Tuesday, April 24, 2012

How To Stop A Scratcher: The Synyster Ink Experiment

We've all seen bad tattoos. They're everywhere. Everyone knows someone with a bad tattoo. I'm not talking about a stupid tattoo, but a bad tattoo. A tattoo that is the nightmare of every professional and the envy of every Playboy-stealing 12-year-old thug. They vary in content from half-melted roses to crooked single-line names like "Jody" or "Tim". They're uneven, they're green, they're faded. They exist. But recently I was shown the WORST tattoos I've ever seen. The kind of tattoos that are so bad it is a health hazard to be near them, far worse even than concentration camp tattoos.

One evening my girlfriend and I were settling into bed, each of us skimming articles and FaceBooking on our phones while chatting to one another when she began to laugh. "What's funny?" I asked. "My friend just sent me a link to some horrible tattoo guy on FaceBook," she replied. She handed her phone to me to take a look. At first I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. It was real, and it was real bad. Let's go in for a closer look. What I saw were patches of traumatized skin. Not just one, but several. Take a look. 





As I clicked through the pictures I kept asking myself, "Who would do this? What person on earth is so subhuman to consider this 'work' and to pridefully post pictures of it?" With one more click, my question was answered; this guy:

Pissed off and disgusted I passed the phone back to my girlfriend and stared at the ceiling. Soon she clicked off her lamp and was sleeping soundly but I remained awake, unsettled and staring into the darkness. I wondered what I could do and all through the dark hours I remained awake, thinking of how to track this person down and put a stop to what they were doing. 

The morning came slowly and I got out of bed an hour early to revisit the images from the night before, trying to figure out who this person was, where they lived, anything I could learn about them. The FaceBook page found here, though full of photographs was anonymous. 

Throughout my morning routine, in the car on the way to work and all through the day at work I contemplated how to figure this problem out. The following is a step-by-step breakdown of how this issue progressed. 

STEP 1:
I looked at every photo, read every update and checked every comment on FaceBook. This returned only one result: a location: Green Bay, Wisconsin. That was enough for a search. 

STEP 2:
I entered a Google search query for "Synyster Ink". This returned the FaceBook page as one result, some images, a website with the same name, and a couple blog articles about the guy in the picture above. Before I read the blog articles I did a domain lookup for SynysterInkTattoo.com. 

STEP 3:
Via www.WHOIS.net I was able to look up the domain. From the registry entry I could see that his personal information was protected. This isn't uncommon for businesses that do not want to receive junk mail and phone calls. This is also not uncommon for people that wish to remain anonymous. 

STEP 4:
I checked the first blog article returned in the Google search but it provided little to go off of. When I read the second article, a comment left by a reader gave me a name. He went by the name Jeff "Synyster" Custer. It was a good start.

STEP 5:
I went back to FaceBook and did a person search for both Jeff Custer and Jeff "Synyster" Custer. This returned no results. HOWEVER, a Google search for Jeff "Synyster" Custer returned a comment left on an event page by Jeff. 

STEP 6:
Following the Google link to the FaceBook event page, I found a link to his user account. I checked the account out and it was a definite match. 

STEP 7:
I thoroughly checked all his FaceBook information and wrote everything down. I learned that he was from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin but currently lived in Oneida, Wisconsin and was employed by Zeamer's Welding. 

STEP 8:
Using www.WHITEPAGES.com I looked up Zeamer's Welding and wrote down the address and phone number of the company. 

STEP 9:
Going back to FaceBook, I saw that he at some point tagged himself at home which showed up as a pin drop on a map in his timeline. I clicked on the map and zoomed all the way in. This gave me a near-exact location (down to the cross streets) of where he lived. 

STEP 10:
I did a Google search for Oneida, Wisconsin. I learned from www.WikiPedia.com that it lied within Outagamie county. 

STEP 11:
I entered a Google search query for Wisconsin Health Department. From this search I found Wiscosin's Department Of Health Services homepage.  

STEP 12:
On the Wisconsin Department Of Health Services page I entered the search term "tattoo". This returned several results. The first result would prove to be the most important. I learned that tattoo licensing and regulation was controlled by the department of Food Safety and Recreational Licensing. From the Food Safety and Recreational Licensing department homepage I clicked the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page. This directed me to a contact page. On the page was an option to search the directory by department. At the top of this page there was a field to search by program. On a hunch I typed in "tattoo" and clicked "search". This returned the contact information for the head of the tattoo licensing department. This is when things got interesting. 

