Aquaphor is AMAZINGLY great for healing tattoos as it’s mostly made of water anyways, The trick is providing a THIN layer of lubricant so that the tattoo stays moist but the water/wetness doesn’t saturate the skin and drown out some of the ink.
Of course, wash it with NON-scented ANTI-BACTERIAL soap before you apply a new layer of lubricant. You need to wash it about 3 times a day just to be safe from infection. Of course, NEVER scratch or pick for about 2 weeks so that the tattoo has time to fully heal.
It’s true, most color tattoos need a slight touchup because the color, reds, yellows and other bright colors mostly, fades and can fade differently throughout the tattoo and if it happens to draw itself out, it’s more noticeable than shadings and other darker colors. No matter what, it will fade a little. That top layer of the epidermis will grow over it and the ink will appear to be darker no matter how many times you get it touched up.
Some spots don’t hold ink as well as others either. Wrists, elbows and other joints are tough because there is a constant pushing and pulling during the entire healing process and it causes some of the ink to work its way out. My wrists have been done about three times when getting others touched up and they are still a little spotty.