People often ask if cosmetic tattoo pigments are natural, but I believe what they really should ask is if they are safe. After all, the most dangerous poisons in the world are natural. We also don’t want to tax our natural resources to decorate ourselves.
Natural ingredients and vegetable pigments or food colouring are not considered safe as they can provoke an allergic reaction. For this reason, cosmetic tattoo pigments are often synthetic. There are, however, two types of pigments that are used:
- Organic pigments, made from lakes pigments
- Inorganic pigments, made from iron and zinc oxides.
Organic pigments (or lakes) are carbon-based and can dissolve in water in the body. They are therefore coated in a metallic substance, or oxide, which prevents them from dissolving in the body. The coating isolates the pigment from the body, making it safe. Even though this coat reduces the risk of an allergic reaction, organic pigments are more likely to cause an allergic reaction than inorganic pigments. Organic pigments also seem to fade faster than inorganic pigments.
Inorganic pigments are generally synthetically produced metals (or oxides). Iron oxides are the most common and are considered stable and non-toxic, making them safe to use. In general, people don’t seem to react to iron oxide.
Pigments are ground into a fine powder, which is then suspended in glycerine, distilled water and alcohol as they need to be in a liquid form to be implanted under the skin. The size of these molecules is at least 6 microns to prevent the pigment from spreading.