What is tattoo ink made of?

What is tattoo ink made of?

Here’s the thing – people have been tattooing themselves since the dawn of time, so there is no one “be-all and end-all” type of tattoo ink that is used.

Historically, everything from squid ink to soot from a fire has been added to water to make tattoo ink, but in the modern era, the science and technology has come a long way.

We now have a rainbow of colours, and when mixed and matched by a skilled tattoo artist, pretty much any design can be created.

So what makes up most tattoo ink?

Well, the short and scary answer is, you can never be 100% certain.

In New Zealand, tattoo ink falls under the “Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996”, which doesn’t really say much. As long as the ink doesn’t immediately poison you, it can contain whatever.

A lot of ink comes from America, but astonishingly, the FDA doesn’t regulate tattoo ink. In fact, the FDA in America doesn’t even make ink makers reveal what’s in their ink.

It doesn’t help that each colour is also made up of different ingredients. Tattoo inks may be made from titanium dioxide, lead, chromium, nickel, iron oxides, ash, carbon black, and other elements. Some of the pigments are industrial grade and are even used as automobile paint.

The rise of counterfeit tattoo ink has increased worldwide in recent years, making authentic, well-known and trusted ink even more important.

Why we use Eternal Ink

Tattoo Station are an official distributor of the world-famous Eternal Ink.

Made from organic pigments, deionized water and hamamelis water, this bright coloured ink is free of animal by-products and is vegan.

Supplied in a medical grade sealed bottle, ensuring its longevity before and after opening, the ink pigments are regularly evaluated for testing and comply with all health and safety regulations.

Eternal Ink is not tested on animals, so there’s no guilty conscious tagging along with every purchase.

Eternal Ink’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) can be found by clicking here.