Page 22 - An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal v1.0
through friction, which essentially ‘sucks’ the ink into the hole that is left behind by the needle. This is how the ink enters both the epidermis and the dermis (watch here).
When applying the ink into the skin, the needle punctures the epidermis and dermis. Most artists aim to reach a depth of between 1 and 2 mm, with an ideal depth being 1.6mm. However, there is obviously variation between different artists with some preferring a ‘heavier’, and hence deeper, approach and others adopting a much more ‘superficial’ light-touch. Consequently, ink may be found at all sorts of depths in the dermis, depending on who applied the ink, the techniques they used, their needle groupings and equipment.
In addition, the skill of the tattoo artist is important too. Some artists are poorly trained and do not administer the inks correctly, leading to very poor results.
Watch a video showing a slow motion movie of the tattooing process in the skin.
Tattoo colours
Today, there is a huge range of ink colours available from professional manufacturers. These are pre-made in colloids of and most tattoo artists will purchase potentially hundreds of different colours. Tattoo artists tend to prefer particular brands of ink, and they will usually stick to that brand for years.
Many artists choose not to mix these colours. This approach helps with colour matching when clients who desire large tattoos return over multiple sessions. However, often artists will mix different colours to obtain a particular hue or shade, according to the design they are trying to achieve. Most artists simply will not possess every tint or shade of colour they require, and so mixing becomes inevitable.
Taken from the JRC Science for Policy Report “Safety of tattoos and permanent make-up – Final Report”
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Chapter 2 LEVEL A Laser Tattoo Removal
© The Laser-IPL Guys, 2021
Achieving the desired colour is possible by various routes. For example, a ‘light green’ colour may be obtained by mixing “green straight from the supplier’s bottle plus 5 drops of yellow, 2 drops of blue and 2 drops of white” (courtesy of Iain Valhalla, Kilmarnock, Scotland).
However, the same light green may be obtained by mixing the original (dark) green with “6 drops of yellow and 3 drops of light blue”.