Category: Fashion and beauty

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Sugar & Vice: All Things Nice

Things&Ink met up with Sarah, owner of jewellery brand Sugar & Vice to talk tattoos, inspiration and pizza…

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How did you get into jewellery making? Making jewellery was actually something I fell into completely by accident. I was working in an office and was terribly unhappy, so I started making jewellery as a hobby and a means of getting some extra income. Before long it become a bit all-consuming. So as soon as I was earning enough, I left my job to concentrate on it full time and it’s gone from strength to strength since then.

What inspires you? There’s no short answer to that, really. Everything inspires me. Animals, fashion, food, patterns, nature, weather, places, people, art, tattoos, the list goes on. I love nothing more than taking inspiration from something pretty mundane and turning it into something fun and colourful.

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What draws you to jewellery? Jewellery can come in so many different forms and I think the sheer variety of what’s available is a large part of why I love it. Not only can you make jewellery from just about anything, it can come in so many forms that it’s just endlessly fascinating to me. Ironically, I wear very little jewellery on a day-to-day basis, but I’ve accrued some amazing pieces for special occasions, some that I’ve made myself and some that I’ve acquired from friends and industry peers. I just don’t think an outfit is complete without jewellery, be it subtle or statement!

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Is your work inspired by tattoos? Some of it is, definitely. I’ve been collecting tattoos for more than a decade, as have most of my friends, so it’s difficult not to let that filter into other aspects of my life, including my working life. With tattoos, as with jewellery, the possibilities are endless. It’s a pretty odd parallel when you really think about it, but jewellery and tattoos have a lot in common. Both are a form of decoration and they can both be for show, in memorium, for religious purposes, a reminder of something – or just fun, colourful and frivolous.

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What is your favourite piece you have created? That’s a tough question to answer as it changes so frequently. I like to think that with experience, the pieces have got better, so my favourite is almost always the most recent. I think a constant favourite will be always be the Gemstone Necklace, though. It’s what I consider to be a signature Sugar & Vice piece and in an industry where it’s so difficult to stay original, it’s the one I’m most proud of in terms of uniqueness.

Can you tell me a bit about your tattoos? My tattoos are a bit all over the place, literally and figuratively! Most are pretty meaningful, some are just silly things, but they all make me smile. I have three Sugar & Vice tattoos, and counting, so I like to think that shows just how closely linked my ink and my work are.

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Who are your favourite tattoo artists? There are so many! Leah Moule’s style just blows my mind, I’d love to get tattooed by her someday. Suzi Q as well, I love her stuff, and one of my earlier pieces actually came about after seeing a nautical pinup girl tattoo of hers and getting inspired around seven years ago. I think Dan Henk is pretty special too, his horror tattoos are like nothing else I’ve seen.

Do you think there is a relationship between tattoos and fashion? Absolutely. I think tattoos can influence fashion and vice versa. I’ve been, infrequently, reading tattoo magazines for around 12 years now and you can definitely see changing trends – although there will always be certain styles that remain popular. The troubling thing is when fashion influences tattoos and people start getting them for the wrong reasons, it’s the quickest road to regret in my experience.

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What’s next for Sugar & Vice? Global domination with any luck! In reality though, I’m just so grateful that I get to make a living doing something I love so much, and if things continue along the same path, then hopefully there’ll be bigger things in store. For now, I’ll just keep making jewellery that brings a smile to peoples faces.

First published in Issue 4 The Art Issue of Things&Ink magazine

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Interview with Karac Wilson

37-year-old Karac Wilson is a social care worker and tattoo collector from Sheffield. We caught up with Karac to chat all things tattoo…

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What inspired you to become heavily tattooed? Growing up my older brother was heavily tattooed when I was around 16 years old, he was tattooed before it was cool. I didn’t really give it much thought back then, but he definitely inspired me to get a tattoo. As I got older I remember watching guys like Lil Wayne and music videos of heavily tattooed guys and always loved the look. Allen Iverson the NBA player was my idol growing up he was heavily tattooed and had his own style that changed the NBA. He was seen as the badboy of the league due to his tattoos that’s why I have his portrait on my leg by (Gibbo0)

When did you get your first tattoo? What was it and do you still like it? My first tattoo I was 18 I was into Ja Rule. And he had a “pain is love” tattoo on his chest. I took a print out to a tattoo shop and had the exact tattoo on my chest. That tattoo later got lasered and covered. It was one of those tattoos you get when your young and I didn’t really think about it. Lesson learned.

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Has being tattooed ever helped you to get jobs or hindered you? My tattoos so far have not hindered me getting jobs, I currently work in social care with children with challenging behaviour and it’s a great ice breaker and a great talking point. On the negative side I worked in the probation service and they were not keen on all my tattoos and pretty much pushed me out because of it.

What kinds of reactions do your tattoos get? My tattoos get me plenty of attention wherever I go, even more so since my head was tattooed. I pretty much have people asking to take photos anywhere I go. Mostly positive reactions but you always get the odd negative one. But it does not bother me, each to their own and all that.

