About White Ink Tattoos
White Ink Tattoos - Great Idea, Or Not Worth The Risk?
The art of tattooing has been around for centuries. Some cultures have used them as a rite of passage while others use them for expressing their religious beliefs or as an identification of their culture and or beliefs or their feelings about themselves or events that have happened to them.
Although tattoos can come in a variety of colors, white ink tattoos are a very rare breed, rather a specialty type of tattoo. White ink tattoos are much different than a traditional tattoo and white ink tattoos are just now starting to come into the mainstream.
What Makes White Ink Tattoos Different
Traditional tattoos use a wide variety of colors, from the most common black ink, to red, green, blue, yellow or a mixture of the common colors to create a unique blend. They can be lead or organic based ink. White ink tattoos use white ink but the white ink tattoo usually will not blend well with the skin and will not come out looking white as in a white piece of paper.
Depending on how light or dark your skin is will determine how the white ink tattoo will appear. In fact, the darker your skin is, the less the white ink tattoo will appear. In most cases, a white ink tattoo will show up better on lighter skinned people.
Tattoos are put on the skin with the use of a stencil, which is like a blueprint of the tattoo or they are drawn right on the skin, which is called freestyle. Then a tattoo machine (which holds the needle and ink) is used to actually go over the stencil or drawn on design with the various colors of ink.
Stencil Or Freestyle
Most tattoo artists these days (unless they are really experienced) will not use the white ink tattoo method on a client because of the rate of failure in the tattoo coming out properly and the liability of the client not being satisfied with the results and possible litigation.
Traditional tattoos are made with a stencil. This is a process that the artist draws the design on tissue paper or thermal fax paper, then runs it into a thermal fax machine that produces the finished drawing. That stencil is then applied to the skin leaving an outline of the tattoo on the skin to be filled in with the choice of ink color.
Most white ink tattoos need to be applied by drawing on the skin in a freestyle method with a water based marker or ball point pen so that it can be washed off and not bleed into the white ink tattoo. If using a stencil for a white ink tattoo, the ink from the stencil has a tendency to not mix well or bleed into the white ink tattoo and the results will be a rather dull or blemished white ink tattoo.
Other Issues With White Ink Tattoos
The ink used for a white ink tattoo is much different than the ink used for a traditional tattoo. The white ink that is used for a white ink tattoo is of very high quality, is much thicker and it is designed to stand on its own.
In most cases the area of the application of the ink for a white ink tattoo must be gone over a couple of times during the first tattoo session or even a return visit after some healing has taken place because the skin doesn't always take the ink very well.
Unfortunately the white ink from a white ink tattoo is not absorbed as well by the skin as other color inks are. Sometimes it will even turn rather pinkish or even yellowish instead of actually white.
In a lot of cases the white ink tattoo will appear more as a scar, or the tissue itself appears raised up a touch, almost like someone had embroidered on your skin.
Depending on the color of your skin (light or dark) diet, or alcohol in your system, sometimes the skin does not take the white ink very well. This can lead to an infection, extreme itchiness, slow healing or a very not so nice looking white ink tattoo, or no tattoo at all.
Caution and good judgement should be used when choosing an artist to do a white ink tattoo on you. As you should know, once you are tattooed, it is very hard and expensive and painful to have it removed.
Others Things To Be Aware Of
The area of your body that you choose to place the white ink tattoo should be a factor when deciding to go for a traditional tattoo or a white ink tattoo. Most people who choose a white ink tattoo put it in a more obscure area of their body, a place that isn't exposed to the weather or hard conditions of wear and tear from certain types of employment.
All tattoos, whether it be a traditional or white ink tattoo require a certain amount of maintenance to keep them looking good and to reduce the amount of fading that with all tattoos will occur in time.
The use of lotions, body washes, sunscreen and even baby oil will go a long way in helping preserve your skin and the color of your tattoos, traditional or white ink tattoos.
It is not advised to get a white ink tattoo on your hands or other body parts that are constantly exposed to the weather because they will fade or even wear off in time. Also swimming in chlorinated water such as a pool is very hard on a traditional tattoo and even harder on a white ink tattoo.
Seawater is also very harsh on white ink tattoos as well as many of your household cleaners.
Remember that with any type of tattoo, a white ink tattoo or a traditional tattoo, it becomes part of your skin and appearance so be sure and take care of them properly so that the time, money and the effort your put into getting them is well worth it!