Tattoos is a big decision. A lifelong commitment to design can be challenging, especially for those who have difficulty making design decisions.
This is why short-lived tattoo inks were created. Epememal, a “fade” ink, was meant to put pressure on you to try your designs temporarily without regrets (or get some trendy stuff you never want forever, except that it hasn’t waned many of your earlier clients with temporary tattoos.
In this article, we’ll break it down.
The concept behind Ephemeral was made to fade tattoo ink
A fleece tattoo is applied like a traditional tattoo with a tattoo machine.
However, temporary tattoos also use special inks designed to fade within 9-15 months.
And while the concept sounded great, many clients discovered that the tattoos were going on for much longer than expected. Instead of avoiding regret, they remained annoyed. I especially got a “joke tattoo” and relied on the fade process to remove the design.
Will short-lived tattoos disappear completely?
Tattoo 2 Years After via Dazeddigital.com
This issue has resulted in poor testing. The short-lived chemical engineers utilized medical grade polymers created to break down. But it appears they haven’t broken up the intended method. Temporary tattoos do not fade as advertised, so the company cannot guarantee how long it will actually last.
The reason traditional tattoo inks “fade” is because the body naturally “attacks” the ink particles. Because ink is a foreign body, the body tries to destroy the ink and carry it away as waste. However, the ink slowly decomposes.
And while short-lived inks appear to fade faster than regular ink, many clients are beginning to worry that the ink they were made hasn’t faded. Most clients who still have temporary tattoos years later have semi-colored inks without indicating how long it will take to fade completely.
Ephemeral’s response to this problem is that everyone has different skin, so the decline times are different. However, they changed the estimated “fade time” from one year to three years.
Additionally, Ephemeral has closed designated Tattoo Studios, allowing Elephemeral Tattoo artists to use ink in traditional Tattoo Studios instead.
Do you need to provide fleeting ink for arts?
Short-lived tattoos are temporary, but are still applied by real tattoo artists with tattoo machines. This means that as a tattoo artist, you can provide Ephemeral ink to your clients.
But given their recent unpopularity (and a very realistic threat to short-lived tattoo litigation in the near future), it may be worth passing that option. Like other specialized inks (UV ink, ink mixed with ash, etc.), we cannot guarantee the client about what the healing process will be.
And from a technical standpoint, ink is not reliable. It doesn’t fade evenly. It can leave a blurry patchy design that appears to be unintentional. Removing and covering these tattoos can also be more complicated than expected and lead to more trouble than worth it.
Note:
Short-lived only produces black ink. Color ink is not available.
The importance of choosing a design over the long term
Tattoos are intended to be a lifelong commitment. And while there’s no need to wrap every tattoo in layers of meaning, it’s important to choose a tattoo design you’ll love forever to avoid regrets and laser removal.
If you are offering short-lived ink, make sure your clients have chosen a comfortable design to tattoo with permanent ink.
Clients looking for a truly temporary tattoo may want to look into one with topical applications that are guaranteed to drop out in a few weeks.
