skincare lines.

I have mixed feelings, because looking after newly tattooed skin is the same as that for skin generally – to keep the surface moist and the barrier protected – and I’m not convinced one needs to spend additional cash on anything special (although I respect the impulse to buy a lovely new cream to celebrate your new artwork, of course).