Ephemeral Tattoos Were 'Made to Fade.' Some Still Haven't., customers share regrets

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Ephemeral Tattoos Were ‘Made to Fade.’ Some Still Haven’t.
The temporary tattoo company updated its product description after customer complaints about persistent tattoos.

When Barbara Edmonds got a tattoo of a Claddagh ring at Ephemeral, a temporary tattoo company, in August 2021, she was told it would be “gone in a year.” Eighteen months later, it’s not.Credit...Barbara Edmonds



Claudia Mangione was also under the impression when she got a tattoo of a match in May 2021 that it would be gone in a year. Twenty-two months later, it’s not gone — and “looks like a spatula,” she said. Credit...Claudia Mangione





For some customers, the company’s tattoos have proved less ephemeral than they had hoped. Nearly two years after the start-up opened its studio to a flurry of articles, including one in The New York Times, some early customers have congregated on Reddit and TikTok to bemoan tattoos that have lasted beyond 15 months. Several shared their regrets in an article published in The San Francisco Chronicle in November.

From the start, Ephemeral’s waiver included warnings that “the exact amount of time that the tattoo will last may be shorter or longer” than nine to 15 months, and that the tattooing process “might leave individuals with permanent marks.”

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Eden Bekele, 26, a D.J. in Brooklyn, got a two-inch chili pepper tattooed on her right arm after her boyfriend won a free Ephemeral in a raffle. It was a “spur-of-the-moment” decision, she said, based on her belief at the time that the tattoo would be gone in 15 months. It is still visible 18 months later.

“Now it feels like something I should have thought about a little bit more,” Ms. Bekele said.



https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/style/temporary-tattoos-ephemeral.html

Heather Plunkett has three Ephemeral tattoos. Her oldest tattoo, above, has lasted more than 21 months. “I feel a little silly for being so trusting of a start-up that is marking my body,” she said. Credit...Heather Plunkett



The company’s primary innovation was its ink, which was invented by Brennal Pierre and Vandan Shah, both chemical engineers who met at New York University. In 2014, they began work developing an ink formulation that breaks down over time. Mr. Liu said that the ingredients in the ink are all F.D.A. approved and are similar to those used in dissolvable stitches, but did not specifically disclose them.

[joshdawg]

1. Simple solution to any tattoo problem.........

don't get one.

[Emile]

11. +1

[cherish44]

2. They have temporary tattoos. Ever heard of Cracker Jack?

Or gumball machines?

[Pacifist Patriot]

3. Don't forget the ultimate in creativity temp tattoos...

A napping adult and a preschooler with a marker.

No, no personal experience with that type at all!

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Yes, why go permanent when you can reapply or change every week?

There are temporary eyebrows too. I wonder if they become Brezhnevesque in old age.

[jmowreader]

5. Those look like prison tattoos even when they were fresh

Let me see if I got this.

Millennials are voluntarily enduring real tattoo sessions with needles for artwork they expect to fade away in a year and a half. To me, a HUGE part of tattooing is knowing it will never go away. That’s why you ruminate on these things before you take the plunge.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. the company advertised that these tattoos would fade, some kind of special ink

[jmowreader]

7. Yeah, I know

I also know I wouldn’t want to go through a tattoo session for something guaranteed to fade. I have tattoos no one else has (because I draw my own), they’re in the really painful spots that no one else will get tattooed…and when they’re done, they damn well BETTER stay where they are!

[robbob]

9. Let ME get this straight:

You voluntarily get ink injected under your skin that is SUPPOSED to break down over the course of a year? And we wonder why cancer rates keep climbing*. What a stupid concept…


*disclaimer for the humourless; I have no idea if this ink has any carcinogenic properties. It just seems that injecting a dye under your skin that is designed to break down might not be the best idea.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. A Fair Point, But...

...the ink might be susceptible to light, especially uV, which would cause a modest rearrangement thereby losing it's color properties.
I doesn't have to break down to something potentially harmful to quit being visible.
Obviously, I didn't work here but fading doesn't have to be from decomposition.
Don't get me wrong. I have zero tattoos. Never even tempted to get one. So, I'm not a fan & consider the high cost fascination with them puzzling.
But, I can see how an ink could be designed to have a fadeable pigment.

[brooklynite]

10. Henna is far more reliable.