DARE TO ASK: White ink will fade on dark skin

By PHILLIP MILANO, The Times-Union

Question

Because people with light skin get tattoos with black or colored inks, why don't black people get tattoos with white ink?

Jean T., Shreveport, La.

Replies

White ink exists, and I've seen it on some tattoos, but it is quite transparent, more so even than other light-colored tattoo inks, and is mostly used to lighten the overlying skin tone and achieve something approximating "pale." Therefore, on a very dark-skinned black person, white ink would at best lighten the overlying skin a few tones, and in many cases wouldn't show at all.

Ann, 38, white, Kansas City, Mo.

The first misconception a lot of people have is that if someone is of African descent, they have dark, black skin. Skin hues can range from rather light to extremely dark. So for a large amount of people, a tattoo done in black ink shows up just as well on their skin as it does on any other ethnicity. Even on basic dark skin, black ink still shows, just not with as much contrast. Traditionally, tattoos were done in either blue or black. Personally, from what I've seen, when black won't show up, people use blue instead. I'm not sure if maybe white ink is less reliable, or if it is just too vivid, but I have rarely seen it used outside of a "picture scene" type of tattoo.

A.S., 27, female, Idaho

Expert says

We wanted to track down someone with a tattoo on the small of their back or side of their ankle but had a hard time locating Everyone and His Mother.

We opted for Roni Zulu, L.A.-based tattoo artist to the stars, who is also African-American.

He says a white tattoo on dark skin would at first look tight - but later wouldn't even pass for a'ight.

Tattoo ink is deposited through the layers of the skin, says Zulu, who has marked up such heavyweights as Janet Jackson, Dennis Rodman, Rosie O'Donnell, Lisa Bonet, David Duchovny and Queen Latifah.

As the tattoo heals, the top layers of skin exfoliate and grow back with no pigment, leaving only the bottom layers retaining ink.

"Whenever you see a tattoo, you are actually looking through that person's top layers of skin and viewing the tattoo underneath," he said.

Because brown skin is less transparent than light skin, a whitish tattoo just wouldn't show up well under the new dark layers.

"After a few weeks you end up with a stack of brown skin on top of the tattoo. So dark-skinned people say 'What the heck happened to my bright tattoo?' "

Dark ink works better, though often it still ends up looking "a little greenish" beneath dark skin, Zulu said. Some African-Americans, especially in fraternities, go for scarification instead because the raised scars stand out more than tattoos.

And while many mainstream American blacks had veered away from their African history and culture, which includes scarification and tattoos, they are slowly warming to the idea of body marks again, notably with African symbols, Zulu said.

"Unfortunately most of it [tattooing] still exists in gangland . . . that stigma still floats around in black society."

Phillip Milano, author of I Can't Believe You Asked That! (Perigee), moderates cross-cultural dialogue at Y? The National Forum on People's Differences. Visit www.yforum.com to submit questions and answers, or mail to Phillip Milano, c/o The Florida Times-Union, P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231. Include contact information.