Are you "getting inked"? Getting a tattoo can raise a number of questions in your mind - How safe is it? Should you avoid a certain color? This is why; knowing about the various kinds of tattoo inks may help you to make a better decision. Tattoo inks are perhaps the most important element of the tattoo supplies.
The tattoo ink will help to give color to the tattoo art on the skin. The ink is inserted into your skin with the help of dermal punches with the needle in the tattoo machine of the artist. Interestingly, the tattoo inks are not inks at all, but rather pigments suspended in carrier. There are two basic components of the tattoo ink - the pigment and the carrier.
The pigment of the ink can be made from a number of things including vegetable dyes, plastics, heavy metals and other minerals. The carriers on the other hand are liquids that are used to deliver the pigment under the skin. If the carrier of your tattoo ink is good, it will help the color to spread evenly through the design, without spreading and clumping. It may also help a bit in the disinfecting action. However, if the tattoo supplies of the artist are of low grade, and if the carrier is not of a good material, it can result in more harm than good.
What can be the adverse effect of the tattoos?
Tattoos, though permanent are pone to fading. After all, the color is a foreign pigment in your body and as such, your immunity system tries to break down the color and take it out of your body. But since the pigment particles are too big to be destroyed by your white blood cells, most your color remains intact.
Some of the common risks that are associated with tattoo inks are scarring, phototoxic reactions, that is, reaction on the skin when the colors are exposed to the sunlight, allergic reaction to the material used in the pigment. Some of the inks that are plastic based are said to cause more reaction than other kinds of ink, though they create a more vivid color. Other inks may be radioactive or toxic, depending on what is the quality of the tattoo supplies purchased.
Using alcohol in tattoo ink
If you use alcohol in your tattoo supplies or if your ink has alcohol as a carrier, it allows the chemicals to enter into the bloodstream easily. This is because, alcohol is a promoter. This basically entails that the works synergistically with various carcinogens as well as mutagens in the ink, making them more harmful than they would otherwise be.
Alcohol increases the chances of mutation in he cell, not only in the area of the tattoo, but also all over the body.
Know your ink
There are various types of tattoo inks out there in the market. The ingredients of the tattoo ink are not required to be revealed by the maker, thus making things difficult. However, some of the renowned brands used by a number of artists as a part of their tattoo supplies are intenze tattoo ink and moms tattoo ink.
Black light tattoo ink has also become quite popular in the recent past. However, the effects of the pigments have not yet been determined properly, and they may be radioactive or otherwise harmful.
If your artist mixes his own ink, it may be quite safe - but only if he uses quality stuffs. Some of the safest carriers that can be used in the inks are ethyl alcohol, in the form of vodka, propylene glycol, witch hazel, Listerine, glycerin and so on.
Remember that as long as you get your tattoo done from a safe and hygienic parlor and an artist who believes in using quality tattoo supplies, you are sure to get great results. Quality brands of tattoo inks minimize the risks to your body - bringing down the risk factor to an almost nil. So, make sure that you research your artist and the tattoo supplies they use and then enjoy the experience of getting inked for life!