STEP 13:
Once I had the name, phone number and email address of the head of tattoo licensing I drafted an email from my personal account which included all of the information I gathered from Google and FaceBook about "Synyster Ink". I've omitted his personal information, but the rest of the email is as the original was written:


"This complaint does not need to remain anonymous. 

I am attending a licensed training facility to become a licensed tattoo artist in my state. I know the regulations in my state and have read carefully the regulations for the state of Wisconsin as set by the Department of Health Services in your state and am basing my complaint off these regulations. It has come to my attention that an individual in or near Oneida is operating a "tattoo" shop out of his home and is not in compliance with health or licensing standards. 

"Synyster Ink Tattoo" in Oneida is believed to be operated out of a home location not in compliance with business zoning or health department standards. It is also believed that the individual responsible for the operation is not a licensed artist.

His name is Jeff Custer and he also operates a website by the name Synyster Ink Tattoo located at: 


In addition to this he maintains a Facebook page which documents through photo his procedures. That link is below:


In several of the photographs there are clear violations of health standards for body art establishments as well as evidence of improper techniques and injury caused by the "proprietor" of Synyster Ink Tattoo. This is a serious complaint. I have included is all the information I have readily available. I do not know the exact location of this person but that information should be available through county records. 

Please look into this matter as it is paramount in importance for public health. Only the photo evidence can convey the severity of this situation. 

I concluded by adding my telephone number for contact. Within hours I had an incoming call from a Wisconsin number, it was the head of the tattoo licensing department.

We spoke for several minutes about my complaint and he said the information about the person had been verified and that they were taking the complaint very seriously. He personally contacted the Brown County Department of Health and Sheriff's office with the information and they were processing a cease-and-desist order which was to be to delivered to "Synyster Ink" at his residence the following day.

The following day I received an email. It read:


Thank you for contacting the Department of Health services with your complaint.  The Department has received numerous complaints regarding this individual and the Brown County Health Department has made contact with the individual and issued a cease and desist letter as well as taken enforcement action.  Thanks again for bringing this to our attention.

It worked. 

The following day I checked his FaceBook page to see if it had really worked. I gathered from his angry updates that he'll "tattoo whoever I [he] wants!" that it had indeed worked. 

I was satisfied, and though there were variables to consider about how it affected his personal life, I slept well that night. 





Thursday, March 29, 2012

Straight Up: Where NOT To Buy (REMIX)

This week Skin Candy announced that it will now be sold by Dick Blick art supply. The announcement wasn't highly publicized and wasn't even on the front page of Skin Candy's website, but rather, a brief mention on their Distributors section. They had to know this wouldn't be well received by professional tattooers. For the bums at the bottom, this is great. Now they can walk in somewhere and pay cash for supply and walk out without ever having to show a license, an ID or anything. For the big guys at the top, it's just another travesty and tragedy in their sacred trade. For the guys in the middle, the working guys, the guys grinding every day, this is a major loss.

The art and trade of tattooing has always been kept close to the chest. In ancient times rites of tattoo were administered by tribal leaders and holy people. It was highly ritualized. In some parts of the world even today the practices are guarded with little information available to the outsider. In the U.S., Canada and Europe however, tattooing is everywhere. There are shops in every city. What was once viewed as a practice reserved for sailors, soldiers and criminals has devolved into a medium exploited on every television channel, every major brand label, on the internet and in print. It's everywhere and because it's everywhere it's popular. Because it's popular people want to know about it. People don't take it seriously because it's so easy to access now. A person can get online with a credit card and in three days have an entire "shop" outfit. Now they don't even have to wait.

In addition to Dick Blick carrying Skin Candy, Sears this week began carrying a full range of tattoo supplies from Spirit transfer paper to Kuro Sumi colors all the way to full kits supplied by Element Tattoo Supply and MS Piercing, Inc.

