The Evolution of Tattoo Inks and Where It Stands at Current Time

The need for tattoos for self-expression is a recent phenomenon; for much of history, it has been a part of the cultural identity where the part of getting inked was linked with honor.

Tattoos, for a long time, have been used as a demarcation where one doesn’t need to speak for oneself, and their ink plays a part to add on the identity of the person. However, the need for tattoos has there in human civilization for a long time.

Today, we can witness many tattoo ink brands that have flooded the market with multiple options, but that was not the case even in the past few decades.  In this blog, we will look into the journey of tattoo ink and how it has evolved through time.

The Ancient Nature of Natural Pigments

Tattoo inks were created with natural pigments through which one can maintain the charm, and that allows a person to wear a natural tattoo that’s mixed with water and other liquids, which can create a structure of ink.

The Egyptian and the Polynesian communities were the ones who used different types of charcoal ink and mixed that with oil for consistency. The Indigenous tribes are the ones where they can make the natural pigments and were the first step towards the natural form of tattoo ink. 

The Change Happened After the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution brought significant changes in the tattoo industry, and through that, the tattoo machines came into the market, and so the changes in the tattoo ink have also happened. There, one can find a wider range of tattoo products that can provide greater consistency to the color.

For example, the use of mercury in tattoo ink became prominent to achieve a color that will look brighter and will stay for long. However, with the rise of metal-infused tattoo inks, there was a rise in health issues, and those were the risk parameters that a tattoo used to possess in the early 1900s.

The Modern Era of Tattoo Ink

In the late 20^th century, the rise of safer tattoos came to the place as tattoo art became popular across the world. Here, the chemistry of the tattoo gets modern, and through that, one can find the synthetic nature of compounds that are essential for safe skin.

In this process, one can find the use of organic compounds as a tattoo in the industry, and various tattoo studios went towards the innovation route and created safer inks that an artist can use.

Various tattoo ink brands are now shifting towards making tattoos with organic materials, which will not have any side effects and will imply they have the right set of ingredients that are safe for human skin.

Exploration in the Vegan Tattoo Inks

Finally, the industry is going towards vegan tattoos for a safer form of ink and also to reduce animal cruelty in the tattoo-making process. Here, the tattoo ink companies avoid using shellac, which is derived from beetles and prefer to use plant-based items that are safer and ethical to use under the current standards.

These are some of the changes that happened when it comes to tattoo ink, and the evolution will proceed further with the rise of the tattoo industry.