Tattoo ink
What is tattoo ink?
Sounds silly, but tattoo ink is the ink that is used to draw and color the tattoo on your body. But this tattoo ink is no ordinary paint. Once you have the needle injected into your skin, the tattoo ink is going to be a permanent dye and it will stay forever. Hopefully this ink will appear in the most pleasant way you have imagined and not a mess. Some people have tried to make tattoo ink at home yourself and use some secret homemade tattoo ink recipe, but it is really not worth the risk unless you planned to use the homemade tattoo ink for practice on some meat from the market. The cost of curing the allergy to the tattoo ink and skin infection from using the wrong chemicals is just not worth your while. You are better off paying a little more and buying the tattoo ink from some reputable ink manufactures.
What is tattoo ink made of?
The ingredients of tattoo ink are quite varied and have changed over the years. In most tribal societies where the jungle is the supplier of raw materials for almost everything, tattoo ink has been homemade with ingredients from plants and trees. The Indians would make their tattoo ink from a mixture of plant dye, minerals and coal. Different tattoo ink colors found in the nature give them the option of having different designs for the tribal tattoos. From these tattoo ink ingredients, different colors are made using a combination of the plants and minerals. There is even gold tattoo ink recorded in the tattoo ink making history, all from mother nature and the forest.
Although the ingredients used in tattoo ink have been primitive, they tend to less toxic and dangerous as most of them are herbal and natural. So if you are looking for vegetarian or organic tattoo ink and want something else to use instead of tattoo ink, do consider something like the henna plant. The henna is a plant commonly used for producing dye and ink for temporary tattoos.
How about homemade tattoo ink?
The tattoo ink used by professional tattoo artists is made through a chemical process under strict hygiene and quality standard by the manufacturer. As most in tattoo business know that the ink injected into the skin will be permanent, it is imperative that the tattoo ink be safe and is not dangerous to the user. The tattoo ink comprises a pigment or dye that is mixed with a carrier. Some examples of the ingredients in tattoo ink are ochre, carbon, iron oxide and malachite. Most tattoo inks are a combination of pigments that are suspended in a carrier solution. While some tattoo ink manufacturers claimed to use organic and natural dyes, the truth is most of the pigments are made with metal salts and plastics. Metals used for colors include mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel, zinc, chromium cobalt, aluminum, titanium, copper, iron, and barium. These metal salts would be used to give tattoo ink colors like yellow, red, black, gold, white and blue. At the factory, manufacturers blend the pigments and combine with other minerals like lead to produce different shades of the tattoo ink. It is a highly sophisticated process that uses different temperatures to heat and cool the ingredients and end up with the perfectly safe tattoo ink.
If you are thinking of making the tattoo ink yourself, think again, as homemade tattoo ink is most likely to give you a skin reaction and infection. Your homemade tattoo ink is produced by mixing a dye with ethanol or vodka. Without a proper antibacterial agent is not included in the mixture, the tattoo can become seriously infected and result in blood poisoning. Why save on a couple of bucks when there are so many safe tattoo ink on sale everywhere.
Importance of getting the right tattoo ink supplies
Whether you can getting a one color tattoo ink or a tattoo ink that glows in the dark, choosing the right tattoo ink is as important as choosing the right tattoo artist. The ideal tattoo ink can be transformed from a mix into a work of art. Get the wrong ink, your tattoo can become something deadly. It is not worth the risk to with cheap or homemade tattoo ink, although some manufacturers may also cut corners to produce poor quality and dangerous tattoo ink. When that paint is injected into skin, the ink goes straight into the epidermis and the papillary layer of the dermis. After the tattoo has been inked, the initial damaged epidermis flakes away as the tattoo ink is dispersed as fine granules in the upper dermis. The ink then gathers into more concentrated areas many days later. This happens as deeper in the skin granulation tissue forms, which is later converted to connective tissues by collagen growth. This mends the upper dermis, where pigment remains trapped within fibroblasts that ultimately concentrate in a layer just below the dermis and epidermis boundary. Once this occurs, the pigment remains stable but throughout the years, it will tend to migrate deeper into the dermis, causing the detail of old tattoos to lose its shine. With a good quality ink, chances are the tattoo stays new longer and does not fade that easily.
Different types of tattoo ink colors
With the different tattoo tv shows and magazines and books, tattoo designs become easily available and more acceptable across the globe. The tattoo community expanded many fold over the years and so the demand for tattoo guns and tattoo kits increased tremendously. Everyone tries to different when you do not want to be spotted with the same tattoo design. The introduction of bright color tattoo ink gives tattoo artists options to design different and more varied colorful tattoos. The new generation tattoos are totally different from the old sailors and convicts. Look through any tattoo designs catalogue will show a variety of beautiful and colorful decorated skin art. All these are made possible with the different color tattoo inks sold in the marketplace. Red, white, black, blue, yellow and a combination of the primary colors to give more secondary tattoo ink colors. There are also new types of tattoo ink to keep up with the times. White ink is a relatively new idea in the tattoo world and black light that glows are awesome. The ideal tattoo ink is black ink. Black ink works with almost all kinds of tattoo designs and it is easy for the tattoo artist when you have a good tattoo flash. But for those with dark skin tone, you might want to consider lighter tattoo ink colors. Here are the different types of tattoo ink you may be shopping for:
Removable tattoo ink
Sometimes you may just want a temporary tattoo ink or removable tattoo ink for your tattoo. These are quite useful for kids and for adults on special functions like a Halloween party. You can buy these temporary tattoo ink for your own use and they are quite affordable. They usually last for a week or two and can be easily removed with nail polish remover or thinner. There are some temporary tattoo ink that would actually hold and would not fade for three weeks. The use of Henna is also quite popular these days as a removable tattoo ink. They are actually plants' dye which is very safe on the skin.
Pigmentation in tattoo ink
This may sound a little foreign to you, unless you have been a good Chemistry student, but you may want to know the contents of the pigmentation in the tattoo ink that you want to buy.
The materials used for the different colors of tattoo ink are as follows:
Black - Iron oxide, carbon, logwood
Brown - Ochre (iron oxides mixed with clay)
Red - Cinnabar, Cadmium Red, Iron Oxide, Napthol
Orange -
disazodiarylide, disazopyrazolone, cadmium seleno-sulfide
Yellow - Cadmium Yellow, Ochres, Curcuma Yellow, Chrome Yellow, disazodiarylide
Safety and regulation of tattoo ink
To safeguard the health of the users, most countries have health ministries to check on tattoo ink and related products used for the body before approving them for use in the tattoo parlours. In the US, tattoo ink, whether permanent or temporary, is classified as a color additive and therefore not subjected to FDA's approval. But whether or not these tattoo ink are approved by the relevant authorities, it remains to be cautious and know that there are certain metal compounds in these tattoo inks. These metal compounds are known to have cause certain birth defects and certain dreadful diseases. However, there are no conrete studies and prove that the use of tattoo ink has directly caused these diseases and illness. There has been no relevant tests so far on the quantity and the damage these ink could cause to the human body. With this in mind, you can shop or buy any of these tattoo ink with ease.
