Cosmetic tattooing is one of the oldest documented forms of body art in human culture. After-care guidelines can vary from artist to artist, but the general principles centre on keeping the area covered for the first 24-72 hours, and clean for at least the first fortnight. We present the case and clinical photographs of a 40-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with an abnormal tattoo reaction in keeping with a chemical burn that developed 3 days after receiving cosmetic tattoos across the dorsum of all of his digits. The patient had multiple previous tattoos across his entire body but had never suffered an adverse reaction. He revealed to us that he had been working on the engine of his car without gloves the day prior. Our literature search found three comprehensive reviews of tattoo-related complications, however an example such as our case does not seem to have been reported thus far. The patient’s wounds recovered with simple non-operative measures, however this case illustrates the potential dangers of deviating from standard post-tattoo skin care directions.