Tattoo Ink Color Choices
Tattoo Ink Color Choices

What tattoo ink colors are best for my skin tone?
What tattoo ink colors are best on dark skin?
What colors should I choose for my tattoo?
What colors cause the most skin reactions?
Which ink colors are hardest to remove?
I need tattoo ink selection advice!

Tattoo Ink color questions are a very popular topic to research after you’ve decided what design you may want, but don’t believe your options are as wide as the colors in a rainbow. There are a lot of considerations including skin reactions, fading colors, clashing with your current skin tone, clashing with a tanned skin-tone, and more.

Issues related to how the ink was made and if it was designed for “internal use” is also a major consideration. Knowing that the ink that is used was designed for this purpose is a critical piece of information. A lot of the inks were made for industrial and commercial purposes, and some tattoo artists mix the ink powder with water and see how it comes out. The long-term health implications of some tattoo inks are unknown, and like silicone breast implants, many older tattoo wearers believe the toxins in their tattoo ink got into their system and poisoned them.

Surgeons have found tattoo ink in lymph node biopsies. No one knows the true impact of ink in a lymph node, but common sense would suggest that you don’t want ink in a lymph node!

The more ink used, the more ink internally absorbed.

Generally the black, and blue are well tolerated, and more easily removed, while many other colors, particularly vivid non-organic colors, can be a problem going on and coming off. Initially it’s best to test a small area of skin for a reaction especially if a bold color is used in a great quantity.

Darker skins obviously cannot project light colors well, and tend to mute the colors with their own skin color. As we seen in NBA games, a dark tattoo on dark skin doesn’t make much of an impact (that may be good or bad).

When its time to remove your tattoo, if you’ve got a lot of different colors, one laser may not be able to remove it. Yellow and orange are highly resistant to laser removal so you will absolutely want to avoid these colors unless you are really confident in your selection. Red and greens react differently based on what substances were used to compose it.

Tattoo removal is in many ways as risky as the tattoo application, and really takes dedication. If someone needs 20 or more visits spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart it will take almost four years to remove one tattoo. That’s the time it takes to get a college degree!!

Getting a more colorful tattoo definitely complicates tattoo removal. It is truly best to stick with basic and darker colors.

Do your research BEFORE you get a tattoo, and then you won’t have to spend years of time and money getting it removed.

There are new “issues” with tattoo inks that need to be considered.

Among the concerns are the long-term effects tattoo inks can have on the immune system, pathology specimen interpretation and other unforeseen health complications.

Certain tattoo inks can be toxic, with some containing carcinogenic compounds, a 2012 Danish Environmental Protection Agency found. In fact, one in five tattoo inks contained carcinogenic chemicals, and a vast majority of the inks tested did not comply with international health safety standards for ink composition, an Australian government-sponsored study found. Even more concerning, carcinogens were identified in 83 percent of black inks – by far the most popular color for tattoos.

The European Society of Tattoo and Pigment Research was established in 2013 with a mission of educating the public about the “fundamental facts about tattooing” which many in the younger generations ignore. That group found barium, copper, mercury and other unsafe components in tattoo inks. Their research also found a disheartening mismatch between the listed ink container contents and its actual chemical composition found on testing.

More recently, the Food and Drug Administration has become more involved with tattoo inks, stating “Many pigments used in tattoo inks are industrial-grade colors suitable for printers’ ink or automobile paint.” Like the studies started overseas, the agency is now examining the chemical composition of inks and pigments and how they break down in the body, as well their their short- and long-term safety.

Check out this link to an article by Dr. Oz about tattoo ink. Again for-warned is for-armed.

Read this other brief link talking about issues with AZO tattoo dyes that people are using to substitute for the heavy metal dyes. Just like medications ingested by the body, there are always going to be side-effects from doing things to the human body. In order for a tattoo to be permanent, it has to be deposited into the dermis layer of the skin. This layer also has blood vessels, lymphatics, tiny muscles, receptors, nerve endings, and more.

It is important to think about these possible interactions BEFORE you get a tattoo. Do your research first.