Happy Earth Day, y'all!
Today is the one day of the year the government recognizes the environment. Woohoo! We'll take what we can get.
While some show love for the planet by planting, recycling, and reducing their carbon footprint, others spruce up Mama Earth's skin with road tattoos like these people at the N.C. Museum of Art.
I also thought I'd take the day to address a popular email question sent to Needled:
Are there vegan and organic inks available?
These are two separate questions actually because 'organic inks' may contain glycerine as a carrier that's not vegetable but from animal fat. The vegan inks either don't use glycerine at all or use that of vegetable oils.
Now I'm not endorsing any ink here. Too much drama and controversy and lack of some hard facts for me to do so -- the FDA does not regulate tattoo inks and not all manufacturers drop trade secrets on their ingredients. Plus, I've seen tattoo artists, including my husband, switch inks like fickle lovers. A good tattoo is not simply about the ink, it's how the tattooist puts that ink into the skin. That said, if you want to stay true to your principles and still get tattooed, I can lay down the discourse on certain pigments for you to make your own judgments.
But first, ignore the hype. The media love controversy, decrying tattoo inks as death vessels containing car paint, lead and the corpse of Jimmy Hoffa. Yes, some people have allergic reactions to products in the inks, just like some may have allergic reactions to $500 face creams. But if tattoo inks were as perilous as made out to be, wouldn't there be a massive epidemic considering how many people are tattooed worldwide? I was once told by a chemist that I have more to worry about with my liter-a-day Diet Coke habit than with what's in my tattoos. Thus, put it all in perspective.
Second, if you want a general overview on what's in tattoo inks, go to this About.com article.
For vegan inks, the most popular is Stable Color Ink. A few years ago, Joe Capobianco blogged about using Stable pigments and he has some of the most vibrant tattoos out there. But then there was some controversy over their sustainability among tattooers on the TattooNow forum. Some said they stay away from certain colors and only use particular pigments, while others said they had success with the line overall. Probably the most telling from that forum is that no one can agree on what is the very best ink. I suggest checking out the portfolios of artists who use vegan inks and asking to see photos of those tattoos that have been healed for a while (not often easy for artists to do but possible through repeat clients).
As for organic inks -- and hell, what does organic really mean anyway -- Eternal Inks boasts the organic label and meets European Union chemical standards regarding substances safe to human health. Joe also talks about tattooing with Eternal, which is used by Guy Aitchison as well.
The UK's Dermaglo Inks are also considered organic and are micro-dispersed making it easier to put in the skin and healing incredibly fast. It's the ink we use at Calypso Tattoo (not an endorsement but just a fact).
But again, an ink is only as good as the artist using it. And that's all I'm saying about inks. Now, I'm gonna go plant a tree.
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