I judge people with obvious tattoos. And yes, it’s true, even I have a hypocritical tendency: I have a discreet patch of ink that is only visible when I go to the beach (or if I really like you). But when you encounter people with full tat sleeves and a Technicolor rendition of Bob Marley on their chest as they’re sitting useless on the wall at Venice Beach, you do start to wonder whether they were ever cut out for anything else.
Cue Kat Von D. The mistress of the Hollywood tattoo trend — who has personally etched such upstanding citizens as Steve-O, Lady Gaga, and that guy from Nickelback — parlayed her local notoriety into a television career as the star of TLC’s reality show L.A. Ink.
More recently, she’s turned her entrepreneurial sights on producing makeup for Sephora. And this is where eagle-eyed Deceiver reader Raquel spotted something a little peculiar: Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer, an “oil-free, long-wearing formula makes blemishes, dark circles, tattoos, and imperfections disappear” that is “perfect for any occasion that calls for a flawless look.”
Honestly, I can’t tell if this is hypocritical or merely brilliant. Kat Von D spends a good chunk of her time getting famous by promoting tattoo art, then offers punks with ill-advised ink an easy way to mask the impact of their bad decisions. She gets them at both ends. I’m just waiting for the Kat Von D Pocket Laser Treatment.
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Hmmm, I’m thinking brilliant. Wish I could think of a business where I get their money coming in and going out… oh wait, the government has a monopoly on that, I forgot.
I’ve got to go with brilliant on this one. She’s not saying tattoos are bad. She’s just giving people a workable option to cover them up if they need or want to, which is fair enough. Sure, some of us just have our tats done in discreet areas, but if you are a walking billboard, being able to conceal that tat of an 8-ball on your forehead will do wonders in helping you find a job.
Just a good option – something to mask a tattoo. It doesn’t mean it’s not there; you just cannot see it. Like the Oxyclean stuff – that wine is still in the carpet, and that betadine still in the flask, but you just can’t see it – which is an effect you can live with. Too bad the cigarette companies cannot offer something to mask the effects of lung cancer – you still have it, but it doesn’t make you sick anymore.
I’m leaning toward “brilliant” myself, but I’d have to reserve judgment until someone can provide testimonials on how well the stuff works. If you slather it on and wind up with only slightly-blurred tattoo outlines, then meh.
Brilliant?? Then that means Kat didn’t come up with the idea, it was put in front of her and she eagerly signed the papers to promote it. This is the same Brianiac who was fired from Pushing Ink for basically not wanting to do her job and refusing to Tattoo celebrities she didn’t really like. Crack the books on that shop and her name will be listed as partner with limited access to funds and decision making. Drop the show and the funnel of money from the cable network and watch business dry up and the shop fail.
Brilliant! She does the ink and if some sap goes for a job interview at some non-tat friendly establishment, they can cover up to fit in. Hooray for her!
Heheh I agree, this make-up is for the job interview, then on the first day of work you show up with leopard spots all over your face. X-D
But I can’t imagine that the thick caked on make-up can look that swift either. Anyway, this isn’t so cutting edge a product, there has been a good make-up for people with birthmarks for a while now.
I think that if any commenter gets a deceiver logo tattoo and posts a photo, they should get some free stuff.
Embarrassment and shame are free.
I would seem that Sylvester McMonkey McBean,
Has new competition for his stars-off machine.
Now all the best Sneeches can wear sanskrit and stars,
And concealer for thems who grow tired of thars.
Hey, come on, not every guy’s momma is going to approve of that fabulous set of @$$ antlers on your lower back.
But then the question is why are you wearing something that shows off your plumber’s crack to family dinners?
Brilliant.
“why are you wearing something that shows off your plumber’s crack to family dinners?”
Stop on by next Thanksgiving!
Why, if you’re such a maverick that your self-expression literally shows up on your own skin, would you then want to turn around and cover it up? I guess I’m just elderly, because I don’t get it. Is it a matter of not having the courage of your convictions, or is it simply wanting your personal life utterly separate from your job? Because if it’s the latter, then would you also abstain from discussing any of your presumably awesome off-hours chemical and sexual escapades at work?
Somebody ’splain it to me. I’m all unmarked and wondering, over here.
I think it’s hypocritical, similar to cigarette companies shilling smoke-be-gone perfume or teeth whitening products. If you’re so ashamed of what you’re doing in the first place, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it. I know, I know- they’d probably say tattoos are only unacceptable in old white man society areas, and shouldn’t be so stigmatized. But really, you have to know that they are when you get one.
Yup, getting money from both sectors. Brilliant.
Actually, tattoos aren’t even non-conformist anymore. The nursing homes will be full of patients with ‘em in a few more years down the road.
Yup, getting money from both sectors. Brilliant.
