Permanent tattoos are made by using needles to inject colored ink below the surface of the skin. Tattoo ink comes in a variety of colors and the ingredients vary from color to color. The Food and Drug Administration, FDA, does not regulate tattoo inks or the pigments used in them so you must be sure to visit a clean, highly respectable tattoo parlor if you plan on getting inked.
Black Ink
This color ink shows up in almost all tattoos and is made of iron oxides, carbon or longwood. Natural black pigment is derived from a combination of magnetite crystals, wustite, bone black and amorphous carbon from soot. India ink also features natural black pigment. Longwood comes from the West Indies or Central America, and is an extract from haematoxylon capechisnum.
White Ink
White ink helps to lighten and shade other colors in your tattoo. Lead carbonate, titanium dioxide, barium sulfate and zinc oxide are potential origins of the white pigment. Some white pigments are also derived from anatase or rutile. Titanium dioxide based white pigments tend to be less reactive than other pigments.
Blue Ink
Blue ink begins with minerals, including copper, azurite, sodium aluminum silicate, calcium copper silicate or other cobalt aluminum oxides. Blues as well as greens are the safest for you when they are made up of copper salts, such as copper pthalocyanine. These salts are so safe that the FDA has approved their use in infant furniture and toys as well as contact lenses. Cobalt and ultramarine pigments carry more potential harm than copper-based pigments.
Red Ink
This color is made of cinnabar, cadmium red, iron oxide or napthol. You are probably familiar with iron oxide already, as it is commonly referred to as rust. Napthol reds are the safest of all red pigments, however all reds carry risks of allergic reactions.
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