causingchaos - I love my tats and also choose to remain pasty rather than ruin them. I figure suntanning gives you cancer anyway, so I don't go out the sun without heavy-duty sunscreen, period.
Now, I never had any issues with healing, but a friend of mine actually had a couple layers of skin peel off in spots on his full-sleeve piece.He looked like he had leprosy. His sleeve is a tribal design and has big solid black lines. I never had any bleeding or scabbing, just a bit of flaking and a couple days of murderous itch. My husband bled and found the experience painful. I figure healing issues must be a combination of the ink (the heavy black) and skin type, and perhaps where the piece is placed. But it would be interesting if at least one of these shows explored those kind of details.