Actually, tattoos aren’t even non-conformist anymore. The nursing homes will be full of patients with ‘em in a few more years down the road.
Should write good post. Can’t wait to reading your next one!
I think she’s brillant – sometimes tattoo’s aren’t appropiate and need to be covered up. I wouldn’t say it’s hypocritical, it’s sensitive to other people’s needs or wants. So why not make money off of people’s delicate sensibilities?
I don’t smell hypocrisy here, unless you’re prepared to also condemn all makeup companies that also sell makeup removers.
Wait, I’m confused. The lady tattoos people and she’s famous? Well I guess that’s one step up from Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. She actually has a job.
i can’t wait to see what this woman looks like when she’s 65…i’m thinkin’ she might regret those stars on her face and the vine on her neck, so it’s a good thing she’s developing a line of concealer.
Brilliant! I have a tattoo below my collar bone, easily covered with clothes except for special occasion stuff, so if my friend doesn’t want an inked bridesmaid on her day I can cover it up with makeup. I don’t know how her stuff works, but any properly applied pancake and powder will cover small, lighter tats. If you have the battle of Trafalgar reenacted on your back it may not work, but at least the bridesmaid behind will get a history lesson.
Makeup isn’t permanent.
The day I became a believer
I got a tattoo on my beaver
It’s a D and a star
It sure lowers the bar
It’s the logo of the blog deceiver!
Hey man don’t be so mean, it’s just make up. I’m with the above poster regarding inked up bridesmaids. My Grandma is cool about mine, doesn’t mean other peoples are, or that I regret my tatts, just that its nice to have the option. I lived in South Korea for ages where only criminals have tatts and I got some crazy looks from old people, some cover up would have been nice. Does covering scars mean your ashamed of your past? or covering freckles mean your ashames of your childhood? no it doesn’t.
StrawberryGirl – I think I can speak for JRod, Pasta and myself, the sluttier the girl the better…who gives a damn what mama thinks!
I believe this is a smart move on her part. This woman obviously knows what it takes to conceal a tat. Now only if she could come up with “idiot concealer – the product that will conceal your inner idiot.” I am sure it would be a big seller in L.A.
I like tats. I have four – four that I can conceal when I want to or show off when I want to, and I don’t care about showing them off most of the time because I don’t need anyone’s approval and any job I’ve ever had where skirts were a normal form of dress were very cool to the one on my ankle if they even noticed it at all. That’s the hardest one to hide and nude panty hose obscure it enough to where you wouldn’t notice it unless you were looking for it. I think that most of society is cooler with tats than they were when I got my first one. I’m lucky that I wouldn’t need a concealer for my tats just because I thought it through before I got mine.
That said, there are people that don’t think it through or think it would never matter. Eventually, there will come a time when that person would be in a situation in which concealing the tat is the sensible thing to do. It’s not necessarily regret. It’s practicality.
Some have complained that Kat probably had nothing to do with the formulation of this product other than slapping her name on it. Well, even if that’s the case, which is surely is, fine. I would just hope that she did it because the product accomplishes what it sets out to do. If she’s putting her name on it, given that she’s a tattoo artist, I would like to think that she has the knowledge and experience to push the product that covers a tat more seamlessly than the average foundation.
Hypocritical to the boot. Where would this woman be without the tattoo art? She built her whole career and business(es) around it. And now she is marketing a tattoo concealer to her customers? All of a sudden the tats are not so great looking and need to be concealed? Whatever keeps her pockets lined, I guess.
What D said.
I live in Japan, and only the yakuza (J-gangsters) have tattoos. You *must* cover up tats to go into public places like hot springs or public baths. They also won’t allow people who’ve been inked in sporting events, and the old stand-by of band-aids isn’t allowed.
Not only that, but the tattoo “artist” may have sucked, so it’s not necessarily for someone to cover up her work, or for her to cover up her tats.
A tattoo is just a mullet you can never cut.
And what this product is really like is a massive push-up bra – you pick up a gal with apparently great cleavage and clean skin, but after she undresses… *FLOOMP* the boobs are down at the knees and she’s got “Tyrone’s” written on her ass.
Minnow, excellent analogy! I wish I still had that book – bought it 30 years ago – great social commentary, that story.
Joan’s limerick may be one of my top five comments posted here, ever. I like it so much I might get it tattoo’d on my back.
i like tattoos and i have 2… one on my wrist and one on my ankle. i would say its brilliant because like i’m sure its been stated here, it would be useful for a job interview or something. all of my family doesn’t know about my wrist tattoo and when i get married, i may not want my wrist tattoo to show on my wedding day. so i could just cover it up for a day without having to go through the expensive process to remove it all together, because i still love it
I looked up her concealer reviews on sephora…a lot of people complain…apparently, it’s not so good. And doesn’t conceal that much…if anything. People mostly use it to conceal blemishes and undereye circles, not tattoos.
