Tattoo vs PMU Pigments: What’s the difference? Are they safe?

Ever since European Union law announced imposing new formulation requirements for tattoo inks (a law which took effect in 2023 ) there has been increased fear among EU residents interested in tattoo and permanent makeup services. People wonder how dangerous the previously available inks were before and have come to doubt how much safer they really are now. In this blog post from Magic PJ’s PMU & Tattoo, I hope to put worried minds at ease about what I do with expert insight on pigments. Many things doctors in hospitals use on open wounds are exponentially more toxic than tattoo ink according these tattoo ink safety standards.

Perhaps you’ve read/heard that some of the substances banned from tattoo inks/pigments in the EU are known carcinogens. While this is true, there has never been a single reported case of cancer attributed to being caused from the pigments in anyone’s tattoo. One of the carcinogenic substances that has previously been used in creating tattoo inks which is now banned by EU law is isopropyl alcohol which is routinely used in hospitals around the world. It is likely that you have had a doctor or nurse swab pure isopropyl alcohol over the puncture wound of a vaccination you’ve received. Even this small amount of pure alcohol entering the little poke your skin in just this one swipe is more than what would be taken into your skin through a tattoo with inks formulated using isopropyl alcohol.

The list of banned formulation materials is much longer than just isopropyl alcohol with much more rightfully scary names such as mercury in certain shades of red. There is no doubt about mercury’s dangers to human health. It’s fantastic to avoid. Yet there has never been a single case of mercury poisoning or any other mercury related defects or damage reportedly related to any tattoo in history. This may be because mercury was never included as an individual ingredient in the actual pigments themselves but instead was used within the process of formulating the pigments. To me, this is very similar to considering the scientific (chemical) “ingredients” of an organic apple. When the molecules that make up an apple are spelled out, amygdaloid which produces cyanide, a known fast-acting deadly poison famously used by spies in the World Wars, is part of a completely organic apple. Knowing this, you can rest assured that the former tattoo ink formulations really weren’t much more dangerous before these new laws than after. Tattoo inks are relatively safe now and they were before. It’s always nice to take extra measures for safety.

I comply with all EU tattoo requirements and employ the highest of global standards in my active practice. The health and safety standards I was trained in while in Los Angeles are some of THE absolute strictest in the world. This includes using only up-to-date EU approved pigments at Magic PJ’s in Utrecht. I will be honest- these inks are not as good on an artistic level as they were before nor is the usability favorably comparable to the inks still available in the United States which overall as a nation has much more thorough procedural guidelines to professional tattooing than in the Netherlands where I currently live and work.

The new EU ink formulas do not mix well into custom colors even if mixed within the same tattoo ink brand- the different pigments separate in the skin when healing. This makes color tattoos much for expensive now than they were before because each and every color in the tattoo artist’s palette must be purchased individually. No longer can European tattooers trust a smaller arsenal of inks from which custom colors can be mixed. This doesn’t mean that I personally am advocating for the scary materials to be brought back into the new formulas; I actually do think updating the formulas is a nice idea. But I definitely feel that these new formulas can be further improved and that the law was very hasty in considering the industrial aspect of making this shift as successful as it could have been.

This mixing issue seems to me like a problem that certainly has a solution which is simply being neglected so far in the re-formulations of EU approved tattoo pigments. I say this because, by contrast, currently available permanent makeup inks (also EU approved) mix beautifully to create custom colors for matching clients’ own hair and skin tones. This is one of the main differences between tattoo and PMU pigments right now in the EU. There are some other differences which most notably include the consistency/viscosity of the inks: liquid PMU pigments are much thicker and slower running than tattoo inks. The main reason for a more dense formula for PMU inks is to prevent the pigments from spreading and blurring in the delicate skin of the face.

Tattoo inks should never be used for PMU!

If you decide to consult a PMU provider who is also a tattooer, whether or not that provider is myself, a good confidence check would be to ask the tattoo/pmu artist what brand of PMU pigments they use and check their answer against real PMU pigment brands vs tattoo ink with a quick internet search. The brands of PMU ink I use, for example, are Perma Blend Luxe and Tina Davies Professional whereas the tattoo ink brands I use are Kuro Sumi and World Famous: Limitless.

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I am happy to answer any PMU questions you have. We can discuss your needs over the phone, via text, or over tea/coffee in person at my studio location in Utrecht.

Magic PJ’s Permanent Makeup & Tattoo is located at Burgermeester Reigerstraat 19 in Utrecht

pjsuperior@protonmail.com