What Kat Von D Would Look Like Without Her Tattoos
When "Miami Ink" first aired on TLC in 2005, not many people had heard of the vampy Katherine von Drachenberg, otherwise known as Kat Von D. As the tattoo artist quickly gained a following during her time on screen, she went on to star in another reality series, "LA Ink," and open up a tattoo shop of her own. Fast-forward several years and today, everyone knows Kat Von D for her gothic pin-up style, vegan makeup brand KVD Beauty, and her head-to-toe artwork. If you've ever wondered what the entrepreneur looks like under all that ink, you're certainly not the only one. Our team at Glam is equally curious to see what the star would look like without her signature tattoos, so we took to Photoshop to answer everyone's question once and for all.
Kat Von D's heavily tattooed appearance created quite a stir in the early 2000s. She has also found herself at the center of a number of scandals that rocked the beauty industry and her loyal fanbase, including poorly named lipstick labels and her feud with YouTuber Jeffree Star. However, the makeup mogul has turned a new page in recent years, following her decision to shut down her tattoo shop High Voltage to focus on family and other entrepreneurial ventures outside Los Angeles. To that end, you can thank our talented digital artist for helping us picture a world where Kat Von D never fell in love with ink.
Kat Von D is in her blackout ink era
In 2020, recording artist Kat Von D announced that she'd begun the process of covering her tattoos via a post on Instagram. "I had many tattoos that represented a part of my life that no longer aligns with who I am today," she explained in a later post in 2023, once the process was nearly complete. "Some people are fine with keeping these types of landmarks in time on them — I personally grew tired of waking up to them, and seeing those constant reminders every time I looked in a mirror." Although blackout tattoos are considered an outdated tattoo trend in 2024, this wasn't an issue for the famous inkster. Many fans were understandably confused about why she decided on all-black ink. In the same 2023 post, she explained how she wasn't a good candidate for laser considering the amount of coverage she required. After all, getting a tattoo removed is no easy process.
Instead of relying on laser tattoo removal, the KVD Beauty founder took an alternative route to conceal her tattoos. "I'm so happy with how this blackout tattooing by @hoode215 is coming together!" the star wrote in the caption of a 2022 post, when she was well into the process. In anticipation of all the negative reactions from fans, she also added, "Just know that I absolutely LOVE it, and it's extremely refreshing for me to see all the garbage, drunken tattoos I had scribbled all over my leg that I got before I became sober, be covered by sleekness and simplicity." Ultimately, these transformation photos are the closest fans will get to seeing an ink-free Kat Von D amid her blackout ink coverage.
Kat Von D is moving on from the macabre
The year 2022 marked a significant shift in Kat Von D's lifestyle and values. For instance, not only did the former TV star dive into the ongoing challenge of covering up all her ink — a process which requires upwards of 17 sessions and 40 accumulative hours, per her 2023 update — but she also publicly renounced all things related to witchcraft and the occult. "I don't know if any of you have been going through changes in your lives right now, but in the last few years I've come to some pretty meaningful realizations — many of them revolving around the fact that I got a lot of things wrong in my past," the "Exorcism" artist wrote in her July post. "Today, I went through my entire library, and threw out books that just don't align with who I am and who I want to be."
Fans suspect this decision has something to do with her new Christian faith. In October, 2023, Kat Von D shared a video of her spiritual journey and baptism experience. To that end, the musician has zero plans to return to professional tattooing. "I'm not as thrilled about it as I was in my 20s per se, but I still love it and I still want to be able to do it," Von D said in a 2023 interview with music producer Alex Crescioni, posted to YouTube. "I just know I don't want to do it as a job."