This is a call to boycott these companies. In line with this I'm removing Element from my supply section and any other mention of them from this resource. On behalf of people seriously dedicated to the art and trade, please don't support these companies. Their only goal is to make money by further exploiting the tattoo and art industry.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Straight Up: Where NOT To Buy

I spend a lot of time cracking on tattoo wholesalers and discounters with good reason. They suck and they're almost all guilty of distributing counterfeit goods. If they aren't selling counterfeit inks or knock-off machines, they're raping the general populous by marking their products up 1000% and selling them as something more than mere novelties.

Beginners, this is for you. My frustration when starting out inspired me to do hours upon hours of research. Nobody has an endless supply of money to spend on hobbies and hopeful careers. Why waste one cent on trash? You shouldn't. Here we go.

CAST - IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

www.STARTERTATTOOKIT.com
They sell starter kits for $99. The kits include counterfeit Danny Fowler G-Series machines. Authentic Fowler machines sell for almost three times the cost of the entire kit, that's how you know they're fake. They include 15 1/2 oz bottles of counterfeit "Kuro Sumi" colors. At the LEAST Kuro Sumi Colors 1/2oz bottles cost $4.70 if you buy them in a set. $4.70 multiplied by 15 is $70.50. That's 71% of the cost of the kit. How can the company afford to give you four machines, a bunch of extra bullshit and a case if they're not selling fakes? They can't. Next.

www.ACCESSTATTOO.com
They sell "tattoo guns". Their kits include cheap stamped & bend machine frames from China and no-name ink. What's wrong with that? Well, nothing, if you don't mind pumping unregulated, untested, unsafe garbage into everyone you "tattoo". Guilty!

www.THELASHOP.com
They sell electronics, clothing, health and beauty supplies. Why the fuck shouldn't you trust them? Because your money is worth more than anything they can offer you. Move on.

www.SAFERWHOLESALE.com
Safer than what? Licking the floor of a brothel in Liberia? Maybe. They sell more of the same garbage as the other sites including counterfeit machines and counterfeit inks and they overcharge you for all of it. How do you know you're being overcharged? Because you're paying money for things that are worth NOTHING. Next.

www.BUY.com
While you're buying no-brand golf course GPS computers, camera cases and fake leather belts, why not throw a tattoo kit in your cart? You get 2 guns for only $99! Have you noticed a pattern yet? I'm pro-second amendment but I am ANTI-GUN. Pass this offer up. You'll never regret not buying from them.

www.ONLINETATTOOWHOLESALE.com
Another one. More Chinese machines. More counterfeit ink from the Philippines. More knock-off machines. More of your money wasted.

www.MONSTERSTEEL.com
They offer "hand made" machines. The machines aren't hand made. They're stamped and bent or cast out of the lowest quality magnetic metal available. Assembled by hand doesn't mean handmade. With prices around $50 per machine getting ripped off was never so cheap.

www.TMART.com
Don't do it. Don't you dare do it. Counterfeit Kuro-Sumi says it all.

www.ULTIMATETATTOOKITS.com
More Danny Fowler ripoffs and fucked off generic ink. How is this shit legal? Maybe if these companies didn't have your dollars to pay for lawyers or to buy their merchandise from overseas it wouldn't be.

At this point I need to dispense with the descriptions and assume that two or more of the following is true for the remainder of the websites listed. 1.) They sell fake ink. 2.) They sell Chinese machines. 3.)They sell Mickey Sharpz or Danny Fowler ripoffs. 4.) Your money is better spent elsewhere. Let's continue.

www.TATTOO.TIDEBUY.com
www.LIGHTINTHEBOX.com
www.SUNTEKSTORE.com
www.LUCKY7TATTOOEQUIPMENT.com
www.EACHTATTOO.com
www.QUALITYTATTOOSUPPLIERS.com
www.TATTOOKITS.com
These motherfuckers sell a straight up rip-off of a kit off Superior's site and even use their photo. 
www.TATTOODIY.com
www.PROTATTOODEPOT.com
www.NEWTATTOOKITS.com
www.BESTTATTOOKIT.com
www.DHGATE.com
www.TATTOOKITSWORLDWIDE.com
www.WHOLESALETATTOOKITS.com
www.TATTOOSKITS.com
www.PROTATTOOSALE.com
www.IOFFER.com
www.DINODIRECT.com
www.TATTOOMACHINESALES.com
www.GADGETTOWN.com
www.CHEAPTATTOOKITS.net
www.TATTOOKITS.co
www.TATTOO-SET.com
www.TATTOOSUPPLYHOUSE.com
www.TATTOO-KIT.net
www.TRADE-TANG.net
www.TATTOOKITWAREHOUSE.com
www.TATTOOKITSCHEAP.com
www.IDEALHERE.com
www.TATTOO-MANUFACTURER.com
www.TOXICTWIT.com
www.PR-INSIDE.com
www.TATTOOKITSNOW.com
www.EDMWI.com
www.CHEAPTATTOO.com
www.PIERCINGSANDTATTOOS.com
www.HOTFROG.com
www.FASHIONEZ.com


Dare I mention eBay and Amazon? 

