If you spent any time watching TV in the mid-2000s, you knew her face. The heavy eyeliner, the star tattoos dusting her temple, and that unmistakable graveyard-shift rasp. Kat Von D wasn't just another reality star; she was the blueprint for the alternative aesthetic that took over the world. But if you look for her today in the neon-lit streets of Hollywood, you won’t find her.
She's gone.
Well, she hasn't disappeared into thin air, but the version of the tattoo artist Kat Von D we all grew up with is effectively dead. She traded the smog of Los Angeles for the rolling hills of Vevay, Indiana. She traded her occult books for a Bible. Honestly, the shift has been so jarring that some of her oldest fans are still trying to figure out if it's a phase or a total rebirth.
The High Voltage Era is Officially Over
For fourteen years, High Voltage Tattoo was a landmark. It was the heart of LA Ink. People flew from across the globe just to sit in Kat’s chair, hoping for one of those hyper-realistic portraits that made her famous. Then, in late 2021, she just... closed it.
She didn't sell it to a protege. She didn't keep a stake in it. She locked the doors and walked away.
💡 You might also like: Is Randy Parton Still Alive? What Really Happened to Dolly’s Brother
Kat cited California's "tyrannical government overreach" and "ridiculous taxing" as her main reasons for leaving, but there was something deeper going on. You could see it in her eyes during her final interviews in the shop. She was tired. The hustle of running a global makeup empire while maintaining a legendary tattoo status had clearly burnt her out.
What Really Happened With KVD Beauty?
A lot of people still think Kat runs her makeup brand. She doesn't. Not even a little bit. In early 2020, she sold her remaining shares to Kendo, the LVMH incubator. They rebranded it to KVD Vegan Beauty, claiming the initials now stood for "Kindness, Vegan Beauty, and Discovery."
Yeah, okay.
The reality is that the brand struggled to maintain its edge without its namesake. By 2025, reports started surfacing that Kendo was offloading the brand to Windsong Global. Kat has been pretty vocal about this on social media, basically telling fans she has nothing to do with the company anymore and actually dislikes the direction they took. It’s a classic story of a creator losing their "child" to corporate interests, and it's clearly a sore spot for her.
📖 Related: Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper: The Affair That Nearly Broke Hollywood
The Baptism That Shook the Internet
If the move to Indiana was a shock, her 2023 baptism was an earthquake.
Kat posted a video of herself in a white robe, being submerged in water at the Switzerland Baptist Church. This followed a 2022 post where she filmed herself throwing away books on witchcraft, magic, and the occult. She told podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey that she had been "on fire for Jesus" and that the dark aesthetics she once championed no longer resonated with her soul.
The Move to Orthodoxy
By mid-2025, the journey took another turn. Kat announced she had officially joined the Orthodox Church in America.
- She became a catechumen.
- She started attending Divine Liturgies during her European music tours.
- She openly shares snippets of her life in the church with her son, Leafar.
It’s interesting because she hasn't scrubbed her past. She still has the tattoos. She still wears black. She just says she’s found a "light" that she spent decades looking for in the shadows.
👉 See also: What Really Happened With the Death of John Candy: A Legacy of Laughter and Heartbreak
Is She Still Tattooing at All?
This is the question everyone asks. The short answer? Rarely.
While she mentioned opening a private studio in Indiana, she’s mostly put down the machine. She’s focused on being a mom and her music career. Her second album, My Side of the Mountain, dropped in late 2024, and she’s been touring Europe and the US through 2025.
She recently admitted that she’s content with closing the tattoo chapter. She’s 43 now. Her priorities have shifted from being the most famous tattoo artist Kat Von D in the world to being a woman who wants to live a quiet, intentional life.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to keep up with Kat or are hoping for a piece of her legacy, here is the current reality:
- Don't Buy KVD Beauty for Kat: If you want to support her specifically, buying the makeup won't do it. She doesn't get a cut.
- Follow the Music: Her Spotify and YouTube are where she’s most active now. It’s dark-wave, synth-heavy stuff—very different from her reality TV days but very "her."
- The Private Studio Myth: Don't go driving through Indiana looking for her shop. It's private for a reason. She isn't taking public bookings like the old days.
- Embrace the Change: Kat’s story is a reminder that you're allowed to outgrow your own brand. Even if the world wants you to stay the "Goth Queen" forever, you can choose to move to a farm and start over.
Kat Von D’s life is a wild case study in personal evolution. She went from the most tattooed woman on TV to a quiet church-goer in the Midwest. Whether you love the new Kat or miss the old one, you have to admit: she’s never been boring.