New York startup creates tattoos that fully disappear after a while

Neither a permanent mark nor a paper transfer: a New York start-up has created the first tattoos that fully disappear after a while, aiming to open the body inking market to new clientele.

For years, amateur tattoo artists around the world -- mainly in Asia -- have offered "semi-permanent" tattoos, claiming that using vegetable ink and less penetration of the skin will cause them to disappear eventually.

But in practice, the tattoos tend only to deteriorate, without vanishing completely and often causing lesions, to the point that several professional tattooists have sounded the alarm.

After six years of development, the company Ephemeral has created an ink composed of biodegradable polymers that dissolves naturally between nine and 15 months after the same inking process as a conventional tattoo.

Josh Sakhai, one of the three co-founders of Ephemeral, was a student at New York University when he wanted to get a permanent tattoo but was "too scared" because of how his Iranian-origin family might react.

 Abigail Glasgow shows her temporary tattoos at Ephemeral tattoo shop.

So he set out to create a temporary tattoo made of ink that fades. The endeavor required 50 different formulations before he found the right one, a number of which Sakhai tested on himself.

Sakhai developed the formula in a laboratory in Milford, Connecticut, just north of New York, in collaboration with dermatologists. They only used products approved by the US' Food and Drug Administration regulator.

 'Playful'

The Ephemeral tattoo parlor opened in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn at the end of March. For now, only black ink is available, but other colors are expected.

The ephemeral tattoo, which costs between $175 and $450, can be a step towards people deciding to get a permanent tattoo, according to the young entrepreneur.

Ephemeral has recruited tattoo artists that are more used to inking permanent designs, such as 29-year-old Marissa Boulay, who draws the "M" on Glasgow's forearm, which also features permanent tattoos.

 The Ephemeral tattoo parlor opened in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn at the end of March.

It is also an opportunity for her to test out a flower design to see whether she likes it enough to get it done permanently.

tattoos, once associated with society's rebels, are increasingly mainstream among millennials.

Some 40 percent of 18-34-year-olds in the United States have at least one tattoo, according to a 2019 study by the Nielsen Institute.