If you're checking the sites I just listed against your Google search results, congratulations, you made it to page 10. The bad news is you just saw a whole bunch of people making a whole bunch of money of uneducated people and legitimate manufacturer's patented formulas and designs. The good news is, everything past here is garbage and you can turn back and find something good. If you still don't know where is OK to buy (where you won't be better off rolling your money up and shoving it in your pee-hole) take a look to the right of this very page under "Tattoo Supply". There are a lot of legit sellers there. Protect yourself from being taken advantage of. Don't buy cheap crap. Don't perpetuate the counterfeiters scheme of selling cheap garbage at inflated prices and using YOUR dollars to manufacture MORE cheap garbage to sell to the next person. Don't try to find a bargain. 

The best bargain is not buying cheap shit. Seriously. 


Friday, March 2, 2012

Tattoo Kits: Best Deals

Jesus. Tattoo kits. Where to start? The easiest thing would be to just say, "don't do it". There's infinite potential to get ripped off. There are [literally] hundreds of tattoo supply houses online and not all of them are on the up-and-up. Personally, you can't trust a kit. If you want everything to be the way you want it, you have to buy it piece by piece. If you feel like you just need SOMETHING...fine. Do it. Realistically the majority of kit manufacturers and resellers are shady, low-quality nameless shops with no recourse if something happens and you end up getting ripped off. From eBay to Amazon to page 50 of a Google search, you'll find absolute garbage on almost every page. So, how do you tell what's good and what's utter shite? Here's the BASICS.

Online discount tattoo supply sites (A.K.A. Scab Vendor Headquarters) offer one kind of tattoo kit. There might be hundreds of variations to choose from, but they're essentially the same thing. Machines, power supplies, inks, needles and a bunch of extras like machine lights, practice skins, ink holders, etc. Usually in excessive quantities. But this isn't what you need. If you find an "8-Gun" kit online with 40 inks and 100 needles, and the price is around $200, skip it. The ink is fake and according to one study could be contaminated. The needles are garbage and WILL hamburger your skin and everyone else's. The machines are rubbish. They're cheap, they're foreign, they're marked-up, they're unreliable and made of inferior parts and materials. Check out TATTOOTRAINING's video on YouTube for in-depth coverage on these pieces of shit.

The first thing to look at is the wording. No legitimate supply house sells "tattoo guns". "Tattoo Guns" exist in the kitchens of single-wide mobile-homes, gutterpunk squat houses, cells in state penitentiaries and in junkie shooting galleries. Legit suppliers will always call their tattoo machines just that, tattoo machines. But this DOES NOT IN ANY WAY GUARANTEE THAT THE SELLER IS LEGITIMATE. This is a point of major contention in the field of tattoo making as well as machine building. If you are an inexperienced, unlicensed scratcher you can start your road to a legitimate career by stopping what you're doing right now, getting an apprenticeship, being in total compliance with all the legislature in your state and by never, ever calling a tattoo machine a gun again. Ever. Period.

