Fusion - Fusion

Fusion Ink's Defining Strength: The Gradient System for Colour Realism

The broadest use for Fusion Ink is tattoo ink that does two things well at once: cover the full working colour spectrum and give you a structural tool for managing tonal value without cap-mixing. That combination is what makes Fusion the line to reach for when blending precision is as important as colour breadth.

The Fusion Gradient System is the differentiator. It is the only line in Eikon's ink catalogue built around pre-mixed tonal progressions; each base colour ships as four cuts (Uncut, #3, #2, #1) that step from 100% base pigment down to a 25/75 base-to-white ratio, plus Uncut White and Cut White for highlights and fine-line mixing. Eleven base families cover Black, Blue, Bright Red, Dark Red, Green With White, Green With Yellow, Magenta, Purple, Brown, Orange, and Yellow. You pick the family, pull the cut that matches your value target, and the blend is already done. The tonal logic is built into the line rather than rebuilt in every cap.

The Gradient System was also the first line Fusion reformulated for the coming US MOCRA requirements: glycerin and IPA have been replaced with medical-grade ethanol, and pigment load has been increased. Eikon badges these SKUs "MOCRA Compliant" in product titles; read that as a formulation-readiness signal for shops auditing their catalogue ahead of those regulations, not a product-level certification (MOCRA has no such cert; it operates through facility registration, product listing, and safety substantiation). It is the most procurement-forward line in the Fusion range and the one to reach for if MOCRA readiness is already on your checklist.

For colour realism, illustrative work, and any technique where consistent, repeatable value transitions are the job, Fusion Gradient System is the structural answer. It eliminates a variable, the in-cap dilution step, and replaces it with a pre-engineered progression you can trust to be the same bottle to bottle.

Eikon stocks individual Fusion Gradient System SKUs in 1 oz. The complete 42-bottle boxed set is not in Eikon's catalogue; individual families and cuts are available as singles.

The Colour Range: From the 60-Colour Foundation to Signature Palettes

Fusion Ink's main 60-Colour line is the working foundation, a full professional colour range that covers primaries, secondaries, skin tones, earth tones, and neutrals. The "Power" prefix colours within that line, Power Black, Power Blue, Power Brown, Power Green, Power Purple, are the high-saturation tier: uncut, maximum-pigment-load bottles built for packing colour without dilution. Ben Kaye, the New Zealand realism specialist who has used Fusion exclusively for more than six years, describes Power Black as "liquid gold! Smooth solid black." The "Mixing" prefix colours are formulated specifically for blending into other hues rather than standing alone.

The 5-Colour Flesh Tone Set is Fusion's dedicated skin-palette line: Extra Light, Light, Medium, Dark, and Extra Dark, five separately identified SKUs that run distinct from the Light Flesh, Dark Flesh, and Foundation Flesh shades inside the 60-Colour main line. Realism artists building complexion work or portrait gradients use this set as the starting point, often extended with signature-palette additions for specific tonal needs.

For black-and-grey work, the 5-Colour Greywash Set gives you five pre-mixed stages (Extra Light through Extra Dark) in a dedicated bucket; Greywash holds its own top-level navigation on Fusion's own site, on equal footing with the single-bottle, colour-set, and signature-artist sections. It is Fusion's answer for B&G artists who want the convenience of a pre-mixed value range within the Fusion ecosystem, without the deeper architecture of the Gradient System.

On the signature side, Eikon stocks a focused selection:

Rick Walters Signature Palette (8 colours): an American Traditional working palette developed by Rick Walters, who ran Grimm's World Famous Tattoo on the Pike for 25 years. The palette, Basic Black, Blue Bird, Crimson Red, Eagle Brown, Ole Yellow, Phthalo Green, Smokey Gray, True Purple, is the eight-bottle vocabulary of old-school work. The line is posthumous; Walters passed in 2019, and the palette is handled accordingly.

Ben Kaye Signature Palette (10 colours): Kaye's stated working palette skews toward muted, portrait-friendly tones (Banoffee, Burnt Caramel, Honey Gold, Jade, Pearl, Dark Matter, Rouge, among others), built for the realism work he describes as "tattooing is my life and honour." He supplements the set with main-line Fusion colours for full coverage.

Eikon also stocks individual signature bottles from Mike Cole, Roman Abrego, Juan Salgado, Deano Cook, Shige, and Jeff Gogue, a range of palettes across bio-mech, colour realism, Japanese, and illustrative work.

Eikon stocks the 60-Colour Set, the 12-Colour Sample Set, the 5-Colour Flesh Tone Set, the 5-Colour Greywash Set, and the Rick Walters 8-colour set. Individual Gradient System bottles and individual bottles from the signature palettes listed above are available separately.

How Does Fusion Ink Handle on Skin?

