Solid Ink - Solid Ink

Solid Ink: The Brand That Publishes What's in the Bottle

Most ink brands list ingredients broadly. Solid Ink publishes them precisely vegetable glycerin, distilled water, and witch hazel, stated verbatim on the brand's own info page, and goes further: 100% vegan (no animal testing, no animal products), gluten-free, and no preservatives, carcinogens, reprotoxins, or mutagenic substances. That degree of disclosure is unusual in the professional ink market, and it's the reason artists who care about what they're working with reach for Solid first.

The brand's origin is that transparency impulse. Founder Federico Ferroni, a Miami-based lifelong tattooer with more than 24 years of experience, built Solid Ink because knowing exactly what went into the formula was the prerequisite for the colour system he wanted to create. His own framing: "I became obsessed with ink. I realized that creating my color system, knowing exactly what I put in it, was going to lead me to create the best ink possible." Every bottle reflects that preoccupation. The company has run from Miami, Florida since it launched, manufacturing its full line from the same facility under the Color Art, Inc. entity, founder-led, privately held, and not part of any larger industry roll-up.

Eikon picked up the line in 2015 after Montreal artists requested it specifically. It balances muted earth tones with bright traditional colours and has remained a consistent favourite among Canada's NeoTrad and Classic Japanese-style artists. Solid's full 178-SKU catalogue spans more ground than that suggests, Standard Series colours, the Black Label two-tier black system and grey wash set, the heritage Old Pigments line, and a roster of artist signature series, but NeoTrad and Japanese-traditional work is where Solid is most at home on Eikon's shelf.

Eikon stocks the 25-Colour Fundamental Set, the 50-Colour Mega Ultra Deluxe Set, and 2 oz singles from the Standard Series, plus the signature sets and Black Label products detailed below.

The Colour Range: What's on Eikon's Shelf

Solid's catalogue depth is the product of a 178-SKU range built over a decade-plus of artist-series expansions. What Eikon stocks covers the core working range plus the brand's most celebrated collaborations.

Standard Series, the colour catalogue. The core line runs more than 100 colours across 178 single-ink SKUs. Ferroni's pigment philosophy centres on organic powder pigments, a powder form, not pre-dispersed, which is the technical character behind the saturation and brightness Solid's artists describe. Artists report that Solid runs on the heavier-bodied side; the disclosed levers are the glycerin-and-water carrier and the powder-pigment form, not a published viscosity figure. Mix the bottle thoroughly before use, Solid's own care guidance, so pigment and carrier are even before you start. If thinning is needed, reach for Solid's own Mixing Solution ("The Mixer"), not tap water.

One palette note: Solid's standard Red runs orange-toned; artists routinely reach for Super Red instead, a known catalogue quirk.

Black Label a two-tier black system. Solid separates lining and fill with distinct formulations. The Heavy Black is Solid's flagship saturated fill, 3× as concentrated as the Lining Black, in Solid's own terms, built for solid fills, blackout, and deep packing where fewer passes is the point. The Lining Black is the outline-and-tribal black, calibrated for fine work without the density that makes a fill black hard to spread. The two are not interchangeable, and Solid treats that as a design feature: the right tool for each job. The 4-Colour Grey Wash Set (Extra Light, Light, Medium, Dark) rounds out the Black Label range as Solid's Western-style B&G system, pre-mixed stages for realism, portraits, and smooth gradient work.

Horitomo the Japanese-traditional set. The 12-Colour Horitomo Set is the most culturally specific thing in Solid's catalogue. Horitomo (Kazuaki Kitamura) trained under the legendary Horiyoshi III in Yokohama, taking his name in 2001, and is a tebori specialist now based at State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose, California. The 12 colours carry traditional Japanese palette names, Bengara (iron-oxide reddish-brown), Shu (vermilion), Gunjo (ultramarine), Sakura (cherry blossom pink), Kikyo (Chinese bellflower purple), Moegi (light green), Shinbashi (light blue). The 4-Colour Sumi Set is the Japanese B&G wash complement, named after traditional sumi-e calligraphy ink, and distinct from the Black Label Grey Wash in tradition and character. Horitomo's own framing: "By using Shu, Bengara, and my Sumi Set, you can invoke a very 'old world' look and feel."

