#Do ephemeral tattoos fade skin#

On average, it fully disappears in about a year (9-15 months), but it starts fading after around six months and disappears gradually, not instantly. Like dissolvable stitches, the body absorbs the pigment entirely, but the exact timeline is different for everyone. Unlike traditional tattoos, Ephemeral’s proprietary ink is made of a medical-grade, biodegradable solution that breaks down naturally as the particles become small enough that the body removes them. Before I officially committed to my tattoo artist’s design Understanding Ephemeral’s Disappearing Ink To ensure its safety and efficacy, the ink has been the subject of a full-clinical testing study with NYC-based Rao Dermatology.

#Do ephemeral tattoos fade skin#

“S o this company extends from a desire to bridge the gap between conventional ink and temporary tattoos.” They’ve done just that, working with dermatologists and chemical engineering experts to develop real tattoos made to fade from the skin entirely in around a year.

“Ephemeral’s C-suite and team grew up in households where tattoos were taboo,” cofounder Josh Sakhai tells GRAZIA. Even so, it’s nearly impossible to get an appointment because the experience has gone viral on social media, drawing in curious eyes who want to get inked without the lifetime commitment.Įphemeral Tattoo has been in the works since 2014, founded by five New York University grads who wanted to revolutionize the tattoo industry. It’s new to the scene, having opened its doors to the public this past March. I don’t regret it (it’s a part of me now!), but what might have been a better choice as an impressionable college freshman is Ephemeral Tattoo, a made-to-fade tattoo studio based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Now it’s 2021, and it’s been nearly a decade since I forked over $75 to get said hip tattoo. However, that dream was quickly dispelled when I proudly shared a low-quality image of the nautical ink to my Instagram feed. As a Jewish girl taught that permanent ink is one of the worst things since bacon or mayonnaise teamed with lunch meat, I planned to keep the design hidden from my mother. Without revealing too much about my college experience, it was as cliché as the movies and I bear an anchor tattoo on my hip (etched on in a less-than luxe establishment in Staten Island, no less) as evidence. Once the ink is mixed, it’s loaded into a tattoo pen.Minutes after my tattoo artist completed my floral wrist design at Ephemeral Tattoo Ephemeral ink does something similar and goes into your skin and clumps together, but our ink is made of biodegradable components that break down over time, and as break down, your body’s able to remove them.”įor now, Ephemeral only has black ink, but Sakhai says other colors are on the horizon. “Permanent tattoos basically clump together and aggregate and become these larger blocks of ink that are too big for your body to remove,” Sakhai says. Though it penetrates the dermis, or the inner layer of your skin, just like a normal tattoo, the ink has some major differences that make it special. That being said, we took a ton of precautions because for us, that's super important.”

“No tattoo ink is approved or regulated by the FDA. “Every single one of the materials in our ink is already FDA approved for use in medical devices, cosmetics, and drugs,” Sakhai says. You can also feel good about what’s going onto your skin. Josh Sakhai, co-founder of Ephemeral, explains that the ink took six years of research and development to make and has gone through many different iterations since.