

When a permanent tattoo is applied to the dermis, the ink particles aggregate into larger particles.

So, why do fade times and experiences vary?īefore diving into fade variance, I’ll first explain the difference between permanent tattoos and Ephemeral tattoos. Shah, while Josh had one that lasted 30 months on one part of his body, but much shorter on another part (this was a formulation we chose not to go to market with).īut again, a majority of clients can expect a fade time between 9-15 months. My longest lasting Ephemeral tattoo was 18 months. Between us, we’ve received hundreds of tattoos. I routinely mention my co-founders because we have tried all formulations and are the oldest data points. Shah and Josh, and my bodies before being tested on anyone else and in every instance, our Ephemeral tattoos faded away. In 2018 we started to see promising results with a tattoo that lasted about 6 months and finally in 2021, we arrived at this formulation.Įach formulation was first tested on my co-founders, Dr. Our earliest formulations lasted only days to weeks and in every user interview we performed, we kept hearing that prospective clients wanted a long lasting impermanent tattoo, one that ideally lasted over a year. Since we started our research and development journey, the problem my co-founders and I continually faced was creating an impermanent tattoo ink with longevity and extended vibrancy. Both felt like they would be dissatisfying to our clients who want a tattoo that lasts longer than henna but also isn’t forever. When we went to market this was the big challenge: a fade that lasts too long or a fade that lasts too short. Will there also be cases in which tattoos last shorter than 9 months? Yes. Put differently, will there be cases in which tattoos last longer than 15 months? Absolutely. It’s unrealistic to perfectly say what the exact upper or lower limit is for EVERY single person because it’s impossible for us to account for every single variable in the fade and furthermore, how those variables are weighted and how they will contribute to each person’s fade. This is the stated range because in initial studies a majority of tattoos fell into this time frame. While our current ink formulation is designed to last 9-15 months, the exact time will vary person to person. However, when placed in the body, there are different interactions that take place which causes variation in the fade. Their chemistry dictates that in the presence of water, they will break down in a certain time frame.

Yes, all Ephemeral tattoos will fully fade given the known degradation rates of the components we use. Do Ephemeral tattoos fade and how long will they actually last?
