Ashes Tattoos Near Me

Getting An Ashes Tattoo Near You

It’s become very popular to have a tattoo done in memory of someone you’ve lost, a memorial tattoo, but you can now go a step further. With Cremation Ink ®, the ink itself contains a small amount of your loved one’s ashes, professionally infused into the pigment in our UK lab. Tattooists all over the world use our tattoo ink with ashes to create unique commemorative tattoos that keep someone close to you for the rest of your life.

The “near me” part of that question is simpler than people realise. Wherever you are in the world, you can use your local tattoo artist to do your ashes-infused tattoo, knowing the ink is safe and built to produce a beautiful tattoo. Bright, vibrant, lasting, and your loved one with you at all times.

Behind the scenes, this works because we operate as a UK-based third party. The legal side is covered in detail on its own page, but the short version is that we do the regulated work the studios can’t do themselves, so your local artist just opens the bottle and tattoos you with it the same as any other professional ink.

Other Things You Can Do With Ashes

Before we talk about the tattoo itself, it’s worth knowing that ashes infused into tattoo ink isn’t the only option people choose. Some families do several. Here are the ones we hear about most:

• Fireworks, where a small amount of ashes is placed inside a rocket and launched into the night sky
• Oil paintings, with the ashes mixed into the paint for a memorial portrait
• Glass sculptures, where the ashes are rolled into molten glass during forming
• Diamonds, where ashes are compressed and heated into a lab-grown diamond (an expensive option)
• Vinyl records, with a small amount of ashes pressed into the vinyl
• Pottery, where the ashes are worked into the clay before firing

Memorial jewellery is another popular choice. Instead of scattering or storing the ashes in an urn, many families place small portions into specially made pieces (rings, lockets, pendants) that they can wear daily and pass down through the family.

None of those options are wrong. The right one is the one that genuinely feels like your loved one. But the reason so many people end up at our door is that a tattoo carries them on your own skin, every day, for the rest of your life. None of the other options do that.

Cremains Tattoos

A cremains tattoo (also called an ashes tattoo or a cremation tattoo) is just a memorial tattoo done with ink that has your loved one’s ashes infused into it. The difference between a normal commemorative tattoo and a cremains tattoo is the ink. Yours contains a small amount of your loved one. Theirs doesn’t.

Once you’ve decided to use Cremation Ink ®, the next step is finding your artist. Look for someone with a strong portfolio, particularly healed work rather than just fresh shots. Healed work tells you what the tattoo will look like once it’s settled into your skin for the rest of your life. Good artists are proud to show you healed photos.

Ashes Tattooists Close To You

With Cremation Ink ®, getting an ashes tattoo done locally is easy. We do the professional preparation of the ashes (removing the contaminants that still sit in cremation remains, then sterilising and infusing them into the pigment), and you take the finished ink to your local tattoo artist to do the memorial tattoo you’ve been thinking about.

Whether you want something small or a larger piece, our prices include enough ink to tattoo a whole forearm. And because what your artist receives is a professional tattoo ink bottle, the bottle can comfortably be used for several family members at the same artist’s discretion, the same way artists use any of their ink across several clients. One bottle, multiple tattoos, with your loved one in every one of them.

Ashes Tattoos: Keeping A Loved One Near You

Many people cope with deep grief by finding ways to feel connected to the person they’ve lost. One of the most popular methods is honouring them through a tattoo that keeps them close in a real, physical way.

People use our ashes tattoo ink to remember pets and people. We see designs for parents, partners, siblings, grandparents, children, dogs, cats, horses, every kind of loved one a person can lose. There’s no rule about who deserves a memorial tattoo. The only rule is that they mattered to you.

If you’ve lost a pet specifically, we have a dedicated dog ashes tattoo page for that side. And for human loved ones, there’s a human ashes in tattoo ink page that goes into it in more depth.

Will They Be With Me Forever?

Yes. A tattoo is permanent, and with Cremation Ink ® the ashes are matched to the pigment so they’re truly part of the ink, not just floating in it. When you look at your tattoo, your loved one is with you, every time.

The ink itself is strong and vibrant and built to last. It handles UV better than many cheaper inks, so the tattoo stays bright after healing and doesn’t fade the way poor-quality ink does. Done by a good artist with our ink, your tattoo will be with you for the rest of your life, with your loved one woven through it.

If you’d like to read more about the process at our end, the process page walks through it step by step.

