Ultraviolet ink conceals tattoos for day jobs

MILWAUKEE — In most workplaces, it would be almost impossible to notice anything different about Caitlin Sabel's wrists.

Look at them under a black light, though, and the words glow. Then, in an old-English font, her left wrist reads "regret" and her right "nothing."

Sabel has an ultraviolet, or UV, tattoo. Like the tattoos she has of the Egyptian god Anubis on her calf, paw prints on her back or her nickname, Cat, on the inside of her lip, Sabel's wrist inking would go unseen in a workplace that might frown upon such displays of individuality. That's because it was done with white ultraviolet ink that can't be seen without a black light.

"Some jobs frown upon tattoos that are visible," said Sabel, who paid $80 for the tattoo in February 2005. "I wouldn't want to have to cover them up all the time."

The UV tattoo ink, which has been on the market for about five years, has become more popular in the past year, said William Scherbarth, who owns the Electric Ink tattoo parlor in Columbus, Wis. His customers ask for the ink to both hide tattoos in regular light and to add extra touches to designs done with traditional tattoo ink.

The ink glows only under black lights, which are often present at dance clubs, raves and concerts.

"They like that they can go ahead and get a dragon done on their arm and have the UV ink put into the eyes or into the flames from the mouth," Scherbarth said. "When you put them under the light, they almost look neon. They're very brilliant."

Another tattoo artist who does UV tattoos, T.J. Rappel of Needle Freaks parlor in Menasha, Wis., said he often uses the ink on existing tattoos.

"Say you have some glowing rays or a glowing halo that might look cool with more neon color; we can do that," Rappel said.

Like Sabel, 20, who works third shift at a ShopKo and attends classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College's Mequon campus, some of Scherbarth's customers have UV ink drawn on their hands that can't be seen without using a black light, he said.

"I do a lot of knuckle names," he said. "They tend to like it. It's something that's hidden."

Some artists are reluctant to use the UV ink because the product is still relatively new to the market, said the editor of the trade publication Tattoo Artists Magazine, who calls himself "Crash."

"Who knows what that stuff's going to do?" he said. "It could be 10 years or 15 years before we know what the results and effects are going to be."

Scherbarth declared his ink safe.

"A lot of old-school tattoo artists are stuck in their ways," he said. "They trust what they trust, and they won't take a step forward."