Tattoos And Skin

The Relationship Between Your Skin And Tattoos

Needles used for tattoos will pierce the skin approximately 1/16 of an inch, into the Dermis.

The skin is made up of layers, and relative to tattoos, you must be concerned with the first five epidermal skin layers. The layer designations are Epidermis, Fibrosis, Dermis, Subcutaneous Fat, and Muscle.

The Epidermis or outer layer is responsible for protection against the environment. The Dermis or middle layer is primarily responsible for structure and support, and the Subcutaneous Fat layer is primarily responsible for insulation and shock absorbency.

The Epidermis is divided into three sub layers: the Stratum Corneum, the Squamous Cell layer and the Basil Cell layer.

Stratum Corneum

The Stratum Corneum consists of several layers of dead Squamous cells and varies in thickness depending on location on the body. The thickest layers being on the bottom of the feet.

The Stratum Corneum becomes thicker with age and exposure to the environment and thus more susceptible to wrinkles and creases. For tattoos, it is also important to use Sun Blocks that tend to reside in this layer.

It is desirable to stop the ultraviolet light from the sun at the surface of the skin rather than allowing it to penetrate into the skin. UV from the sun that penetrates into the skin can cause several types of damage to tattoos, including fading of tattoo ink.

The Squamous Cell

The Squamous Cell layer is the middle layer of the epidermis and is the center for new skin growth. Skin cells grow and multiply in this layer and are constantly pushed outward to eventually die and become part of the Stratum Corneum.

Basil Cell

The Basil Cell layer is the birthplace of new epidermal skin cells. Basil Cells receive a chemical message when the skin is damaged or when the stratum corneum loses too many cells and becomes thinner than it is supposed to be.

This results in the basil cells dividing and differentiating to form new skin cells and start the outward movement that results in new skin production.

When tattoos are applied, the skin is stretched taught. This prevents knotting in the outlining. The ink is deposited in the Dermis region, and when healed the ink can be seen due to the transparency of the skin cells.

The ink from tattoos must be deposited in the dermis (just below the epidermis layer), because if the ink is too shallow in the skin, in the outer layers, the tattoos will fade with time, as those skin cells are replaced, and if it is too deep, the tattoos will loose there form with time in the fat layer.

Fat cells contract and grow with age, and (how fat you are)! and the ink will move, causing a distorted image. Stencils of tattoos are applied to unstressed skin, the area should be in a natural state, don’t flex your muscles while the stencil is being applied.

Once the stencil is in place, the skin is continually stretched taught, while the tattooing happens. If the skin is not stretched, the needles can actually bounce off the skin, and not penetrate, or the needles can catch the skin, tearing it, either case results in poor tattoos.