A UK woman had her late dog’s ashes tattooed into her eyelids so he could, in her words, still see the world through her eyes. It’s a wild world we live in.
Claire Hobson is a permanent makeup artist who spent 20 years with her dog Patch before losing him. When she found herself preparing to relocate to Dubai, the idea of tucking his ashes into a suitcase didn’t feel right. So she came up with another option. “I’m getting my eyeliner tattooed,” she told ITV’s This Morning, “and I’m sure people have their loved ones tattooed into body tattoos, so why not just have it in my eyeliner?”
She knew the idea was, by her own description, “bonkers.” She brought it to a close colleague in the industry, who had also recently lost a pet and was apparently in the right headspace to say yes. They mixed a small amount of Patch’s ashes into the semi-permanent eyeliner ink and got to work.
For anyone inclined to find this morbid: fair, but if you’ve ever loved a dog, it’s kind of understandable. Twenty years with a dog is a long time. That’s longer than most marriages, longer than a lot of friendships, longer than some people’s careers. Hobson described it the way many dog people would, if they were being fully honest about it. “Dogs, they’re loyal, they’re consistent,” she said. “They kiss you when you come home from work and, like, it’s the purest form of love. There’s no malice. There’s no manipulation. They’re happy to see you every single day for 20 years.”
She Has More Dog Ashes for When the Tattoo Needs a Touch-up
The eyeliner tattoo isn’t permanent, lasting a few years before it fades. When Hobson eventually needs a touch-up, she still has more of Patch’s ashes. “He’s going to be there a long time,” she said.
Mixing cremated remains into tattoo ink has been done before, mostly as body tattoos, but eyeliner is a new frontier. The semi-permanent formula fades after a few years, which means touch-ups—and Hobson still has more of Patch’s ashes when that day comes. “He’s going to be there a long time,” she said.
Call it grief. Call it “bonkers,” as Hobson herself did. For anyone who’s spent two decades with a dog and had to figure out what to do after, it’s really not that crazy.
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