Hi,
Good to hear that you are lucky enough to be going to Miami for your holidays.
You don’t say where your tattoos are located, the best thing would be to keep the tattoos out of the sun as much as possible as the sun will eventually fade the colours. Especially on people that work outside all the time, although on holiday its unlikey to fade them a lot.
Sun block will give some protection for UV, but the tattoo can still burn under the sun block due to the heat of the sun, I have seen tattoos that have blistered in the sun, water like blisters on the tattoo, in fact some colours seem to absorb the heat more than others. When these blisters heal you can find that some of the colour has faded.
There is also a possibility of photosensitivity in strong sunlight, this can also affect the pigments in the tattoo. You can sometimes get a sweaty itching sensation and when you start scratching is swells up and you want to scratch it more. This often leads to redness and swelling of the area.
In a way its a bit like being allergic to a new washing powder on your clothes after washing, if you have ever had this? When your clothes make you itch, the more you scratch the more it itches.
Sportsmen often use Zinc Oxide as it provides protection for especially sun-sensitive areas. you will ,often see them applying to lips, ears and nose for added protection when in bright sunny climates. Have you ever noticed cricketers, surfers on tv, they can be seen with coloured creams on their skin.
You can use the highest factor sunblock you can find, it may stop you getting sun burnt, but I don’t think it will completely stop the tattoo from burning in direct sun light and leading to itching sensation.
Lionel
P.S. I for got to add this link to help choose which factor to use.
http://www.traveldoctor.co.uk/sunburn.htm