Ami James Fundamentals the traditional Japanese starter palette. Ami James, owner of Love Hate Tattoo Studio in Miami, TV veteran of Miami Ink and NY Ink, and 30-plus-year Japanese-style specialist, built the 8-Colour Fundamentals set as a ready-to-use foundational palette: red, blue, green, orange, yellow, brown, purple, and white, each mixed for smoothness and authenticity of tone. James's description: "The fundamental collection is based on the simple approach to traditional Japanese tattoos. Each and every one of these colors has been mixed to give u nothing but the smoothest and easiest colors to put in the skin." The set ships in a reusable colourful bag and is the accessible entry point where Horitomo's 12-colour set is the deeper, naming-authentic option.

Max Rodriguez tropical colour realism. Max Rodriguez, a Costa Rican artist who studied at the University of Costa Rica School of Plastic Arts and now tattoos at Miami Ink and his own Studio 93 in Costa Rica, built a 12-colour set around the vivid, saturated palette of Latin American colour work. Rodriguez's own description: "A set of 12 explosive tropical colours! A little of our cheerful colours that set us apart as Latinos!" Some Max Rodriguez singles carry country-availability limits (Cadejo, for example, is not available in Canada); the full 12-set is not currently stocked at Eikon, but individual colours and select sets are available on a Pro Account.

Old Pigments the heritage line. Sold in opaque frosted bottles ("like back in the day," in Solid's own framing), Old Pigments is a 10-colour heritage line that follows the colour philosophy of what tattooing used to use. The key feature is what Solid deliberately leaves out: no raw brown, orange, magenta, or violet bases. Coffee, for example, is red + yellow + green + black; Old Brown is red + El Dorado Yellow + green + black; Traditional Orange is red + heavy yellow. The palette is built around mixing from primaries rather than base pigment shortcuts. Old Pigments singles are stocked at Eikon; the full 10-set is not currently available.

SMP Pigments by Billy DeCola the specialist line. Billy DeCola, an SMP artist, instructor, and laser technician who started at Miami Ink under Ami James, built Solid's only dedicated scalp micropigmentation line. Five colours, Black, Ultra Light, Light, Medium, Dark, tuned specifically for SMP rather than standard body tattooing. It's the only SMP-dedicated ink line in Eikon's catalogue, and the buyer is SMP-specialist clinics, not the general tattoo artist.

How Does Solid Ink Handle and Heal?

What Solid gives you is saturation from a formula built around organic powder pigments in a fully disclosed carrier. Artists consistently report that Solid goes in smooth, heals bright, and doesn't harden in ink cups, practical workability called out repeatedly across forum reviews. Solid publishes no numeric viscosity figure; the disclosed drivers are the powder-pigment form and the glycerin-and-water carrier.

On skin, Solid's reputation across its NeoTrad, traditional, and Japanese-traditional community is for bold, saturated colour that holds. That's a standing reputation built over years of use among Canada's best NeoTrad and Classic Japanese-style artists, per Eikon's own 2023 spotlight, not a published UV-stability benchmark, which no professional ink brand produces.

For Black Label work, the Heavy Black's 3× concentration relative to Lining Black rewards deliberate packing technique; fewer passes, the density is the point. For Old Pigments and standard-line colour, Solid's organic powder base delivers the saturation the line is known for.

What You're Getting From a Health-Canada-Notified Brand

Solid publishes what most brands do not. The carrier is fully named: vegetable glycerin, distilled water, and witch hazel, on the brand's own info page. The vegan status is explicit: "Vegan 100% (No animal testing or animal products use in Solid Ink)." The gluten-free declaration is one of the few allergen-specific statements in professional tattoo ink. And Solid's toxicology position is precise: the pigments are non-toxic and non-hazardous under the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200), and the formula contains no carcinogens, reprotoxins, mutagenic substances, or preservatives.

