Made-to-fade tattoo shop faces criticism as customers reveal issues with tat fade time

Brooklyn, New York - A revolutionary temporary tattoo shop has come under fire by former customers after their ink failed to fade more than a year later.

Some Ephemeral Tattoo customers are worried their temporary tattoos have yet to fade.
Some Ephemeral Tattoo customers are worried their temporary tattoos have yet to fade.  © Collage: Screenshot/TikTok/mattychomps

Ephemeral Tattoo first opened in 2021 and claimed to use a proprietary ink that disappeared within roughly one year.

The shop claimed to offer "real" tattoos without the lifelong commitment, instantaneously appealing to those who like the looks of tats, but not the forever part of them.

However, it seems that the tattoo shop that now has locations in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta hasn't been living up to its fade away ink promise.

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Unlike traditional tattoo ink, Ephemeral Tattoo uses ink that has medical-grade, bio-absorbable ingredients that last at least one year and shrinks over time until it fully dissolves, per their website.

TikTok user Matt Ciampa posted a video of the highly visible tattoo on the back of his calf that he got from Ephemeral Tattoo. The on-screen text reads "My Ephemeral tattoo after 1 year and 3 months" and "it was supposed to be gone by now." He captioned the video "guess I'm stuck with it now."

Barbara Edmonds told the San Francisco Chronicle that she got her $400 Ephemeral tattoo of a Celtic symbol on her forearm 15 months ago, noting "it's very much still there."

The shop first advertised that the ink would disappear within nine to fifteen months, creating the expectation that the ink would be 100% gone within roughly one year.

However, Jeff Liu, the chief executive of Ephemeral, told the New York Times that the semi-permanent tattoo parlor's initial claim was "oversimplifying" the fading process. In actuality, Liu added that "70% of all Ephemerals will disappear in under two years and others longer."

Time will only tell if their tattoos fully disappear.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/TikTok/mattychomps

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