Just a quick word of caution, the surgeon will likely have some restrictions on topical things for a few weeks. Probably all based on the potential for infection (ie the suture zone needs to be healed enough). Stephen - you might want to check on that, being only 2.5 weeks or so.
I added nothing to mine, but a little massage, when I could get it. Mine are a bit purple and the elder one (13 months) is starting to get bits of skin tone color (aka fish belly white) between purply dashes. The younger one (8 months) is still mostly purple. Both are still depressions in the surface and may be for along time. I'm not much of a tat guy, but it's already sort of a tattoo that tells one heck of story, right? A few of us can tell that story twice, one for each cheek. I can see it 40 years from now, sitting in the recliner with all the grandkids, "sonny, let me tell you about this cheek,......", grandma rolls her eyes
, then about 3 hours later, "sonny, let me tell you about the other cheek"