Secondly, the number or machines included in a kit DOES NOT speak for its quality. Tattoo kits with machines in excess of two should generally be passed over. The machines included in wholesale kits are without exception cheap, having only cost a dollar or two to manufacture. Because they are so cheap wholesalers can afford to add three, four, six, eight of them to a tattoo kit without impacting their profit margin. This is why you find tattoo kits with 8 machines for $200. The reason WHY you get so many machines is not because it's a good deal and the seller wants you to succeed. It's because they KNOW the machines will not last and they do not want you to complain to them when they stop functioning in a week or two, so they give you several additional machines to keep you going. This is how cheap gear will last longer. Not through quality, but through quantity. Aside from the machines being cheap garbage and the hallmark of amateurs everywhere, what's the big deal about a cheap tattoo machine? Well, you never get a chance to get used to it. Even if you manage to tune it correctly, which you probably won't since you bought 8, it will not last. Wires will heat and break in the coils, the wiring will ground or your cheap power supply will shit the bed and you'll be done. If your power supply doesn't give out, the machine will and you'll be on to the next one, never getting a chance to learn your machine. There are a lot of things which are consumables. Ink caps, bibs, tongue depressors, needles, etc. Machines shouldn't be one of the consumables in your budget. The BIGGEST deal about these cheap kit machines however, is this: the people that manufacture the crazy-colored, decorative novelty skeleton-raping-jesus-gun-penis-dead-baby-head styled machines also manufacture counterfeit machines, ripoffs of Danny Fowler's hard work, TTS ripoffs, etc. Every major brand has been duplicated and when you buy this cheap shit you're supporting people that undermine the trade and the key players. Don't do it.

The inks is another thing. I've talked about this before. You can guarantee with 99.99% certainty that all inks in big kits are fake. How can you tell? Well, you can start by reading my article "How To Spot Fake Kuro Sumi". Another thing to look at is the overall price of the kit. If you are getting 8 machines and 20 inks for $200, the machines are shit and the ink is fake. Here's why. Good inks, Alla Prima, Ichiban, Talen's, Waverly, etc. are at the VERY LEAST $7.50 PER OUNCE. Some quality inks are that much per 1/2 ounce, but that is the lowest price I have found legit ink at. $7.50 multiplied by 20 is $150.00. That would turn your $200 kit into a $350 kit right out of the gates. So watch out. No quality ink manufacturer is going to let their product go for less than what it's worth. And no wholesaler is going to pay a minimum price for something and then undersell themselves to save you money. It's not going to happen. Ever. So, are you still searching for a kit to buy?

That's unfortunate.

As much as you want to, as much as I wanted to when I started, you're just not going to get a good deal by shopping at cheap supply houses. You're going to be disappointed at the very least and on a more serious note in danger of using contaminated products. On the upside you'll have a whole bunch of cool keychains.

If it's quality gear you seek and you're licensed, please don't fuck off...please visit one of the links to the right. 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Ink Spots #2: How To Spot Fake Intenze

In an attempt to further educate buyers on spotting fake inks I've included the following video found on the Intenze Products' website.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Discount Tattoo Supplies Online: Buyer Beware.

Anyone searching for tattoo supplies has at some point come across discounted kits that are priced so low you can't not buy them.

The problem with this is that they are inexpensive for a reason. Cheap machines, low quality components, sub-standard needles and fake inks all drive down the costs of production allowing wholesalers and discounters to make a profit even with prices 70% lower than quality products.

Essentially a tattoo machine is always going to be a tattoo machine. Anything with at least one coil or rotor, an armature bar and vice will perform as it should. With cheap machines performance is really left open to interpretation and many details that make a difference in quality are overlooked. It's common for discount companies to offer machines made with cheap frames and cheap coils. Again, these parts are cheap for a reason. Mass produced parts and non precision construction are two things all cheap machines have in common. A good machine will have straight, tightly wrapped coils and proper frame angles and measurements. On one machine I purchased to check out the coil posts were so crooked that the armature bar only made about 40% contact with the front coil. This is a loss of machine efficiency by at least 60% assuming there are no other problems. If you buy ten machines for $20 a piece, even if you're lucky enough to find a perfect one it still won't perform as well as a properly made $200 machine.

But the machines are the least problematic aspect of a discount kit.

Another area discounters cut corners is in their needles. Pricing for needles is already low. Aside from gloves, caps, bands and machine and cord covers your needles are the least expensive pieces per unit for a tattoo procedure. How discounters acquire cheap needles is simple. They contact manufacturers and offer to buy their seconds needles. Seconds are needles that did not meet quality standards for any number of reasons. This could be that the groupings are slightly crooked on the bar, that the points are blunted or even that the needle didn't pass sterilization in blister packing. The companies agree to sell these seconds needles to discounters leaving it up to them to use their discretion about which needles to sell. Usually, they sell all of them. In one box of such needles I noted that out of 100 needles 36 (seriously) of them had needle groupings with blunted points and five were visibly misaligned on the bar. That is a 59% usability rate if there are not other problems. The needles are then put into a kit and (usually) shipped from China, a journey that will subject them to hot, cold, jostling and possible further damage.

