New York start-up experiments with tattoo that disappears after a year

Between the indelible mark and the decals, a New York start-up offers an alternative: an ephemeral tattoo that disappears after about a year. The company aims to open the market to new customers.

After six years of development, the young company Ephemeral has found the formula for an ink composed of biodegradable polymers, which dissolves naturally between 9 and 15 months after injection according to the same process as a conventional tattoo.

Abigail Glasgow chose. This time, it will be an “m”, the first letter of her fiancé’s first name, tattooed on the forearm. A risky choice? “It’s going to go away, so I don’t worry too much”she said with a mischievous look.

When he was a student at NYU University, Josh Sakhai, one of the three co-founders of Ephemeral, wanted a permanent tattoo. Corn “I was afraid to commit”, remembers this son of a family of Iranian origin, who did not really taste tattooing. Then came the idea of ​​a temporary tattoo and an evanescent ink, which required 50 successive formulations. He tested a number of them on himself.

Everything has been developed in-house in the in-house laboratory in Milford (Connecticut), in collaboration with dermatologists, only from components already authorized for other products by the American regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

No blurring or dilution over time, like some permanent tattoos, Josh Sakhai assures. The lines remain crisp and the design fades evenly, as evidenced by the examples on her arms. For now, only black is available, but other colors could one day enrich the palette.

In several regions of the world, particularly in Asia, amateur tattooists have been offering, for several years, tattoos presented as “semi-permanent”, thanks, according to their promoters, to “vegetable” ink and less penetration of the needle. In practice, these tattoos, with a very rough technique, deteriorate but do not disappear completely and often cause lesions, to the point that several professional tattooists have sounded the alarm.

“Guinea pig”, as he jokingly describes himself, Josh Sakhai points to several places on his arms where he believes tattoos were now invisible. Her own mother had just taken the plunge two hours earlier and had three butterflies tattooed in the Ephemeral salon, which opened in late March in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

“We are making tattooing possible for a whole new clientele who would not have wanted a permanent tattoo”, explains Josh Sakhai. For him, this new technique does not compete with traditional tattooing. The ephemeral tattoo, which costs between $ 175 and $ 450 at Ephemeral, can even become a gateway to permanent branding, according to the young entrepreneur. “It expands the possibilities for the traditional tattoo community.”

Ephemeral has only recruited tattoo artists from the permanent world, including Marissa Boulay, who writes on the dermograph (the tattoo machine) the famous “m” on Abigail’s forearm, which features also permanent tattoos. “I can have a little more fun”, Abigail slips, “I can decide in the moment” design or location. For her, it is also an opportunity to test this little flower that she plans to get a tattoo permanently, later.

“A lot of people think we are changing the culture” tattooing, she says, though she disagrees. Formerly the territory of the “rebels”, even the marginalized, a symbol of radicalism, tattooing has been democratized for 20 years, to the point of being now widespread among “millennials”. Some 40% of 18-34 year olds have at least one tattoo, according to a 2019 study in the United States by the Nielsen Institute.

“We’re not trying to change anything”, says Marissa Boulay, who trained in tattooing on her own and has practiced it for 11 years. “We are only accompanying the changes underway. The essence of tattooing is a mode of expression and an art”, underlines the young woman of 29 years whose body is covered with permanent drawings. “We’re just trying to make it more accessible.”

–