A vegan hand poke tattoo goes beyond just using vegan tattoo ink
Vegan tattooing is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal tattoo products, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A follower of this philosophy is known as a vegan tattooer.
A vegan stick and poke tattoo goes beyond just using vegan ink. All of the products involved in the process must not contain animal based products, such as glycerine, animal bone char, lanolin or any other. The products involved in the process of a hand made tattoo and that could contain animal based substances are, the stencil paper, the ointment, aftercare creams and the ink.
If you wish to get a vegan stick and poke tattoo, these are our vegan tattoo product suggestions:
Ink
Many brands make very clear in their products and websites that their inks are vegan, Stick and Poke Tattoo Inks for example, and most inks are vegan by default, even if not marketed as such. But some do contain bone char, glycerin from animal fat, gelatin from hooves, and more animal based substances. Always check the manufacturer’s site or contact them to ask if the inks are vegan or if they were tested on animals.
Read our post about cruelty-free stick and poke tattoo kits here
Ointment
Coconut Oil, Pure Argan *butter (not oil), Witch Hazel, Dr. Bronner’s unscented, soy butter or argan butter, are some of the alternatives to vaseline. Coconut oil might also be a sealant. Witch Hazel is even good to make ink by mixing pigments with it, unless you are allergic to nuts. We recommend Hustle Butter, works great.
Aftercare product
As a jumping off point, shea butter is great for moisturizing during the healing process, if you don’t have any allergies to it. Some tattooers also recommend coconut oil to moisturize your tattoo, but others suggest that coconut oil is terrible for your healing process and don’t recommend it because will blowout your lines.
Stencil lubricant
Stencil Stuff’s tattoo stencil lubricant is vegan, and is great for longer lasting, crisp, clean, and sharper tattoo stencil transfers.
Tattoo stencils
Spirit tattoo product has a vegan thermal stencil paper. At the time of writing none of the freehand stencils are vegan and all of them contain lanolin. S8 Tattoo has a line of freehand ready vegan stencils.
If you’re seeking a vegan and cruelty free stick and poke tattoo kit or products, click here.