What's the Deal With White Ink Tattoos?

White ink tattoos can look both beautiful and hideous. As usual, that all depends on your tattoo artist, their experience with white ink tattoos, and your expectations of white ink tattooing.

In Austin Texas, it’s difficult to find a tattoo artist that is willing to do white ink tattooing. Try looking at our portfolios. If you don’t see white ink tattoos in there you can best bet that we’re not diggin’ the white ink thing. There are many factors that are involved in white ink tattoos that determine its outcome that most people don’t think about.

You gotta’ understand how tattoo ink works in the skin to fully grasp why most tattoo artists wont tattoo with white ink.

Few people realize that tattoo inks are transparent. The transparency of these colors depends on ink density, brand, and how solid the tattoo ink is packed into the skin. If your artist is working with a brand of ink that is low in density or is not well packed into the skin then your tattoo will have more transparent look to it. Here’s an example:

You can see the areas of the tattoo that hold the white ink appear pinkish. That pinkish tone is the skin underneath the tattoo. When this tattoo heals, it will look as if the white has disappeared. All that will be left is an eyeball and a squiggly line for what used to be feet.

Here’s and example of a well “packed” white ink tattoo:

The tattoo has minimal, pinkish tones. The ink in skin looks creamier. The ink is more densely packed into the skin. The more densely packed the tattoo ink is, the longer your tattoo will last.

But it doesn’t always fall on the artist. Different skin types play a large factor as well! Because all tattoo inks carry some level of transparency due to their water based nature, it’s more probable that the color of the tattoo ink will blend with your skin tone. It is also the reason why most white ink tattoos look faint and don’t stay white.

Here’s a white ink tattoo that is freshly done and well “packed.”

This is the same tattoo healed.

The healed tattoos are not actually white. Nor do they stay white. The have a yellow tint to them. They’re faded.

All tattoos look best when they are freshly tattooed. Most white ink tattoos that you see on the internet are freshly done as well. On a freshly done tattoo the line work looks cleaner, the colors are more vibrant and bold. This is because the ink is still inside the first layer of skin which only stay for the first few weeks to a month or so.

Tattoo ink stains the second layer of the dermis. Thats where your tattoo “lives.” So when your body heals the tattoo, that first layer of ink is removed due to the natural healing process of your body.

Most tattoo artist don’t want to deal with the headache of customers expectations of white ink tattooing and the outcome. We also, don’t want you to think that we screwed up your white ink tattoo, when in fact its just the nature of white ink.

Don’t be fooled. White ink tattoos don’t last. The out come will be, a yellow looking tattoo, a disappearing tattoo, or a tattoo that appears like a scar. If you’re ok with that, great! But remember this; “White’s alright, but bold will hold!”

KAT