Artists report Fusion as a workable mid-range ink, the consensus framing is "medium thickness, easy to put in," flowing smoothly for both fine line work and filling larger areas without flooding. That is attributed artist and forum perception (tattooing101.com Fusion thread), not a brand-published specification: Fusion's SDS lists viscosity as "no data," and no brand Eikon carries publishes a viscosity figure. What Fusion does disclose is the carrier composition; the main 60-Colour and signature lines use water, glycerin, witch hazel, and isopropyl alcohol; the reformulated Gradient System replaces glycerin and IPA with medical-grade ethanol. Those carrier differences are the disclosed drivers of working feel, not a thick-or-thin label we can assign as a fact.

Fusion's own positioning is built on a high pigment load and the saturation that comes from it, "much higher pigment load than any other ink on the market today," in their words. That is a brand marketing claim, not a third-party-assayed measurement, and we don't repeat it as Eikon's fact. What forum reviewers independently describe as "bright" and "killer pigments" is consistent with a line that earns its place in professional studios on result, not on promotional copy.

One practical note from artists who run Fusion across long sessions: the ink can dry in caps over time. Bringing it back with mixing solution, glycerin, or distilled water is straightforward. Its consistency also cuts readily for custom greywash work if you want a diluted base rather than the pre-mixed Greywash Set.

Fusion publishes CI numbers in its SDS, titanium dioxide (CI 77891) and carbon black (CI 77266) are among the named pigments. What Fusion does not enumerate is a per-SKU ingredient block, so for a specific colour's full pigment list, the SDS is the right starting point rather than the product page.

A Vegan Professional Ink With a Clear Track Record

Fusion Ink is completely vegan, no animal-derived ingredients, confirmed across the brand's own materials and its distributor network. Like all tattoo ink at Eikon, it is from a Health-Canada-notified brand: Eikon verifies notification before stocking a line, and 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, with the manufacturer responsible for meeting them. That is the honest division of labour: notified brand, regulator-enforced limits, manufacturer-met.

On the quality record: there is one FDA event on file for Fusion, a November 2017 voluntary recall of five colours (Royal Blue [Glycerin formula], Light Blue, Pretty Purple, Gamma Green, Orange) across multiple bottle sizes, for microbial contamination. It was a manufacturing-hygiene event, not a formulation issue, and no subsequent Fusion-specific FDA recall has been surfaced. No banned-pigment issues have been publicly identified. That is a single, resolved event in a line that has been operating since 2009, the kind of quality precedent that is honest to name and straightforward to assess.

Fusion grew out of a lineage worth knowing: Adam Everett, a pigment chemist since 1995, founded Fusion in 2009 after bringing a signature recipe to Eternal Ink in 2004. Three of the most recognisable working-ink brands in North America trace back to that same pigment lineage.

What to Know for Your Clients

Because Fusion does not publish a per-SKU ingredient block, a client with a documented pigment sensitivity needs the SDS rather than the product page as the first reference. The SDS is available; its CI numbers give you the named pigment families for the disclosed shades (TiO₂, carbon black), and the product pages carry a link. For a specific client concern, that is the right document to pull before booking.

The standard patch-test guidance applies to Fusion as it does to any professional ink: vegan does not mean allergen-free, and any pigment can provoke a reaction in a sensitive client. Fusion's SDS does not classify the product as a skin irritant or sensitiser, but the 24-hour patch test is the precaution regardless of the label.

A note on pastels and lighter colours containing titanium dioxide (CI 77891, named in Fusion's SDS): TiO₂ is a general lightening pigment that can yellow and lighten under prolonged UV exposure. That is a category-level caveat across any TiO₂-heavy pastel range, not a Fusion-specific verdict, but worth naming with clients whose work includes a lot of pale, mixed pastel tones.

One practical note for aftercare conversations: as with all professional tattoo ink, heavy petroleum-based occlusives applied too thickly in the first week can macerate a fresh tattoo and cause some pigment softening. Lighter breathable aftercare is the standard advice regardless of brand.

Fusion does not publish explicit warnings for PMU or pregnancy on its public-facing pages. If a client asks, the SDS is the document to check; the answer should come from there, not from general assumptions about the line.

Shelf life: 12 months from opening, consistent across all Eikon Fusion SKU descriptions.

Buy Fusion Ink at Eikon

Fusion Ink at Eikon covers the main 60-Colour line, the Gradient System (individual SKUs), signature sets, and dedicated specialty packs, all sold to verified professionals on a Pro Account, the blanket professional-only trade policy that applies to all tattoo ink at Eikon. Orders ship Canada-wide from Eikon's Kingston, Ontario warehouse.

If your practice is primarily black and grey, Empire Inks is the dedicated greyscale specialist, a pre-mixed wash architecture purpose-built for B&G portrait and dark realism. For a palette centred on heritage colour consistency, Dermaglo is the line artists reach for when the priority is a stable palette that does not shift year to year. Fusion is the broad-colour working ink with the structural shading advantage, the line to standardise on when the Gradient System is the workflow you want, or when you need a credible full-spectrum professional colour range at fair value. Setting up a full station? Add professional tattoo cartridges to the same order from Kingston.