The ink used in discount kits is almost always a counterfeit name brand or a very poor quality house brand. These inks aren't sterile and a study done by ERMA in New Zealand revealed that discount inks from China were contaminated with lead. That article is included below.

Tattoo Ink Potentially Contaminated - NZ Herald

To make you think you're getting a great deal they'll throw in a whole bunch of other stuff like practice skins, machine holders, cap holders, clip on lights and so on. You can guarantee those are inferior products as well.

In short, discounters don't care about you or who you're tattooing they of care about money and they'll give you low quality supplies to increase their profit margin.

It is far better to spend extra money on quality goods than to cut corners. If price is an issue keep in mind that you do not need ten machines and all the other stuff included in those discount "pro" kits. You need two machines, a power supply, a good switch and clip cord and the other obvious stuff like ink and caps and needles. Every legit tattoo supply house in America offers a kit with everything you need at a reasonable price. I've taken the guess work out of finding legit supply spots and produced a list of well known sellers to check out. Just look to the right of this page.

If you're after cheap supplies, keep in mind that everything cheap is cheap for a reason.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Ink Spots #1: How To Spot Fake Kuro Sumi

"Fake is as old as the Eden Tree."
-Orson Welles

Not too long ago Dave Muller published an article to help buyers spot fake Kuro Sumi Color ink bottles. As a supplement to his article, which you can read here, I "invested" in a set of fake Kuro Sumi Color from a known counterfeits distributor to compare the authentic with the fakes. What I've come up with is an additional article with some more in-depth measures to spot fakes and avoid purchasing from counterfeiters. I highly recommend you read Dave's article before you read this.

#1 - Avoid Discounters
The absolute best way to avoid purchasing counterfeit Kuro Sumi inks is to avoid purchasing from discounters or wholesalers such as TMart.Com, TradeMe, DHGate.Com and TheLAShop.com. These sellers commonly buy counterfeits from China or the Philipines and sell them at discounted prices to entice unknowing buyers to purchase these items thinking they are getting a good deal.

These kinds of discounters and wholesalers commonly sell other counterfeit goods as well, from electronics to name brand clothing and sports and outdoors gear. Use common sense. You wouldn't buy tattoo ink from a hotdog vendor, why would you buy it from a sporting goods and electronics wholesaler?

If you find Kuro Sumi on the net for much less than you find it from legitimate tattoo supply houses like Technical International Tattoo Supply (who is the official distribution center and trademark owner of Kuro Sumi), it is highly likely that your colors are not authentic.

I've included a list of known counterfeit distributors. All of the sites listed below are perfect examples of the 7-Color shrinkwrap style color set, which you will read about shortly:


#2 - Neck
If a picture of the bottle is included, look at the neck. Neck spacing between the shoulder of the bottle and the cap on 1/2 oz. bottles of Kuro Sumi Color is about 2mm, enough to see the curve between the shoulder of the bottle and the bottom of the cap. If the bottom of the cap extends all the way down to the shoulder of the bottle, it is likely a counterfeit.

Blacks and graywashes do come in 12oz bottles. All 12oz bottles will have a raised Kuro Sumi emblem on the neck. If your bottle of black or wash is missing this, it is definitely a fake.


#3 - Size
Kuro Sumi Colors are not available in 16oz, 12oz or 8oz sizes as they are often advertised by counterfeiters. Kuro Sumi Colors are only available in 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz and 4oz bottles, but in no way does that mean all 4oz, 2oz, 1oz and 1/2oz bottles are authentic. Counterfeiters go to great lengths to deceive buyers and have done remarkably well in their attempts to duplicate Kuro Sumi's products and  packaging. Always check all the points mentioned in this article.

#4 - Packaging
If your ink arrives in heat-shrinked plastic packages of 7, it's not authentic. All Kuro Sumi Colors will come in Kuro Sumi white box packaging bearing the Dragon Logo cutout and Kuro Sumi stamp. Pigments will arrive in a plastic tray in the box, not in rows in heat-shrink plastic.