P.S. Did I mention I have no life?
“Why, if you’re such a maverick that your self-expression literally shows up on your own skin, would you then want to turn around and cover it up? I guess I’m just elderly, because I don’t get it. Is it a matter of not having the courage of your convictions, or is it simply wanting your personal life utterly separate from your job? Because if it’s the latter, then would you also abstain from discussing any of your presumably awesome off-hours chemical and sexual escapades at work? ”
Well, Beige, I can explain it like this. I’m heavily tattooed. I also work in a professional office environment. My covering my tattoos has nothing to do with being ashamed of them, or of who I am; I respect that my job asks for a certain level of decorum, and I try my best to show it. They’re not the totality of who I am, nor do I have anything to prove, so I don’t care if I have to slap on a little makeup for important meetings or wear long-sleeved shirts. I am who I am regardless of what markings I have on my body. I’d rather be known as the smart, hard worker rather than the girl with the tattoos, but that doesn’t imply any sense of shame or humiliation. I’d just be an idiot to ignore the prejudices that are present in the workplace.
Also, I don’t take drugs, and I’m a serial monogamist in a 3-year-long relationship. So, uh, yeah, I’d abstain from talking about those things. I don’t do them. Not everyone who’s tattooed is a pot smoking slutbag.
*applause for Tracie* I think you explained the tat thing better than anyone else has been able to.
Tattoos are no longer something you can associate with sailors, hookers, and bikers. That time passed over twenty years ago when my generation put them in the mainstream. They are not all you are (I forget I have them sometimes), and they don’t have to be in bad taste, though some admittedly are. But then, that is up to the individual.
Because of certain attitudes, as well as the fact that some people who have tats that might be offensive in certain situations (think – the half naked blonde on the forearm at a christening), I think that it’s a good product to have out there. Having a tattoo artist endorse it, if the reviews Nati looked up were right, don’t necessarily mean it works, but if it did, I would rather take the word of someone who knows tattoos than someone who doesn’t.
Tracie–I didn’t mean to imply that “everyone who’s tattooed is a pot-smoking slutbag”, but I can see how my post came across that way, because I was sort of going for the Grumpy Old Lady mode. Sorry. My younger sister, a happily married suburban housewife, has a (self-)pierced navel, so I probably should have known better.
I seriously didn’t get why you’d (the editorial “you”) get tattoos, then cover them up, but you explained it well.
I have a son who has the full sleeve tattoos on both arms and his back is nearly filled. He lives in another country and it is startling every time we see each other. He is a little more colourful. He is also 6′ tall and 225 pounds. Lean and mean looking and the tattoos don’t help. He is also clean living, works hard and is soft hearted to animals and people alike. Many cannot see past his the colourful art work on his skin and he was hurt and dismayed by some comments – especially the ones from family members. He has since toughened up and only smiles when someone makes a snide comment. Will he regret having all this work done in later years? Maybe but at least we know Katt has product for him, Hope it comes in a 45 gallon drum.
I think the whole thing with the product being called “tattoo concealer” was more of a slightly misleading name gimmick (Kat von D shills a concealer makeup product? She’s a tattoo artist? Why not call it “tattoo concealer”? Brilliant!) than anything else. I have yet to find a one-step product that will completely cover a reasonably dark and/or large tattoo; it may be a great concealer, but there’s a BIG difference between covering up some acne or dark circles and covering up a tattoo.
The only thing I find hypocritical is that her whole shtick seems to be about being a “Hot Tattooed Chick” and -I would assume, since I’ve never seen her show or the show she came from- promoting the idea that tattoos can be beautiful and artistic (which I agree with, btw), but that having a “flawless look” includes being tattoo-free.
From Chuwah: … but that having a “flawless look” includes being tattoo-free.
Well, that’s why the grandkids and I use the stick-on kind.
I would do anything to have mt tattoo removed. I mean, I guess I could pay several thousand dollars, but I won’t. Isn’t there some kind of magic voodoo, hoodoo thing I can do? Hey it’s rhyming day . Is that okay?
Any body want a peanut?
The day I’d get a tattoo is the day I decide I never want to change my clothes.
“This polyester leisure suit and plaid bell-bottoms are PERFECT! I want them grafted onto my skin for the rest of my life!”
Since I put my foot in it while ago–and surely not for the first or last time–let me try to clarify. When I was working (outside the home), my colleagues spent most of every Monday and Tuesday discussing their weekend adventures. None of them were visibly tattooed or pierced.
They were, in fact, more white-bread than anyone else I’ve ever seen, including myself.
