Kat Von D covered up her past in an extreme way.
On Sunday (December 14), the 38-year-old tattoo artist and entrepreneur shared a photo of her massive new blackout arm sleeve on Instagram.
“Feels so good to finally cover up so many of the tattoos I got back when I used to drink. Those tattoos meant nothing to me but landmarks in dark times,” Von D captioned the post.
“Now my arm looks so nice and clean, and the portrait of my Father stands out even more,” she added.
Blackout tattoos are solid black tattoos designed to cover large areas of the body, often used to cover up old, unwanted old tattoos as an alternative to laser removal procedures.
Last year, the make up mogul received major backlash for her first blackout tattoo, also done by tattoo artist Hoode at Black Vulture Gallery tattoo shop and art gallery in Philadelphia, PA.
Knowing she’d get the same comments for her blackout arm sleeve this time around, she posted a disclaimer at the bottom of her Instagram caption.
“PS. Before anyone feels inspired to negatively criticize my tattoo, please remember that not everyone connects with the same things. I’ve been tattooing well over 2 decades and have seen so many tattoos in my lifetime that I personally would never get, yet feel happy for the wearer because it means something to them,” she explained. “I don’t think there should be room for criticism when it comes to self expression, and a tattoo is personal to the person wearing it. So thank you ahead of time for being respectful. Much love!”
Below, you can see the ink she donned before the blackout tattoos were done.
In 2019, Von D addressed the comments, concerns, and negativity surrounding her blackout tattoo decision.
“Yes, I did decide to black out a large portion of old, crappy tattoos on my arm that I posted yesterday, and regardless of what people might think about it, I absolutely LOVE how simple and clean it looks now,” she said.
“No, this isn’t bad for my health [but thank you for caring!] When done correctly, tattoos don’t penetrate passed the second dermis layer of skin. During the healing process, our skin naturally filters out any excess pigment through our pores. And no, there is no lead, plastics, toxins in the professional-grade tattoo pigments that we use. Nowadays you can even find vegan-friendly pigments that works just as well, too. No, this isn’t a lazy attempt at a coverup. It actually takes an extremely skilled artist that specializes in blacking out tattoos,” she clarified.
“Before you label something “ugly” or “horrible” try to remember that beauty is subjective. Your idea of a dream tattoo, might be someone else’s idea of a nightmare.”