Whether you’re looking to stand out from the crowd at rave parties, or just keep your love for tattoos a secret from the world at large, UV tattoos are definitely something to consider.

Although they’ve been around for many years now, UV tattoos, also known as black light tattoos, have been growing in popularity, both among club goers craving attention, and tattoo lovers wanting to make their traditional ink stand out in certain conditions. And then there is the third category, the people who want to keep their ink virtually invisible in their day to day life, only to showcase it in all its glory under ultraviolet light. Whatever the case, there are a few interesting things you should know about this intriguing tattoos.

First of all, a common misconception about invisible tattoos is that they glow in the dark. While they are sometimes referred to as glow-in-the-dark tattoos, they most certainly don’t glow by themselves, they need UV light for that. So if you’re just looking to become visible in pitch darkness, you’d better think of something else.

 

Secondly, UV tattoo paint is a lot thinner than regular tattoo paint, so you need to make sure that the artist applying it has experience working with UV paint, because the results can be disastrous. Invisible pink is also more frequently rejected by the skin, and in some cases the irritation is so severe that the ink has to be removed.

Invisible tattoos aren’t actually invisible, at least in the first year or two, until the raised, tan lines fade completely. The tattoo becomes harder to see with every month that passes by, until it becomes virtually invisible to the naked eye, but it’s definitely not instantly invisible.

Because UV tattoo ink contains phosphorus to achieve the glow-in-the-dark effect, there are those who claim that enough doses of it can cause serious health problems, although that has yet to be scientifically proven. So far, artists who have worked with it have reported no major issues.

“I have only seen one out of 25 people have a bad reaction. They had some scarring and irritation, and loss of glow,” tattoo artist Samantha Ceora told Inked Magazine. “Although I believe that was due to my amateur status at the time, and the brand of ink. Plus the person had extensive allergies to random things.”

Speaking of loss of glow, an invisible tattoo can last up to five years before it starts to fade, but every person’s skin is different, and respecting the aftercare instructions is crucial to ensuring that the ink lasts as long as possible.

UV tattoos are most often used to highlight designs inked with traditional tattoo ink, but when done by experienced tattoo artists using the right materials, these tattoos can be almost invisible in regular light, only which is something that people who don’t want to deal with the stigma of having tattoos appreciate.