Tattoo enthusiasts! We did a bit of a test today on which kind of stencil to use for our tattoos.

For those who don't know, typically the way it works is the artist will sketch and draw out a design to stencil. The stencil is a carbon copy that is put through a machine that takes your carbon drawing and puts it on soft paper to be applied to the skin. Over time while working on the piece, the stencil will eventually rub off.

We did a little experiement with two different stencil ink products - one low cost, one high cost.

Green Soap - Medical grade (green) soap, that some of our artists use on a daily basis.

Stencil Stuff - Higher cost product that some of our artists use instead.
We applied both stencil inks on Yovany's arm to test and see how dark the ink was, how long it lasted, etc.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yovany offers his arm for our stencil ink test."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Ink settles in after application"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="After washing and drying the ink."][/caption]

From the looks of it, the Stencil Stuff ink is a bit darker than the Green Soap, and is harder to wash off.

Ironically, the 20-25% darker tone that you get from Stencil Stuff, is exactly 20-25% higher in cost.

Is it worthwhile to spend more on the Stencil Stuff, even though it doesn't really make that much of a difference?

Some of our artists don't think it's worth spending the extra money; the rest say it's much more helpful and precise to have the longevity.

What do you think? Did you even know you can use medical grade green soap to tattoo with? Leave your comments below.