InkLube wasn't built in a lab. It was built on a tattoo bench, after the tenth client in a week complained about the same greasy aftercare cream that made their fresh ink dull on day three.
Two of us — a tattoo artist and a formulator — were having the same conversation in different cities. The artist was tired of recommending aftercare she didn't believe in. The formulator was tired of seeing aftercare brands sell half-empty jars at premium prices using lifestyle photography and no INCI.
Tattoo aftercare had become a marketing category, not a craft. Every brand was selling the same petrolatum-and-lanolin base in different packaging, and charging $30 for the privilege. Meanwhile artists were quietly telling clients to use whatever generic body lotion was on the bathroom shelf.
So we made the cream we wished existed: 13 ingredients, all of them doing something, all of them on the label, made in small batches by people who tattoo.
"Finally an aftercare brand that talks to artists like adults. No hype. Just a jar that works."