We vegans can be an expressive and passionate lot. And a number of us, like any number of
any grouping of people, like to express that passion with visual representations in the
form of tattoos. Of course, given that we often express our passion for animals, it’s
important to ask, are tattoos vegan? Well I can tell you one thing- if they’re not…
...this is going to be quite awkward.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Being vocally vegan
and amply tattooed, the question of tattoos’ vegan-ness is posed to me quite often.
Though still not as often as where I get my protein.
My tats have also inspired some of the more
creative personal attack comments on my channel like “I don't like your tattoo, it's not
sexy at all! For a lady to have all this tattoos, it's just ewww. I'm a vegan my self, I don't
find you as an inspirational person at all!” and “Tattoo ink contains bone char and animal fat.
But hey, as long as you're not eating dead animals, it's all good, right?”
Now that last one has a point- in some instances. And maybe the first one does too.
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
If you want to know more about my personal tattoos and their significance, check out
my vegan tattoo tour in this video. And, just to let you know- I’m hoping to get my leg
piece finished at the end of May after over a year of waiting, so I’ll be sure to take
a camera with and to show you the process. Stay tuned for that.
So, what is it that makes tattoos not vegan? What do we vegans need to look out for and
is it possible to get a 100% vegan tattoo? And how do you find a vegan tattoo shop or artist?
Let’s find out!
First off, a little about tattoo ink: Tattoo ink is formed from a pigment, which gives the
ink its color, suspended within a carrier solution. The pigment is usually derived from
plants or metal. Now what my astute commenter was referring to with the bone bit of his
comment, however, is black ink, also called “bone black” which can- but doesn’t
always- contain charcoal and soot derived from the charred bones of animals.
Now the suspension in which this pigment is…well…suspended keeps the ink evenly mixed and aids in the
ease of application. Carrier solutions generally contain purified water, ethyl alcohol, propylene
glycol and glycerine and may also contain witch hazel. For vegans, it’s the glycerine
we have to watch out for. It can be either from plants or from animal fats depending on the company.
Aside from bone char pigment and glycerine carrier solutions, there are other animal
bits in tattoo inks to keep an eye out for.
Some inks also use gelatin, which is extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues
of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish, and shellac a resin secreted
by the female lac beetle.
So what’s a vegan to do ink-wise? Well, luckily there are plenty of vegan inks on
the market, some of which have the bonus of being non-toxic. I’ve supplied a list of
vegan ink brands on the blog post for this video along with other resources and links
for further information. You can find the link to the post itself in the video description
below or in the sidebar right there.
Outside of the ink itself, other elements of the tattoo process can be animal-laden.
Many artists use Vaseline or petroleum jelly during tattooing to help their tattoo machine
glide more easily over the skin. Petroleum jelly itself can by and large be considered animal-free,
although it’s a byproduct of the oil industry, which is a bit concerning, and the Vaseline
brand itself can contain bone char depending on the country and definitely is tested on animals.
There are a number of alternative that you can use to lube up your skin during your session,
but of course it will be up to the individual artist as to whether they are comfortable
using them. Options I’ve come across were shea butter, jojoba oil or olive oil.
Personally, my artist just dry runs on me and it works out just fine.
Another lovely element of tattooing is that you get to be shaved by another person.
This can be an issue for vegans, or people with boundary issues, but that’s for a completely
different reason, because disposable razors may contain a glycerin “moisturizing strip”
and are by and large almost always tested on animals. Which doesn’t really make any
sense…but then again, what element of animal testing does?
So, as an alternative to the animal fat-lined razors that you can always shave yourself prior
to coming with your own cruelty-free razor like the lovely Preserve brand and/or bring
it with you. If you really want that stranger-shaving-you-in-public experience.
If being shaved by another person wasn’t invigorating enough for you, they will also
partially bathe you by soaping up the area to be worked on. Most shops use what’s referred
to as 'green soap'- presumably because it’s green. However, the Vegan society has not
been able to get confirmation from green soap producers as to their glycerin sources and
potential animal fat content, and the information online is highly conflicting.
The best alternative I’d recommend for this is Dr. Bronner’s soap, the baby mild kind
ideally. It’s hypoallergenic and tattoo friendly. Just grab some and bring it with.
One lesser-known hidden animal product in the tattoo experience is the lanolin in transfer
paper, which comes from sheep’s wool. If you’re not sure what the big deal is about
sheep’s wool, be sure to check out this video.
You see when you get a tattoo, unless you have a badass freehander, your artist will
draw the image out on what looks like tracing paper and apply it to your glistening moist
skin to leave an outline to follow. This allows your artist- and you to work out ideal positioning
and allows you a bit of a preview.
Luckily there is a vegan transfer paper out there by ReproFX. You can ask your artist
to order some if they don’t use that brand or be a dear and purchase some form a tattoo
supply shop online. I have links to that as well in the blog post for this video.
So now that we’ve gone over the whole process, what about aftercare? Many aftercare lotions
and ointments include beeswax, lanolin, like A&D ointment, or cod liver oil. There are
plenty of vegan aftercare alternatives, which are also listed in the blog post for this
video, again down there and up there. What I tend to do is dry heal for the beginning
and once it gets to that really nasty, flaky, itchiness, I’ll use some organic coconut
oil for moisturizing.
So there you go- the whole tattoo process from start to finish. As for finding a vegan
tattoo artist, I’ve included a list of vegan tattoo shops on the blog post- there are more
and more cropping up all the time- but with this video guide, you can get a vegan tattoo
at any shop. Just work with your artist and air on the side of providing as much as you
can to make it less of a hassle for them. A lot of time you’ll find artists are already
using vegan ink without really knowing it as a lot of the vegan ink brands are highly
used and respected.
Now I’d love to hear from you- do you have tattoos? If you’re vegan, did you know about
the animal products within the tattoo process? Have you found your ideal artist? What ink
are you sporting? Let me know in the comments.
If you liked this tatted-up video, give it a big thumbs up and share it around to help
other vegans looking to get inked. If you’re new here be sure to hit that big red subscribe
button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays.
I would love to have you as a subscriber.
To help support Bite Size Vegan in continuing the mission of effective vegan education,
please see the support links in the video description below or for perks and rewards
for your support, click on the Nugget Army icon there or the link in the iCard sidebar.
Now go live vegan, get inked up, and I’ll see you soon!
Let's pull up some other gems real quick.
'How could you desecrate your body like that with all of that nasty-ass ink?'
'Don't you know that there are animals in tattoo ink you ___ hypocrite?'
There was a nasty word in between "you" and "hypocrite."
'I can't listen to anything you say because I'm so distracted by your disgusting tattoos.'
'I just can't take you seriously advocating for animals and stuff...'
They used a good word there before the "stuff."
'...because your gnarly-ass tattoos contain the bodies of the animals that you say you love.'
Subtitles by the Amara.org community