Most colours have been tested and approved by CTL lab in Bielefeld, Germany for safety and skin reactivity against European legislation on tattoo colours. "Most colours" is Solid's own qualifier, not all colours in the range, but it is third-party testing from a reputable EU lab, and it goes further than most brands on Eikon's shelf disclose.

On the Canadian side, Eikon carries Solid because it's from a Health-Canada-notified brand, and Eikon confirms that status before stocking any ink. Health Canada sets and enforces the impurity and microbial limits, lead under 10 ppm, arsenic and cadmium under 3, mercury under 1, alongside ISO 17516 microbial benchmarks, and meeting them is the manufacturer's responsibility. That's the honest division of labour: a notified brand, regulator-enforced limits, manufacturer-met.

One point of transparency about Solid's history: the brand does not publish or claim a sterilisation method. Solid's current info page relies on its OSHA non-toxic and non-hazardous framing rather than a "sterile" claim, the distinction matters in professional practice, and it's worth knowing. For client-conversation purposes, the relevant assurances are the vegan and gluten-free declarations, the third-party CTL testing, and the disclosed carrier composition. The 2018 US FDA recall of Solid's Orange colour (for microbial contamination, now long resolved) and a lot-specific 2019 recall of Diablo are on public record; sourcing through an authorised distributor like Eikon is the practical mitigation.

What to Know for Your Clients

Solid's carrier disclosure makes one specific conversation easier. Because the formula- vegetable glycerin, distilled water, witch hazel, no preservatives, is fully published, you can speak to it directly with a client who has asked. Vegan status is explicit and confirmed; gluten-free is stated. The standard caution applies regardless: vegan does not mean allergen-free, and any pigment can provoke a reaction in a sensitive client. The 24-hour patch test is the right precaution before any session with a known-reactive client.

On the Old Pigments line specifically: Blue 15 (PB15:3, phthalocyanine blue) and Green 7 (PG7, phthalocyanine green) are named as the pigments in two of the 10 colours. Both pigments are banned for tattooing in the European Union under the 2023 REACH Annex XVII update. Eikon's scope is Canada and the US, where no equivalent pigment ban applies as of 2026, so Old Pigments is available here, but if a client asks about EU compliance specifically, the honest answer is that Old Pigments is not EU-legal by design. Solid frames that as a heritage choice, and for Canada the regulatory picture is clear.

Solid does not recommend its standard line or the SMP Pigments line for permanent makeup or facial cosmetic tattooing, SMP by Billy DeCola is scoped to scalp micropigmentation only. If a client asks about PMU applications, point them to a dedicated cosmetic-pigment product line.

Get Solid Ink at Eikon

Solid Ink is stocked at Eikon as curated sets and individual 1 oz, 2 oz, 4 oz, and 8 oz bottles from the Standard Series, with Pro Account required, the blanket professional-only policy that applies to all tattoo ink at Eikon, not a Solid-specific gate. Sets range from the Ami James 8-Colour Fundamentals and Horitomo 12-Colour and Sumi sets through the 25-Colour Fundamental Set and the 50-Colour Mega Ultra Deluxe Set. Orders ship Canada-wide from Eikon's Kingston, Ontario warehouse.

Solid's specialty, NeoTrad, Classic Japanese-style, traditional Americana, and vibrant colour work, makes it a natural companion to brands with a different lane. For the broadest colour catalogue on Eikon's shelf, Eternal is the broad-spectrum anchor. For pre-mixed wash systems built for B&G portrait work, Empire is the wash specialist. For a heritage colour palette with extraordinary year-over-year consistency, Dermaglo is Eikon's continuity brand. Among the best tattoo ink brands Eikon carries, Solid is the artist-signature anchor, the brand with the concentration of celebrity-tattooer collaborations and the insider's transparency record. Setting up your station from scratch? Pair your Solid Ink order with professional tattoo cartridges from the same shipment.