I've always been a huge 'Divine' fan. He was so iconic and so ground-breaking, especially for the time that he was around, because he was not only breaking barriers in the regular world, just being openly gay, but in the drag world as well.
— Kat Von D
I love how me deciding to not continue doing 'LA Ink' turns into being 'cancelled.'
People love our triple-milled, super-high-pigmented soft supermatte formulas.
I already know what it's like to make life choices that are not the same as the majority.
We have been reformulating anything that had carmine in the past, and if we can't reformulate, we just throw them out. I can live without a purple eye shadow. It's fine.
I try my best to try to respond to people, especially through Twitter.
Sephora has always been the best, in the sense that they love me for me and that they let me be me. That's the coolest part. I think that's why the products are great - because there's a sincerity and authenticity.
I don't care how many followers you have, but if you're executing amazing makeup, and you're working day to day in the makeup world and really changing the makeup world, to me that qualifies as a pro.
Years of cultural programming have taught us to love some animals while eating others, when in all reality, all animals are sentient beings with the capacity to feel, both physically and emotionally. Every day, I have the choice to live a life of compassion that not only saves animals but helps the environment.
The idea of bringing color into the Super Brow collection was really inspired by seeing all our fans and followers posting colorful eyebrow pictures using our liquid lipsticks. I think that's really cool because you know, the formula, although it's not designed for the eye, it can work on an eyebrow.
I'm a stickler when it comes to every aspect of my line. My development team probably hates working with me sometimes... but in a good way. I think that I push them to a certain degree to create something that's going to withstand the test of time.
I shop everywhere from Maxfield to antique stores. I love Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, and I love vintage. Golyester has the best selection of mint things and dead stock. I collect 1940s to 1970s platform shoes, and that's where I got a few of my best ones.
Music has influenced everything from my tattooing to how I talk to how I walk, I guess. I was classically trained in piano since I was 6. Then in my teens, my older sister introduced me to Metallica. It was all over. I had a mohawk soon after that.
I have my go-to products. It's hard not to come off very self-promoting, but the truth is, I don't make any product that I don't personally wear. In terms of things I can't live without, my Lock-It Foundation and my Featherweight Primer set the groundwork for my makeup.
I can do a lot in 30 seconds. With Tattoo Liner I can do eyeliner, eyebrow, and, if I want to get creative, a lip look, too.
You don't have to get married and have a family, like a lot of women try, to live the American Dream. There's nothing wrong if you're in your 40s and don't have kids and are president of your own company.
I love Better Than Sex Mascara, and Shadow Insurance Eye Primer is superawesome.
I feel like Too Faced has always followed the same ethics as Kat Von D Beauty. They've been cruelty-free and really vocal advocates for anti-animal cruelty, and that's something that's such a deal breaker for me.
My own father flipped out on me when I told him we decided to ditch our doctor and go with a midwife instead.
If you give me an eyeliner, I can create 40 looks with that - whether it's liquid or pencil.
When I was a kid, to me, all women that I think were beautiful always tend to be ethnic of some sort. To be honest I think it's the eyebrows - the powerful, strong eyebrows.
I've always viewed makeup as the gateway drug to animal activism. It really doesn't require any sacrificing or changing anything other than just replacing products that were once used to torture animals with ones that perform just as well and are cruelty-free.
My pro program is going to reach out to more than just the people who have had the luxury of going to makeup school. Personally, when I was a kid, I couldn't afford that. That doesn't mean that they can't be at a professional level.
The decision to make Kat Von D Beauty cruelty-free was easy and simple. Sure, my products won't sell in China because of my decision, but if it spares an innocent animal from a life of torture, that is completely worth it in my book.
I like dramatic and crazy, weird, ridiculous eyebrows but I know the majority of people don't do their brows like me.
I don't care what people think about me. When I look in the mirror, I wanna like what I see.
You can tell my mood by my makeup. When I'm depressed, it's really dark. Then I'll do super-dumb happy makeup. Like, I'll do one eye electric blue and one smoky brown, and you won't even figure it out until you're talking to me - then you're like, 'Whoa!'
I tend to be attracted to darker scents. I'm not a floral girl. But I do like this old fragrance I used to wear called Versace Red Jeans. I have an eBay alert that tells me when it comes back! I think it's more of a nostalgic association that I have with it because a boyfriend had bought it for me when I was, like, 16.
My nighttime look is exactly like my daytime look - like I'm going to a super fancy funeral. I guess it would be considered extreme to most people, but I like it that way. The idea of conventional beauty isn't attractive to me... that's why, when I was growing up, I felt kind of torn about makeup.
I look up to people not necessarily based on what they look like. For example, Edith Piaf is somebody I think is a beauty hero even though she was definitely considered to not be beautiful. It was just her charisma and stage presence, and to me, that really defines beauty.
As grateful as I am to have been a part of a show like 'LA Ink,' I'm ready to end this chapter and want to focus on other projects now.
I think Too Faced is the yin to my yang. When you look at Kat Von D beauty and Too Faced and put them together, they look like complete opposites, but there are tons of similarities.
The funny thing is that I've known since I was 7 years old that I was never going to have kids. I always imagined myself as this worldly, traveling gypsy lady.
I knew the minute we announced our pregnancy that we would be bombarded with unsolicited advice. Some good and some questionable - unsolicited none the less.
The artwork on my packaging was something I painstakingly micro-managed - for example, I treat it like a tattoo, taking into consideration the muscle structure and seeing were the line lands on the existing body.
Interaction with fans is super important to me. I have the best fans ever. They're always the most creatively charged people. I've saved every single piece of fan mail that I've ever gotten. We have an archive of it and stuff. I think if I can inspire that, then it's like my job is done.
I feel like most people know that I'm a vegan, and I'm a pretty vocal animal activist. Everything and anything I do, I just kind of use it as a vehicle to be able to send out the message.
Natacha Marro has always been a favorite shoe designer, and now she has started offering vegan options in her collection, which is brilliant! As for clothing, I have discovered tons of great vegan independent designers on Etsy!
There is no point in developing anything at the cost of exploiting and abusing animals. Not only is it important for me to create a 100% cruelty-free brand but also send out a very clear message to both consumers and companies out there: testing on animals in the name of beauty is cruel and unnecessary.
For 'Brow Struck', I really wanted it to be able to create natural-looking brows. So we found this really innovative formula that has a very specific type of shimmer that has a reflectiveness to it. Eyebrows are not naturally matte, so the point of this formula is to really mirror that.
I think a lot of women want to be, like... 'I'm cool with stretch marks and my body changing.' To be honest, I thought I'd be a lot cooler with it, but I'm struggling with my weight gain. I know I'm healthy... but I was expecting to not be as affected by it... I'm self-conscious.
I never let people see me without makeup. And it's not an insecurity thing. The perk of being a girl is being able to wear makeup and dress up. It's another artistic outlet. And the 45 minutes it takes me to get ready... is very therapeutic for me. It's hard to start my day without that.
If I want to do a smoky eye, I tend to focus more on the eyeshadow versus the eyeliner to avoid looking like a Duran Duran album cover. And if I do a smoky eye, I'll probably do a nude lipstick. I tend to fluctuate between reds and nudes.
Selling a lifestyle - whether it's a brand or an Instagram post - which teaches not just girls but people that your value is defined by what you look like is the most appalling thing that I could think of, especially as a woman.
As far as skincare goes, I'm from the school of 'you are what you eat.' I always promote a vegan lifestyle, not just because it's great for our environment and for humanity, but because if you cut out dairy, for example, there's scientific proof that it can actually help your complexion.