Why Cremation Ink ®?

The reason families come to us, and the reason tattoo artists across the world recommend us to their clients, comes down to a few things.

This is the only service that genuinely connects you to your loved one in a permanent, physical way. That’s why we sit at the top of this very bespoke field, and why we work with clients from every corner of the globe.

Our process makes sure the ashes and the tattoo pigment are truly compatible at a molecular level, then bound together so your tattoo really does contain your loved one rather than just a few specks of ash floating in pigment.

We’ve been doing this for over twenty years. The lab, the protocols, the care, and the respect for what we’re handling have all been refined over thousands of clients. You can read more about who we are on our about us page.

“Thank you for looking after my father’s ashes and keeping me informed every step of the way. It has meant a lot.” — J Monroe, NZ

When you feel ready, you can order your inks here. We’ll send out a kit, walk you through it, and look after the rest. Or if you’d like to talk it through first, contact us and we’ll be happy to help. Your local tattoo artist takes care of the design, your loved one stays with you, for life.

Can I get an ashes tattoo near me?

Yes, wherever you live in the world. Cremation Ink ® is a UK-based remote service that ships finished ashes tattoo ink tracked and signed for to clients on every populated continent. Once the bottle arrives at your address, you take it to whichever local tattoo artist you trust most. The “near me” part of the search is whichever tattoo artist is near you, the specialist part is already done by us in our UK lab before the bottle reaches them.

Do I need a specialist artist for an ashes tattoo?

No. The specialist work is the lab preparation of the ashes, and Cremation Ink ® handles that entirely off-site. The bottle that reaches your local artist is a professional, sterile, ready-to-use tattoo ink, so any good local artist can use it the same way they would use any other quality ink on their shelf. No special training required at their end.

Can my local studio just mix the ashes themselves at the appointment?

Any reputable tattoo studio would never put raw ashes straight into an ink pot and tattoo them into a client. A tattoo studio is not built for the careful lab work involved in safely preparing cremation remains, and doing this work in a studio is not safe for the client. Cremation Ink ® was founded specifically to handle that preparation in our UK lab, so the bottle reaching your artist contains a fully prepared, safe, ready-to-use ashes tattoo ink with no extra risk attached.

How do I find the right tattoo artist for an ashes tattoo?

Use the artist you would already trust for any other tattoo. Spend time on their healed portfolio in particular (healed photos tell you what the tattoo will look like for the rest of your life, far more than fresh shots do), choose someone whose style suits your design, and tell them you will be bringing prepared ink from Cremation Ink ®. Most artists worldwide are familiar with us, or will look us up.

How much of my loved one’s ashes do you need?

About a tablespoon per bottle of ashes tattoo ink. Anything Cremation Ink ® does not use in the infusion process is returned to you alongside the finished bottle, so the urn at home is not emptied and nothing is wasted.

Can one bottle be used across several family members?

Yes. The Cremation Ink ® bottle is a professional tattoo ink bottle, so at your artist’s discretion it can be used for multiple family members in turn, the same way artists use any of their inks across several clients in a normal week. One bottle, multiple memorial tattoos, with your loved one quietly carried in every single one.

How much does an ashes tattoo cost in total?

There are two parts. The Cremation Ink ® ashes tattoo ink itself is reasonably priced and includes enough ink to tattoo a full forearm, with tracked worldwide postage included. The tattoo itself is priced by your local artist, since every artist charges differently. A small design can often be done for under £100, with larger or more detailed pieces costing more depending on size, placement and complexity.

What else can people do with cremation ashes besides tattoos?

A surprising amount. Fireworks, oil paintings, glass sculptures, lab-grown diamonds, vinyl records, pottery, jewellery, biodegradable urns that grow into trees, and scattering at a meaningful spot. None of them are wrong. Many families combine options, with a small portion of ashes used for the Cremation Ink ® memorial tattoo and the rest used for one or two other tributes.

Will the tattoo fade over time?

No more than any other quality professional tattoo. The pigment Cremation Ink ® uses is high grade and built for the long term, with strong UV resistance, so your tattoo stays bright and clear after healing and lasts the same as any other quality piece.

How long does the whole process take?

Once your loved one’s ashes arrive at Cremation Ink ®, the finished ink is usually ready within five to nine days, depending on how busy the lab is at the time. We then post it back to you tracked and signed for, anywhere in the world. From there it is just a matter of booking your local appointment.