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Do you have any future tattoo plans? Are you working towards a body suit? I don’t have much space left for tattoos as my bodysuit is nearly complete. It’s a a case of being really picky about my last few spots. The last three months I’ve had my stomach, armpits and nipples tattooed and they were really painful areas. I’m working towards a bodysuit and I’m 90% there, I’ve got the majority of it done in the last three years. It’s been a fun journey where I’ve travelled to many artists and cities across Europe.

Did you make a conscious decision to only have black and grey work? What do you love about this style? I started with a black and grey sleeve and then that’s all I wanted. For me bodysuit work is better with one or the other in my opinion. I love colour tattoos but I think you have to look after them much more and have good skin. Black and grey is a solid heal every time, where colour can drop out depending on your skin and aftercare regime. I have seen some amazing bodysuits in colour but black and grey works better for me.

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If you could tattoo your body all over again would you go for colour or the same? If I could start again I think I would still go with black and grey I’ve been lucky to have work from Niorkz, Ben Kaye, Gibb0o, Matt Pettis, Dom Brown and Liv Frost. One black and grey artist id like a piece from would be Little Nick his work is unreal. If I could get a colour bodysuit it would have to be by Alex Wright and Ben Kaye, those guys are doing some unreal work.

All photos taken by Brendan Clayton

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Careers: Tattooed Social Media Representative

25-year-old Mikaela is a Social Media Representative at LUSH in London. We caught up with her to chat work, her tattoo collection and being vegan…

How long have you been working for Lush? How did you get your current role? I’ve been working at Lush for about three years now. I started on the shop floor at the flagship Oxford Street store, then joined the in store events and branding team. I’ve always wanted to bring my love of photography into my everyday job, so jumped at the chance at joining the social media team. I’m now a social media rep, and support events and branding when needed!

What do you love about your job? I love working for a company that’s so accepting of everyone, and encourages individuality. It’s a company that cares about their products, what goes into them, where ingredients are sourced and of course is fighting animal testing which is incredibly important to me. Lush also creates and supports a number of campaigns each year and isn’t afraid to use its voice as a popular brand to make people think, and I think that’s great. It’s also quite a tongue-in-cheek company at times so there’s always an element of fun involved.

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What sorts of stuff do you do? What projects do you get involved with? On a day-to-day basis at Lush, I do a lot of community management on the store’s social media pages, shoot photo and video content etc. Outside of work I try to do as much photography as I can, the majority of which is portrait work and it’s something I’d eventually love to be able to do full time.

I’ve also been vegan for two years now, so that’s a big part of my life. I’ve been trying to get fitter and healthier so spend a lot of time at the gym with my badass female, tattooed, vegan trainer @princessoftheunicorns!

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Can you tell us about your tattoos? Do you have any future plans? I’ve been getting tattooed since I was 19, my first one was a tiny heart on my wrist. I then ventured into getting bigger and more colourful pieces. My first ones being by Gemma, Amy Savage and Adam Ruff. They’re mostly quite traditional, lots of hearts and a few lady heads! I also have portraits of my dogs on my calves and two Fall Out Boy inspired tattoos. I also have a dotwork Maltese Cross on my ankle that I got in Malta, which is quite sentimental.

I think my favourite is still the first colour tattoo I got by Gemma, it’s a locket with my mum’s initials either side that I later had a key added to underneath. I have so many ideas for tattoos that I still want to get. I want to finish my sleeve and get my knees tattooed next, but I definitely know why I’m maybe putting that off a little bit!

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Can you show them off at work? How would you describe your fashion style? Not having to cover up my tattoos at work is another thing that I love about working at Lush. Everyone is encouraged to express their individuality and tattoos are no exception. I’m around so many tattooed people at work that I sometimes forget that they can still be a problem at other workplaces. Everyone loves seeing each other’s work as well and discovering new styles and artists as a result!

I don’t really follow any kind of fashion in particular, I mostly wear black, occasionally dipping into a little Bettie Page 50s feel when I have time to put the effort in – but mostly keep it a little bit dressed down “goth” I guess.

What kind of reception do your tattoos get? Most of the time I get a really positive reaction, people love how colourful they are and finding out why I got certain pieces. I do get the occasional negative comment or dirty look but I’m pretty used to it now, and nothing will ever make me feel bad about them when I know how happy they make me!

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Has being vegan influence your tattoos or job? Does it influence the company you work for?  I would probably say that I became vegan as a result of working at Lush. I’d always had a bit of a guilty conscience when I used to eat meat but once I started working at Lush with lots of vegans, I learned so much more about the meat and dairy industries that I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

In terms of tattoos it means that I have to think about whether tattoo ink being used is vegan and aftercare, which hasn’t been too difficult so far. I don’t have any vegan-related tattoos yet, but I’m sure I will end up getting one eventually. I’ll definitely be getting more animal tattoos!