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#5 - Number Of Inks In Package
If you are looking on discount tattoo supply websites and think you've found a good deal on an authentic Kuro Sumi Color set, check to see how many bottles are included in the set. Commonly, counterfeit Kuro Sumi will come in packages of 6, 7, 14, 16, 22, 28 and 35. Be particularly aware of the 28 and 35-Bottle "Complete Color" set. Kuro Sumi Color's complete line has 59 colors, not 28 or 35.

#6 - Pigment Names
Check the back of the bottle for the names. Kuro Sumi Colors have unique proprietary names such as "Tsunami Blue" and "White Rice Mixing". The Kuro Sumi Color chart with all ink pigment names is available here.

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Fake Kuro Sumi bottles will have names like "Lime Green" and "Snot Green", some of them even misspelled. I've included a full list of fake Kuro Sumi Color names below. Note that all misspellings are directly copied from the bottle and not a mistake on my part.

White
Silevr
Platinum
Tribal Black
Black
Coco
Medium Brown
Light Brown
Dark Purple
Lavender
Violent Violet
Koolaid
True Magenta
Rose Pink
Bright Red
Dark Red
Tomato Is Red
Bubblegum Pink
Shallow Pink
Flesh
Carols Pink
(I'm assuming this is supposed to be Coral Pink)
Blue Sky
Sky Blue
Country Blue
Golden Yellow
Deep Yellow
Lemon Yellow
Lime Green
Mustaed
Snot Green
Dark Green
Light Gerrn
Grasshopper
Sea Foam Green
Forest Is Green

#7 - Lot #
If your inks are all from LOT#KCTB10822 they are not authentic. This is because when the original label was copied attention was not paid to this detail. The dates of manufacture will be different by a year or more in some cases but the lot number will always be LOT#KCTB1022

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#8 - C.I.#
A C.I.# is a pigment constitution designation number. It essentially tells you what the primary pigment makeup of an ink is. Check the back of your Kuro Sumi Color bottle for a C.I.# If the number is C.I.#74160 it's possible that your ink is counterfeit. C.L.#74160 is the data for shade green Phthalocyanine Blue. Ink colors such as yellow, red, pink and especially white have no Phthalocyanine Blue pigment in the ink. Check a bottle of each color class of your Kuro Sumi Color to make sure the C.I.#'s are not all the same, as they will not all contain C.I.#74160. This is another mistake that was made when the original label was copied for duplication. The counterfeiter did not take into consideration that the C.I.# is a pigment indicator and that it will be different depending on what kinds of pigments are in the ink. This is a dead giveaway.

#9 - Drying
Original Kuro Sumi dries like a very shiny thin film gel. Fake Kuro Sumi Outline inks dries powdery. To test this, squeeze a couple drops onto a paper plate and allow it to dry overnight. When you check it the next day, scrape it with a fingernail or key tip. If it flakes off or is dusty, it is not genuine.

#10 - Separation
All inks will separate over time. A good shake before use will fix that problem. Ideally, an ink should stay mixed throughout a tattoo procedure and not separate in the ink cap during tattooing. A good way to find out if you've got a fake ink is to shake the ink bottle and let it settle. See how long it takes to separate. If it's at or over an hour, that should be ok. If it's under 15 minutes chances are it has a high alcohol content and is a counterfeit ink.


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There are two main reasons not to support counterfeiters or buy fake ink. The first is a health and safety issue. A lot of counterfeiters are based in China and the Philipines. That's not to say that these countries are not able to produce quality products, but it is to say that they do not have the kinds of regulations and restrictions about what can and cannot go into products like we do in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Europe and other parts of the world. In October in 2010 the New Zealand Herald published an article after a report of contaminated tattoo ink was released by ERMA. The ink, purchased from TradeMe.Com, was tested and was shown to contain metals known to be hazardous to humans. That article is here.

The second is that producers of legitimate and quality inks such as Intenze, Millenium, Starbright, Kuro Sumi and many others have patented formulas which they closely guard. These are not known to be hazardous and strict guidelines are met to ensure that only the highest quality pigments are produced. These colors are the property of the originating company and they deserve to be paid. Their inks aren't just a necessity in the tattoo industry, they're a service. Counterfeiters do not deserve to make a profit off of selling inferior look-alikes and do a disservice to the entire industry and endanger unsuspecting buyers and anyone they tattoo with counterfeit ink. 

For further reading on fake inks, check out this article from Hildbrandt Tattoo Supply.