Which Best Tattoo Ink Brands Should You Choose?

With so many ink brands on the market, it's difficult to decide which is the best tattoo ink color for you. However, The variety of brands and colors available can be overwhelming but making a good selection is critical to the result. You want ink that is bright, vibrant, long-lasting, and most importantly safe for your customers.

Our 'Best Tattoo Ink Guide For 2024' will teach you how to recognize a reputable brand & give you an overview of the best tattoo ink out there.

What do you look for when buying tattoo ink?

When looking for the best tattoo ink, several factors must be considered. The most important thing is that your ink is safe. That means, your tattoo color should be produced to the highest industry or health standards and the packaging they come in.

When you buy inks, make sure they are sterile and sealed so they do not harm your customers. The best tattoo ink companies have information on their production and quality control on their websites (as well as the required Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for download). Also, You'll want ink that your customer's skin will accept and that won't cause allergic reactions in the short or long run. Aiming to use vegan tattoo inks made from natural pigments can help with this.

Good manufacturers are proud to produce cruelty-free inks. A reputable manufacturer can usually be identified by looking at their website and checking the previously mentioned.

Another important point is to purchase your inks only from reputable sources. Many tattoo ink colors get copied and there are a lot of counterfeits on the market. Only by purchasing from a reputable retailer (like Tattoo Gizmo) can you be certain of receiving the product you desire.

The best black tattoo ink color

Choosing the best black tattoo ink for you is a challenge. There are many good and well-known black inks on the market, such as Dynamic Black Tattoo Inks, Allegory Lining, Kuro Sumi Black, and Intenze's Zuper Black. And they are popular for a reason.

But, as already mentioned, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. They are the most popular and are used by many artists.

Here are your favorite best black tattoo ink:

Dynamic Black Tattoo Inks: Dynamic Black is one of the market's best-selling blacks. Used in all styles and well-known for its long-lasting and color fastness. It absorbs quickly and easily into the skin and remains the same color after healing.

Allegory Lining: Allegory Black Tattoo Ink aims to provide artists with high-quality pigments for tattooing. Their signature Black tattoo ink is everything a tattoo artist looks for in a black pigment.

Allegory Black Tattoo Ink is a black pigment that is dispersed in a liquid and can be used for a variety of tattooing procedures. This ink is rich and creamy-smooth, and it comes in a recyclable travel-sized sample bottle. Each bottle has a sealable twistable dispenser top. To ensure consistency, each bottle comes with a glass marble agitator.

Kuro Sumi Black: Looking back on a long history, Kuro Sumi Ink is named after an ancient Japanese warrior elite known as Yayoi Kuro Sumi Tangnuni, who had prominent markings under their jawline and on their abdomen. The secret formulas (of course organic, vegan, and compliant with EU regulations) have been passed down through generations of Japanese artists. Great for Japanese style, but also for outlining and shading.

Intenze's Zuper Black: Intenze Zuper Black Tattoo Ink is the most intense black available. Black is an essential component of any tattoo. It can represent strength, elegance, form, death, or even evil. Intenze Zuper Black tattoo ink captures the fear and mystery of black. Extreme Black Intenze Tattoo Ink has created the darkest and most intense black!  The ink contains the strongest pigments and a thick black ink that has been specially designed for tribal filling.

Which is the best tattoo ink brand on the market?

It is difficult to pick one brand as the best tattoo ink brand on the market because several brands could be considered as such. Their experience and history distinguish them, the use of organic ingredients, advanced production, marketing, packaging, and, of course, high-quality inks. Eternal Ink is the most well-known brand.

"I've used all of the top brands over the years and they all behave very similarly in that some are thick, some are thin, some are opaque, and some are translucent, so you have to experiment with them all to get an idea of how each color works and how they interact with each other. What I have noticed with Eternal is that the batches are consistent, For other brands I have used I’ve noticed that I would re-order a color and it’ll be different from the previous batch. Eternals quality control is spot on.”

When deciding on the best tattoo ink brand, you must first determine what you are looking for.  Many brands produce high-quality inks, but the choice depends on your taste. Many tattoo artists cannot or will not choose the best tattoo ink brand for them and instead use a variety of inks from various brands. If you want to see how a brand's colors will look in action, check out their sponsored artist team. They are a great resource for seeing what can be done with the inks provided by the brand.

Here are some of our favorite brands:

Interze Ink: Intenze Tattoo Ink, founded in 2002 by tattoo artist Mario Barth, is a pioneer in setting high safety standards and developing new color palettes. Intenze became an industry leader with a clear vision to create the safest inks on the market that work for any artist under any conditions.

Eternal Ink: Eternal Ink is well-known for its long history of making tattoo inks. Their credo is “Made for artists by artists”. They know exactly what expert tattoo artists looking for in tattoo inks, or the standards they set are among the best in the industry. The quality control is impeccable, and the consistency is unparalleled. They have the most popular signature sets in the industry.

Dynamic Tattoo Inks: Dynamic Black is one of the market's best-selling blacks. Used in all styles and well-known for its long-lasting and color fastness. It absorbs quickly and easily into the skin and remains the same color after healing. 

Conclusion: 

With all the inks on the market nowadays, selecting the best tattoo ink is extremely difficult. We have the luxury of choosing from a wide range of brands, colors, and nuances that tattoo artists could have only wished for 20 years ago. As a tattoo artist, it is your responsibility to choose a safe product for your customer that will result in the best results over time.

That is why you should exercise caution when selecting inks. We've shown you how to identify a reputable brand and which inks we think are the best. It's now up to you to make your own decision about which brand and ink selection is best for you.

If you want to read further, check out our article about 5 Points to Consider When Choosing