Within the vegan world, there are several opinions on what exactly a vegan is and what it should or shouldn’t look like. Many individuals choose to be vegan for the animals or the environment while some make the switch for their health. The common factor that links these reasonings together is elimination of animal proteins from their diet.
The White Gloved Vegan philosophy is a positive reinforcement zone and encourages others to reduce their animal protein intake at whatever level they feel comfortable with. Vegan for any reason is our motto! So now that we have explained that, let’s discuss the topic at hand…vegan tattoos.
“it’s better to burn out than fade away”
Over the past decade, tattooing has only increased in popularity and truly has transformed itself as a form of self expression. They are so popular that if you don’t have a tattoo, you are looked upon as unique.
So now the question stands… are vegan tattoos a thing? Most definitely yes and if you’re a tattoo addict like Alex then it’s best to find out what type of ink is being used to express your creative outlet.
The tattoo on Alex’s left wrist is his heartbeat + longitude/latitude coordinates of where he blacked out from lack of blood going to his brain due to a 99% blocked LAD artery. A great reminder to live life to its fullest!
Alex has been getting tattoos for roughly ten years and I on the other hand am that “unique” blank slate. We always go to his tattoo appointments together because I have the lovely title of being the “approver” for his sometimes far fetched ideas haha. As we were chatting with his tattoo artist about our vegan diet, we were surprised to find out that there is such a thing as vegan ink. We were both pleased and relieved to know that this particular artist uses all vegan ink and solutions (because the solutions can be non-vegan as well). You truly have to be so cautious because it seems like they sneak animal products into everything these days…so frustrating!
City of Buffalo’s skyline. Alex is the founder and co-owner of a Buffalo-based company, Inthebuff716.
So whether you follow a plant-based diet or not, I would think that you care about what goes into your body and if you are getting tattoos on a regular basis, it’s definitely important to find out what type of ink is being injected into your body’s systems.
Non-vegan ink contains animal products such as bone char, shellac from beetles, gelatin from hooves, and glycerin from animal fat. Are you throwing up yet? Even if you’re not vegan, this is alarming and not something anyone would like injected into their body a trillion times.
“Forget your lust for the rich man’s gold, all that you need is in your soul” -Simple Man, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Good news is that there is vegan ink and after-care products so you can avoid that mess completely! Here is a list of our recommended products:
So next time you get the itch for new ink, ask your artist if their ink is vegan and if he/she can’t tell you, then at least it can start an interesting conversation and bring more awareness to the vegan world.
If you know of any additional vegan tattoo products, let us know in the comment section below!
All of the pictures above are of Alex’s tattoos and if you’re local to western new york, they are all done by Casper’s Eternal Ink.
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy
