Any vegans know about tattoos?

Tattoos and aftercare products are not necessarily vegan I've been finding out. Most inks contain glycerin, which can be either animal or vegetable derived (But of course, they don't have to state) and black pigment is often times made from bone char. And landolin (made from sheep wool) is rampant in most aftercare products.

So I was wondering, does anyone know what ink brands and aftercares are vegan-friendly?

 

I'm pretty sure starbright is vegan. It is a good quality ink that holds color well. My artist is vegan and he uses starbright. Most inks that are vegan will say "vegan" because its a selling point. Find an artist who already uses them or ask an artist if he'll order them for you. It is likely he'll charge you a fee if he has to order them because they obviously cost him money.

As far as aftercare products go, I just use dial soap in the shower and plain old unscented oatmeal suave body lotion. I don't know what lotions are vegan, but whatever you already use is probably fine as long as its gentle an doesn't have alcohol. Everybody is different, so aftercare will vary, but my philosophy is to keep it clean and dry, put lotion on if it itches, and NOT mess with it. This method has worked well on all my 50+ hours of tattoos. I've never needed touch ups and the ink stays really well.

Hope that helps

 

I did a search for starbright ink and vegan, and ALF forums was one of the sites that came up. If the ALF-types use it, I can make a pretty good guess that it really is vegan. They tend to be fairly "dedicated"

Thanks for your help.

 

Thanks for posting this question. I've been wondering the samething about tattoo ink. I want to get another one but I'm not sure cause I'm not sure if it has any form of animal stuff in it. Last time I got one was 7 years ago (give or take). That was before becoming a vegetarian. Hopefully we can get a clear answer on it. I think I might have to call around some tattoo parlors around here and see. Also peak around on the internet and see if I can find some vegan ink. Yeah, I might do that first than call around and see if any tattoo parlor uses that ink. I don't know I'll figure it out.

 

A friend of mine got what she called a ''Henna" tattoo which is temporary and derived from plants. She lives in the phillipeans and Im not sure if they are found around here but I guess you could check if you were interested.

 

What about the ants you could kill walkin' down the street man?!?

 

I knew what Henna was, but I didn't knot it was plant-based (And it turns out, "Henna" is the plant its made from). But that won't work for me. I know its odd, but I feel their is something wrong with temporary cosmetic changes (hair-dye, makeup/coverup, etc.) so the idea of temporary tattoos bothers me too. But thanks for pointing it out.