As the popularity of airbrush tattoos and body art increases around the world, more and more companies are developing their own airbrush tattoo ink. Being an airbrush tattoo artist for over 6 years now, I have had the opportunity to try out many different brands of temporary tattoo ink. Outlined here are my findings from my own independent experiments.
When shopping for temporary tattoo ink, the first thing you should look for are companies that use only FDA approved ingredients. As of this writing, the FDA does not regulate temporary tattoo inks, so be wary of any company that says their inks are actually FDA approved.
The next point to watch out for is companies advertising concentrated ink. You do not want to change the chemistry of the inks you are spraying by reducing them yourself. Buy inks that are ready to spray. Sometimes you will still have to slightly reduce these airbrush-ready inks in order to spray properly, but these minor adjustments will be far more consistent than having to reduce the inks from a concentrated form.
The ink requires 25-30 PSI to spray well. It stays in solution well but still needs to be shaken occasionally. The durability of the airbrush tattoos sprayed with Nazille is very good. I used this ink at a resort pool where I set up frequently, and it was not uncommon for tattoos to last a week or more even with the kids swimming extensively in chlorinated pools.
The next ink I tried out was OCC temporary tattoo ink. This ink is very thin, and settles quickly. There is a good variety of colors. The ink sprays very easily, but tended to clog the airbrush up a bit when I did not shake it enough. The colors were vibrant. However, I found this ink to not be very durable for airbrush tattoos on the general public. I think it is much better suited for professional applications such as for photoshoots where the longevity of the artwork is of little concern. But tattoos did last an average of 3-5 days.
Another ink trial was done using ABA temporary tattoo ink. This ink is the cheapest name brand airbrush tattoo ink on the market that I know of. While not as thick as the Nazille ink, it is thicker than the OCC, and sprays very well at 25 PSI. There are almost too many different colors to choose from. This ink proved to be very durable for public tattoo use, with longevity ranging from 6-10 days for tattoos.
The final ink we will look at here is EBA ink. This ink is thinner than the ABA ink, but stays in solution extremely well. The ink is also scented with a cotton candy type fragrance, which is much more pleasant than the alcohol smell of the others. There are 9 colors to choose from giving a good range of options to the artist who knows how to blend his colors. This ink sprays very well at 20 PSI, and is my favorite to use to date. The white is the best I have come across for its sprayability and opacity. Tattoos generally last 7-12 days with this ink.
Other brands of temporary tattoo ink that may be worth looking into further include Badger’s Totally Tattoo, TATstore’s Duratat, and Paasche’s brand of airbrush tattoo ink. Once again, when shopping for your inks make sure that they are cosmetic grade, made for use on the skin, with FDA-approved ingredients. You will also want to have the MSDA sheets on file for any inks that you plan to use on the public.
if you are not able to find the tattoo inks that was mentioned within this article, you can always use these recommended ones found over on Amazon too.
