Most people feel all they got to do to get a vegan tattoo is to ensure the tattoo ink is vegan. But there’s more to it than what meets the eye. Mumbai-based George D’souza who just opened India’s first 100% vegan tattoo studio speaks to VeganFirst and takes us on a step-by-step tour on how to get a 100% vegan tattoo.
“There are a lot of myths around getting a vegan tattoo. Most people think that to get a vegan tattoo, all they need to ensure is that the ink used is vegan. But other items used while inking tattoos have to be free of animal-derived ingredients as well,” he informs.
Razor Blades
The first step involves use of razor blades to remove hair on the area of skin where you want to get a tattoo. George informs that most razors aren’t vegan. “Most razor blades have a monster strip which contains gelatin that’s derived from animals”.
Tracing Sheet
The second step is use of stencil used to design the tattoo design. “In the second step of stenciling, the tracing sheet that is used generally has lanolin that is an animal-derived product made from animals’ hooves,” informs the Mumbai-based tattoo artist. Talk your artist and check for the same.
Petroleum Jelly
It’s no industry secret that the petroleum jelly used for lubrication to get a tattoo inked contains animal-derived products. Throwing light on the same, George says, “For decades now, the tattoo industry has been using vaseline for lubrication purposes. Vaseline is made up of animal-derived beeswax from bees and gelatin.”
Ink
No surprises here. There are plenty of inks available in the market, many of which contain animal-derived ingredients like bone char, glycerine and gelatin. Bone char is added to inks to increase pigments. That said, tattoo inks devoid of animal-derived ingredients are flooding the market.
After Care Lotion
Most often, vaseline or petroleum-based lubricating products containing beeswax are used as after care lotion for the skin. So speak to your artiste and ensure the lotion to be used is free of animal deviates and not tested on animals.