We launched our biosafe Glow Powder line in July 2025, and almost immediately professional body artists of all types saw the potential. Almost immediately, we began getting inquiries from professionals about the availability of tattoo inks. While there are “glow in the dark” tattoo inks available now, they are direct phosphorescent inks which only fluoresce (“glow”) when directly under UV light. Our glow powder “charges” with UV light but then remains glowing for a very long time.
TL;DR
The TL;DR here is - do not make tattoo inks using our glow powder. It will only shred your needles and potentially cause physical harm to your customer.
But why?
The 50 micron powder is primarily strontium aluminate, encapsulated by silica. This makes the powder extremely resilient to bodily fluids. It also makes the powder have an extremely hard texture, like little glowing grains of sand. It is so hard in fact, it will effectively “sand down” your tattoo needles almost immediately. This abrasion process results in a few things;
- Particles of metal from your needle and potentially cracked silica shell pieces which are much smaller than 50 micron (more on why this is a problem later).
- Dispersion of metal and silica particles throughout the body, leaving a visible grey dull metallic stain on the skin and deeper tissues.
- Potentially cracked silica casings, directly exposing the body to strontium aluminate and other doping materials.
What about suspension oils, etc. ?
We are working with professional chemists on a solution for tattooable glow ink. Eugenol (clove), glycerin, witch hazel, various glycols, etc. If you can think of it, we’ve probably tried it. In a lab. Under proper test conditions. With proper test equipment. We are now moving on to more exotic medical coatings and other ideas.
Why is particle size important?
Particles about 20 micron and smaller can start causing problems;
- triggering macrophages
- traveling through ECM pores
- passing through membranes
Our powder has been chemically washed and carefully sifted through lab grade filters to ensure it’s 50 micron (or larger).
Tattoo inks with TiO2
This concern comes from studies done on traditional inks containing titanium dioxide (like white pigments) causing excessive wear and abrasion of tattoo needles, promoting both TiO2 migration as well as steel, iron, cromium, and nickle. Here is one such study;
Distribution of nickel and chromium particles from tattoo needle wear (3.2 MB)
