'A shift in tattoo culture': Why vegan tattoos are becoming the standard in B.C.
Some tattoo inks contain animal byproducts so many shops are going vegan
Growing Vegan is a multiplatform CBC Vancouver series that explores how the business of veganism thrives in B.C.
For Karen McAthy, veganism is more than just a diet — and she's got the ink to prove it. Her arms are lined with botanical tattoos, a reflection of her love for plants and the great outdoors.
The latest addition: a long fern on her left forearm.
"I spend as much time as I can in the woods, I draw botanical images myself quite frequently," said McAthy, while tattoo artist Ciara Prithipaul carefully began outlining the tattoo using an array of markers.
Prithipaul has been drawing tattoos for more than five years, and McAthy is a faithful client. The big reason she keeps coming back: the tattoos are vegan.
Vegan tattoos
Vegan tattoos are surging in popularity across B.C. as parlours adapt to growing concerns from clients over animal byproducts.
While most ink used in parlours is vegan, some products can contain bone char or derivatives from animal fat.
But Prithipaul, a former vegan, says it's not just the ink that's the problem. The artist, who uses the pronouns they/them, constantly sources out vegan-friendly versions of lubricants, tattoo aftercare and stencil paper.
"Our stencil paper, if it's not designated vegan, sometimes it contains trace amounts of lanolin which comes from sheep, and it kind of trickles down from that," they said.
Prithipaul works at Arcane Body Arts in Vancouver. The Commercial Drive shop is among the pioneering vegan tattoo parlours in the city.
Other shops, like Liquid Amber Tattoo in Vancouver's Gastown, also began offering the service regularly following requests from customers.
Prithipaul says the industry is adapting to a growing cultural shift toward veganism.
"I think there's a really strong vegan population here in B.C. and I think people, even if they're not vegan, there's a lot of awareness," said Prithipaul. "I get a lot of people asking questions about what's going into their pigments, what's going into their tattoos."
"It's a shift in tattoo culture," they added.
Rising demand
Tattoo wholesaler Hanz Ng says demand seems to have swelled over the past three years. He manages Worldwide Tattoo Supply Canada in Burnaby.
About half of the inventory shipped from his warehouse to parlours across the world is vegan.
"At the beginning it was just a B.C.-specific thing," he said. "[Now] we're getting phone calls not just from B.C., but also from the United States, the U.K."
Room to improve
But even those at the forefront of the vegan tattoo movement admit there is room to improve.
Prithipaul says inks approved for use in Canada are subject to animal testing. But changes could be on the way.
Tattoos currently fall under Health Canada's cosmetic regulations. A bill to ban cosmetic testing was introduced in the House of Commons earlier this year, and while it was supported across party lines, the parliamentary session closed before it could pass.
Vegans like McAthy hope it will become law following the federal election. Until then, she says she'll try to limit her impact on animals as best she can.
"For any ethical stance, it's going to be hard to achieve that '100 per cent-pure' spot," said McAthy. "But I think the overall idea is to try to find ways to do as minimal harm as possible."
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