Hold the phone – these new temporary tattoos disappear after a year

23 May 2016
By Fashion Quarterly

750 cara

Do you have commitment issues?

A tattoo is a pretty major commitment. Picking a design that will stay on your body for the rest of your life is nothing short of daunting for most. Thankfully scientists are easing the pressure with a new tattoo ink formulated to last roughly one year, so should you decide on a whim (much like Cara) that you’d like to get a permanent piece of body art, well, the permanent part isn’t so indefinite.

Ephemeral is what scientists are calling ‘the futuristic ink’. Co-founder Anthony Lam explained the process to TechCrunch: “By using smaller molecules [than permanent tattoo molecules], we’ve encapsulated them inside this spherical structure that’s big enough that your immune system doesn’t take it away.” So, you can wait for the tattoo to fade, or you can have it removed at any point with a removal solution.

With certain tattoo designs coming in and out of style, ephemeral allows for more spontaneous decisions and fewer regrets. Although it’s still in the testing stages, we can anticipate the ink to be on the market by late 2017 so you can get inked without the ‘Is this still going to be cool in 10 years time’ attitude.

Words: Tashjian Barklie
Photo: Instagram

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