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Kat Tat is the definition of a boss babe, someone who turned their passion into a business and continues to thrive in their purpose daily. With her background in tattooing, most famously seen on the VH1 show Black Ink Crew: Chicago, she went on to open her own tattoo shop called Enigma, in sunny Beverly Hills, California. 

But of course, her biggest purpose in the world arrives in the form of motherhood. Kat Tat recently welcomed her second child with NFL player Jamie Collins, someone she had tattooed for years. Fast forward to today, the two lovebirds are now engaged.

And the good news doesn’t end there, Kat Tat recently announced her new partnership with Paramount, with a whole new television show currently in development. And with her background on reality television combined with the very talented artists housed inside Enigma, there’s no doubt in our minds this new series will be a hit. 

Sheen had the pleasure of speaking with Kat Tat, during her private celebration for her recent cover on Hype Hair Magazine. Read below as we discuss motherhood, how she met her man, the latest on Enigma, her love for natural, and more!

How’s it feel to be celebrating the cover of Hype Hair Magazine?

It feels unreal, first of all, to have the cover of Hype Hair Magazine. They have amazing covers from literally Beyonce to Nicki Minaj to everybody who’s graced the cover of Hype Hair. For them to honor me with it, I feel really really honored. I want to uphold what they expect of me. 1) I’ve always followed Hype Hair Magazine, since a teengaer. 2) I’m all about hair. I have a lot, a lot of hair. 

Being biracial, my hair is a very unique texture. I have a lot of knowledge about my own hair. Wearing it natural, finally feeling comfortable in my natural texture. I have to say a lot about hair, period. I’m really really good to grace this cover and I want to run with it. 

And you got your haircut today! It looks fabulous.

Yes I did, thank you so much! 

Did you curl it yourself?
I did not. Hell no girl. I paid a pretty penny to have somebody come to my crib, cut my hair, and curl it for me right before this event. [laughs]

How’s motherhood?

Motherhood is amazing. Everything happened for me really really fast, but I always knew that it was going to happen fast. I was very much single and independent all throughout my 20’s, and I found the love of my life all in one year. I was pregnant, it all happened in divine timing. Even though I’m a new mom, I got two babies, but I feel like they’ve always been here. I can’t imagine what I would be doing if they weren’t.

How did you meet your fiancé?

I met him in 2013, he booked a tattoo for me. I’ve been tattooing him for years and he’s always supported me. He was not friendly. He never shot his shot at me and I admired that about him. In 2020, he shot his shot! It was just perfect. I already had a little crush. I’m like, why don’t he like me? Why he not trying to holler? So when he finally did, everything felt right. It was perfect. 

Did he say why he took so long?

I know he had situations. I had my little situations. But when he came to me in 2020, we were both single and at a point where it happened real fast. It was right.

What’s the latest with Enigma? You guys recently celebrated 4 years.

Enigma is great. I know the last time you were there was for the Nipsey event. Since then, we had a complete renovation. The shop is beautiful. 

It was beautiful to begin with!

Thank you! You have to come back now. We completely remodeled it. We have a lot of new artists, it’s going full throttle. We just competed in a convention, my whole shop swept the entire convention. Everybody came home with a trophy. That has never happened for a tattoo shop. For the shop to go compete in a convention and every artist brings home a trophy? That’s what Enigma did. We’re on some big shit.

And you’re on the show, right?

Yes, absolutely.

That’s bringing both worlds together.

It’s so crazy. Timing is everything. Even when the show came around, when I first moved to LA, coming off of Black Ink Chicago, I wanted a spin off right away. But it wasn’t the time for that. I had 3 artists, I had an empty shop. It would’ve been boring as fuck. Now for it to come around where we’ve done what we’ve done, we really have something that can inspire the culture. I’m happy that the opportunity came back around when it did. Not when I wanted it to, when I was trying to demand it, but it came at the perfect timing. 

Favorite tattoo you’ve done this year?

Girl, I’ve been pregnant. I haven’t been tattooing. [laughs] No, the favorite tattoo I’ve done this year: I had my baby Jakobi, my second baby this year, and his dad got Jakobi tattooed on his neck. He has all his kids on his neck, he got Jakobi on his neck and that was my favorite tattoo. Might’ve been the only tattoo I did this year, but it was my favorite. [laughs]

Does he get hook-ups now? Free tats?

He does! He makes it rain on me after I tattoo him. [laughs]

What are your beauty go-to’s?

I’m all about natural. Before I even got on TV, I’ve always said if I ever got a platform, I would want to represent natural. Not a knock to anyone who has anything done because do what makes you happy. But personally, I wanted to represent natural. I’m all about drinking a lot of water, taking care of my skin, not putting too much heat on my hair. Natural products. Shea butter based products. Natural oils and water. Water is the best for everything. 

If I’m not wearing a full face of makeup, I’m only washing my face really with water. A little bit of product, maybe once or twice a week I’ll exfoliate, but not too much. Water is everything. I go into stores to shop for products and I get overwhelmed because there’s too many out there. Whatever’s natural. Raw African shea butter, water, that’s what I got to. 

And for hair, I’m a big fan of Suave Professionals. Don’t sleep on Suave. Their Professionals line, the conditioner is good. That’s what works for me.

What are you excited for next?

I’m excited for the rollout of this show. We’re supposed to be coming out in January, I’m just excited for the world to see what we got going on at Enigma. 

Photo Credits: Kat Tat