My assumption was that someone bold enough to get a tattoo that showed in everyday life, was also bold enough to do some other not-so-white-bread things. It wasn’t an indictment of anyone with a tat as skanky. There are definitely some skanky tattooed people, but most of the skeevy people I’ve met are blank-skinned, as far as I know.
LOL, Beige, you just reminded me of an interesting story. As you and everyone here know, my family is Cuban. Old school Cubans are of the mindset that the only women with tattoos are prostitutes. When my mom found out about my first tat, which scandalously, is on my upper thigh and depicts a small cutesy demon in a diaper and Indian headdress (looks better than it sounds), she had a fit and screamed, “What happens when the man of your dreams sees that and leaves you?!” to which I replied, “Then he’s not really the man of my dreams, is he?”
Well, after she got used to the fact that I was tattooed and ended up with three more, on a family trip back to Ocala, the first thing Mom’s identical twin showed her was the new tattoo on the back of her shoulder. Now, if my mom is old school, my aunt was always doubly old school. She married at 17, had her first kid at 18, second at 19, and has been a churchgoing housewife her entire adult life. My uncle is the most conservative Missouri country boy you can picture. After Mom got over the shock of seeing her sister inked, my uncle rolled up his sleeve to show her his freshly inked forearm. At that point, my mom’s world completely gone bizarro, she actually apologized to me for her outrage after I got the first one.
I just re-read that and realized that it’s not the same unless you know this cast of characters, but I had to share. My mom and aunt are these Barbara Eden look alikes that dress in a very preppie way, and my uncle is one of those guys that I have never even seen in shorts.
Hee! CM, that’s fantastic. I probably could never get a tattoo myself because I’m one of those people who would go nuts when it finally sank in that it was permanent. I can’t even wear bright nail polish; it distracts and almost mesmerizes me. It’s like being a magpie.
LMAO, Beige! I have never had tattoo regret, and even promised my grandfather on his death bed that I would cover the one on my ankle with a fighting cockerel. I still have to do it when time and money allow, and when I find a good artist in the UK. I forget I have tats sometimes because they are just a part of me, but when I happen to catch a glimpse of one of them, they make me smile because each one has personal meaning. My husband, on the other hand, would never get one for the reasons you’ve stated, though I am happy to report he has not tried the nail polish theory.
As for nail polish, I hate doing my nails, but I do them every few days because I always decide I wanted “that other color” instead. And it passes the time on those evenings when hubby is playing squash and I am watching my Hindi language soap opera. If I concentrate on subtitles, I won’t be tempted to ruin drying polish.
“a small cutesy demon in a diaper and Indian headdress (looks better than it sounds)”
My sister did a big blue Disney character on her boob (looks worse than it sounds).
Ouch, Minnow. Just. Ouch.
I’ve never been fond of the boob tats. I don’t like to draw attention to them, first of all, and secondly, once you start sagging…you get the picture. I actually walked in on my mom in the shower, accidentally on purpose before I got inked (not sordid in a house full of women), and took note of where she wasn’t saggin’, draggin’, and otherwise full of stretch marks and avoided getting tats there.
I hope like hell my mother never sees the previous post.
Heh, and eww. I wish I hadn’t seen it, either.
Too funny, Chronic.
My only comment when she happily showed it off was:
“Wait 30 years and that donkey will really be depressed.”
LMAO!!!!!
Hypocritical, Who is she to judge. Besides Bob Marley tats and anyone who gets them are ill.
hola
1rst_ Sorry for my english but i’m not talking it every day.
2nd_ This article is… poor. Has no sense, no coherent, nothing. Kat is a very good artist and all his team too. I agree with Les Paul and opinions in the same way. But make an article like “Ooooh kat is covering their tatoos!Or selling some shit for covering them!!” Whats that? You want us to think she don’t like her work or something? I don’t know who wrote this article but, well, I think what I’ve write. It’s poor.
Art is great. I love ur work, for EEEEVEEER. Maybe some day i can get a kat tatoo…quiet difficult… lol but i’ll try….Oh!! And maybe i’ll need this shit for cover them too, cause of work and stuff like that….. xxxx Elke
Peoples fascination with tatoos is beyond comprehension don’t you all realize tattoos just look a mess ? Tatood people remind me of a wall that has been covered in grafitti, it all blends into one big mess.
I have never in my life seen a tattoo that can be identified as to what the hell it is from just a few feet away, all that effort to create fine art in the form of tatoos that 99.9% of the people who see it on you would not be able to differentiate what it is from some random patterns a monkey could have done becuase no one other than someone who closely examines your tatoos can see anything more than a greenish, bluish splodge !! I would challange anyone to describe what kate of LA Ink has tatood on her arms and body I have watched that show many times and I still have not been able to make out any of her tatoos. Everyone who gets tatood ends up looking identical to everyone else that has tatoos, a person with a bunch of greenish bluish splodges all over them !!